by Episode 1: A Son for a Son
Rhaenyra is shown grieving, searching for anything left from Lucerys’s remains. In a poignant scene, she flies on Syrax and lands on the shoreand finds Arrax’s wing and a piece of fabric from Luke’s attire. Not only is Syrax grieving because she feels Rhaenyra’s pain, but she is also mourning as Arrax’s mother.
Episode 2: Rhaenyra the Cruel
Why did Helaena make that decision? Clue: She told Aegon, “What if he doesn’t want to be king?”. I think Helaena made that decision because, as a dragon dreamer, she probably knew her son wouldn’t enjoy beingking. In a way, she likely wanted to protect her son from an unwanted future. However, in the books, Jahaerys is not killed, but rather Maelor. The Game of Thrones franchise stays as true to the books as possible, with some dialogues from the books being the same in the shows, making this creative decision intriguing to follow.
Helaena: “I’m afraid.”
Aegon: “Don’t be. They’d be fools to come with Vagar protecting the city.”
Helaena: “Not the dragons, the rats.”
— Helaena and Aegon Targaryen
She knew the rat catchers were a key threat to her safety, yet Aegon ignored her. We can predict Aegon is close to losing the throne because he is erratic and impulsive. He is losing the support of the town by unfairly killing anyone he pleases to avoid any threat, and he fired Otto as his Hand while ignoring his wise advice and strategic knowledge. He is also ignoring his mother. The biggest detail is how he and everyone undermine Helaena’s wisdom and intellectual advantages. She has successfully predicted the future before; why don’t they listen more? Theycould benefit from her insights into a military strategy.
We see the symbolism of ashes through the petals thrown at Helaena in Jaeherys’ funeral and the dust under the sunlight. Those symbolic ashes represent war and its aftermath, reminding us when dragons fight, everything burns.
Daemon’s Unsurprising Egotistical Actions
Rhaenyra told Daemon he’s pathetic as he said Jahaerys’ death was a “mistake,” and then he left. What does that mean from his point of view? Is he careless and egotistical or does he crave something more? Rhaenyra claims he desires what once belonged to him, but he’s shown several times he’s faithful and has given up several crowns, such as the Free Cities’ crown after the Battle of the Triarchy.
Nonetheless, Rhaenyra has lost any trust she had in Daemon. Whether the murder of Jahaerys was intentional or not, Daemon was behind it, and he should’ve ensured it was either Aemond or no one. While scolding Daemon for his actions, Rhaenyra questions his loyalty, making it seem like Daemon is still attached to the Iron Throne. He could have it as Rhaenyra’s husband, yet he reminds her that after he won against Prince Craghas Drahar at the Battle of the Triarchy, he was crowned as King of the Narrow Sea. It’s important to remember the intention of the Triarchy was to gain full control of the Narrow Sea and trade crossing from King’s Landing. Daemon could’ve had his own realm, yet he went back to Viserys and renounced his crown, giving the Narrow Sea back to King’s Landing. This is also a key point to remember when Addam of Hull finds a crab.
Addam of Hull is now introduced in the series, and he finds a crab amongst the Velaryon boats. Is this a symbol foreshadowing the return of the Triarchy? Perhaps not only dragons will make the kingdom tremble.
Alicent under Another Light
In Season 1, we saw Alicent change from a vulnerable good girl to a plotting queen who astutely gained control around the realm. Even though she didn’t sit on the Iron Throne, she became vocal about the final decisions. She is shown as egocentric, careless, distant with her children, and easily influenced by Otto’s avarice.
In Season 2, Viserys is no longer around, and she can’t get in Aegon’s head. No one is as forgiving and passive with her as Viserys was. Herchildren seem annoyed at her. They never listened to her, but now they ridicule her in council, and she is shown again as a little person amongst giants. She doesn’t have much going on for herself, and she has finally given in to discovering herself and her sexuality, hence her relationship with Ser Criston Cole. She doesn’t care about Rhaenyra as much; in fact, she no longer tries to stay a step ahead of her. Perhaps that’s why she was obsessed over Rhaenyra because she was jealous of Rhaenyra’s freedom. As people say, “hate is the purest form of worship.” In this season, I feel for Alicent. She was just a young, clueless woman who was used by her narcissistic father to gain even more power in King’s Landing. She then had to build a life with a dying old man who didn’t even love her, and now no one respects her.
Daeron: Otto’s Last Hope
Aegon corners Otto into renouncing as Hand of the King and makes Ser Criston the Hand. What does this mean for the future? Ser Criston Cole is dumb and impulsive, his idea of Ser Arryk killing Rhaenyra backfired and showed their weak points and his lack of military strategizing.
Otto mentioned he will go to Daeron in Hightower, Viserys and Alicent’s third son. Daeron is around Jace’s age. He will probably relate to his grandfather better than Aegon and Aemond as we didn’t see him as much in court. Compared to his brothers, he probably doesn’t take the court and its privileges for granted.
Through Alicent’s position, Otto regained his role as Hand to the King, becoming a ghost ruler and the most powerful man in the realm for decades. He helped Viserys keep peace and military and financial stability, yet he always opposed Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne. Was it because he is conservative and knew the aristocracy would not stand a female ruler, causing instability in the realm, or was it a transcendentalwish to leave a legacy and have his grandchild as ruler? After being forced to give up the Hand’s position for the second time, Otto lost his last chance to gain absolute power discretely. As he joins Daeron, he could use him as his last card to get power back.
In the books, Daeron is gentle and caring, known as Daeron the Daring. He is intelligent, an avid learner, and has an incredible connection with his dragon. He is similar to his grandfather and could listen to Otto’s advice and suggestions. Will Otto plot against Aegon, Aemond, and Rhaenyra to install Daeron as king? Daeron is admired and loved by the people; he could also inherit the throne if his brothers pass in the battle of the dragons. Most importantly, Daeron Targaryen is Otto’s perfect example of his military mastery. If something happened to him while plotting the usurpation of Rhaenyra’s throne, someone of the Hightowers would avenge him in the name of his house. Otto secured House Hightower’s position as a key house and gained it one of the fiercest dragons for any defense they might need, Tessarion, Daeron’s blue-scaled blue fire dragon.
