House of the Dragon: S3, E2 Queen’s Landing Spoiler Review
House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 2 Queen’s Landing was originally conceived as the Season 2 finale before an internal decision at HBO forced Episode 9 & 10 of Season 2 to become Episode 1 & 2 of Season 3. At least, we can speculate this is the case based on what some episode directors have said about the production of Season 2.
In the spirit of a Season Finale, I think it is time to discuss some of the primary pain points holding back my enjoyment of House of the Dragon.
Original Sin
Season 1 of House of the Dragon told a tale about the division of House Targaryen through the slow fallout of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower’s friendship. By Episode 8 of Season 1, the groundwork for the civil war had clearly been laid out with each party having a fair reason to claim the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra is the heir of King Viserys I, despite how a female heir breaks social conventions of the monarchy. Alicent’s concerns are about Rhaenyra’s succession is legitimate. While Rhaenyra is a Targaryen princess, all of her children are bastards of House Strong. Alicent’s children and Rhaenyra’s half-siblings are Targaryens through and through. As Alicent has been actively ruling as Queen Consort, she has concerns about Rhaenyra’s lack of concern over the line of succession.
While either faction could of ignited the civil war after Viserys death, the great misunderstanding is what starts the House Targaryen civil war. From this point forward, Rhaenyra and Alicent effectively become bystanders within their factions Season 2 of House of the Dragon and beyond. While they witness the various atrocities committed by each side, both of our protagonists are treated as a voice of reason with little to no control over the men.
A Woman’s Lot
House of the Dragon has always been about how male centric monarchial systems are while telling the historical fall of House Targaryen and their dragons. House of the Dragon has always done an excellent job at showing how hesitant this monarchial society is to accepting a woman in any position of power. Last episode, Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood, even features a moment where Prince Jacaerys’ is able to convince a Queen’s Guard to keep Rhaenyra locked in her chambers through a logic play, which for all intensive purposes should have failed to short circuit this guard. Jacaerys’, a boy who should have absolutely no authority over his mother the Queen, is effectively given the power to overrule the wishes of his ruler due to their difference in gender. This is never where the problems of House of the Dragon lie.
The issues plaguing the series are two-fold. The women of House of the Dragon are generally characterized as good-hearted, level-headed, and far more in touch with their emotions than their male counterparts. However, they are also considered to be less in control of their emotions because they allow them to get the better of them. The women of the series are depicted as incapable of committing the same atrocities as the men because the men are depicted as being in better to control to do what is necessary for the realm. In this state, the women are generally incapable of committing any tough choses and instead are relegated to bystanders as perpetual victims responding to events with their emotions instead of action. Unless they evolve, their characters effectively have no arc. Unless they choose to become like the men of the realm.
A Crowning Accomplishment
Now, in Queen’s Landing, Rhaenyra has taken King’s Landing with her husband, Prince Daemon Targaryen. As Daemon is rounding up loyalists, he finds Lord Larys Strong has left him a gift of imprisoning Ser Otto Hightower. Despite Alicent being the person solely responsible for handing over King’s Landing to Rhaenyra, Otto, Alicent’s father, must be executed to satisfy the Blacks. Otto asks for Daemon to serve his execution because he is afraid Rhaenyra will be unable to give him a clean death. Otto is proven right. As Rhaenyra ascends the thrown, her gaze meets Alicent who is observing the corpse of her father.
This ending to Queen’s Landing gives me the impression if Rhaenyra is to survive in this role as queen, she will need to embrace the masculine qualities of the other rulers of the realm. While you can certainly tell a corrupting female empowerment fantasy from this angle, something doesn’t sit right with me. Rhaenyra wept as she took Otto’s life. Clearly, she had no interest in taking his life, but Rhaenyra ultimately should have.
Rhaenyra was entirely willing to go to war over losing her birthright and Otto was one of the architects of her suffering. While Rhaenyra will never understand truly just how much Otto had to do with setting this in motion, she very rightfully should have been as willing to spill the blood of Otto as the blood of Aegon. Once again, Rhaenyra’s agency has been stripped from her to allow her to do anything interesting. Once again, as Alicent sees what Rhaenyra has done, we are met with the rift between these two friends continue to grow further due to a misunderstanding.
ChapHazard 