One of the most commented things of the ninth episode of ‘The house of the dragon’ is what happens in the end. Well, to be fair, it would be more correct to talk about what does not happen in the final moments of ‘The Green Council’, since it could have radically changed the future of the series.
Beware of spoilers from here.
“It’s not your war”
I’m sure many are wondering why Rhaenys didn’t just say Dracarys and lay waste to everyone present, especially when she had no problem slaughtering multitudes of innocent King’s Landing citizens. Sarah Hessthe episode’s writer clarifies in The Hollywood Reporter that “it is ‘Game of Thrones’civilians don’t count” and comments the following on Rhaenys decision:
I think you just can’t do it. It’s not your war. The fight is between these two sides and she is not in it. She doesn’t feel like she’s the one to go in and do that. But you’re right. If she had incinerated everyone, it’s game over, Rhaenyra wins, and we’re done here. But the cost is enormous. She also feels that at that moment, she looks Alicent in her eyes and Alicent steps in front of her son to protect him. She is from one mother to another. Rhaenys is angry, but in her earlier scene with Alicent, he respects her, even though he doesn’t agree with her. So she’s not going to kill another woman like that.
For its part, Clare Kilnerdirector of ‘El Consejo Verde’, clarifies in this regard that “We talked to Eve Best about this and in the previous scene she felt like Alicent really saw Rhaenys for the first time in a long time. At that time, they are mothers in this terrible world created by men and she cannot do it“.
The curious thing is that already in the trailer for the tenth and last episode of the season we see Rhaenys warning Rhaenyra about Alicent’s plans, so it is clear that she is going to end up participating in that war that could have prevented with a simple Dracarys. Of course, Best has also spoken about it in an interview for Vulture, where he has pointed out the following:
The temptation is there, right? In the end, he makes a major choice. We see it right now with what is happening in Ukraine; choosing not to destroy is the best option. That’s something important for all of us to remember right now.
It’s why she would have been a great leader. She had, at that moment, all the power. However, she respects Alicent as a woman and as a mother. They understand that they are in the hands of other people who could set them on fire. They know that the only correct option is not to go there. Plus, it’s the smart choice, on his part, not to set fire to a bunch of innocents in the room. What is gained? In the end, it’s not her battle.
The flight she makes on the dragon is something that has been brewing since the very moment she was wrongly, unfairly, rejected for the crown. It’s that longing to get out and get away from it all. When he bursts into the arena, he’s internally saying, “Fuck you all.” It is more about that than about a need for revenge or destruction that men could have resorted to. He is breaking his own glass ceiling.