This week in Queen’s Landing, Rhaenyra learned an incredibly difficult but crucial lesson: It’s not easy being Queen. Because it turns out, everyone wants a piece of you – from your fellow nobles and family to the small folk who rely on the crown for aid. And, she also learned, it’s not possible to give everyone what they want – especially when your adversaries are still out in the wild, pulling the wool over your eyes. Oh, and it doesn’t help that your former uncle/father-in-law is yelling to all in the area that your sons are bastards all because you can’t and won’t legitimize his own bastards*. And to top it off? You’re on your period. Just a hellish day for our new queen. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to be getting any easier in the coming days, weeks, or months – if she manages to hold the throne for even that long.
*So, a lot to unpack with Corlys’ actions this episode. But it’s crucial to remember what went down before. Corlys, convinced that people remember names and not deeds, tried to match Laena (who later was Daemon’s second wife and the mother of Baela and Rhaena) at 12 years old with an adult Viserys to get Velayron blood on the throne. He ultimately settled for matching Laenor to Rhaenyra – despite the pleas of his wife, Rhaenys, who warned him that Laenor was gay and would never father children with Rhaenyra. A warning that proved true, so Rhaenyra had her affair, had three boys, and Corlys and Laenor claimed them as Velayrons, despite the evidence to the contrary. And now he’s throwing all of that back in her face because she won’t legitimize his bastards – since doing so could throw everything into jeopardy. She’s already dogged by claims that her three eldest were bastards, and legitimizing two known bastards only makes that claim look stronger. And little Joffrey, the next in line, is her last bastard son. She needs him to be seen as legitimate. So, all-in-all, a real dick move from Corlys who tried to get the Velayron name on the throne – and still could! – but also wants his own legacy secured, since he no longer sees his granddaughters as viable heirs. And the fact that Rhaenyra doesn’t and cannot throw his own hand in everything back in his face is a level of grace I’m not sure I would have in a similar situation.
The beauty of the episode is that it doesn’t let up. Rhaenyra doesn’t get the chance to take a breath, and neither do we. We can understand the relentless press of requests, questions, and pressure she’s under. And we can watch how those she trusts – Daemon, Corlys, Mysaria – keep pushing her without offering any aid to what is clearly a fractured mind. Mysaria, at least, tries to give Rhaenyra an opening to talk about how the loss of Luke and Jace is slowly breaking her down, but ever the stoic queen who thinks she can handle everything on her own, Rhaenyra won’t take the chance and closes up. Instead, we see Rhaenyra doing her best Lady Macbeth impression, walking the halls at night, unable to sleep in her parents’ old bed. She’s plagued by visions of Jace. The rats are everywhere. And the answers to the many, many questions posed to her by everyone she meets cannot be answered. Even Alicent is unable to offer true council, other than to warn Rhaenyra that she’s never going to be able to help everyone, so she will need to get used to making choices that can end in the death of her subjects.
While we are no stranger to Targaryens who opt for the fire side of their family motto, the final shot of the episode seemingly hints that this is the path Rhaenyra is bound to travel herself. But I wouldn’t say we’ve reached that point just yet. There were more than enough clues that she’s going to end up doing something rash to stop the Hightower army that has taken up residence in the town outside of the walls (if the shot of her staring into the fire wasn’t a good enough sign, Hugh the Hammer noting that his wife has taken refuge in that very town hints at just what might cause a schism with her newest knight down the line). After all, rather than kill Daeron – who turned out to be an innocent young boy – she was willing to let him take the Black and head to the Wall. I suspect, should she get the real Daeron, she’s going to be much less merciful in light of the bait and switch.
But Rhaenyra is between a rock and a hard place. She might have the upper hand when it comes to the dragons still in play, but Aemond and Aegon are both still out there – although I highly doubt that Aegon’s dragon is truly dead until we see it for ourselves. The Hightowers are advancing (and presumably still have Daeron’s dragon – why Daemon didn’t make him ride it to Queen’s Landing is a head scratching plot hole in my book). And Queen’s Landing has no money, no food, and a populace that is desperate. Oh, and Rhaenyra lacks a Small Council, which means she really has to handle everything herself. Things aren’t going well. And we were able to feel every ounce of frustration, pain, disappointment, and exhaustion from the writing, direction, and great work by Emma D’Arcy in this solid episode.
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