‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Shouldn’t Revolve Around Rhaenyra & Alicent

House of the Dragon returns to Westeros during the height of the Targaryen’s power. With a large royal family and plenty of dragons, the show distinguishes itself from Game of Thrones. But as Season 1 introduced the Dance of the Dragons, many members of the Targaryen family became important, including Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke). The story begins by exploring Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) reign and how the war between his children developed. Season 1 takes place before the war, even before the conflict is inevitable, as young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) seems content for her brother to inherit the throne before she is crowned heir. But as the contention grew between her and her stepmother and former best friend, Alicent (Emily Carey), it became clear that peace among the Targaryens was not an option. Due to the nature of the story, Rhaenyra and Alicent take the lead as they pass their grudges to their children. Yet Season 1 ended with the first death, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), setting up the division between the Greens and the Blacks to become more hateful. When it returns June 16, 2024, Season 2 will pick up with the war officially breaking out.

With the onset of the war, the show will have to remove itself from the confines of Alicent and Rhaenyra’s rivalry, expanding to include the scope of the war. While their relationship is a major contributing factor, there is more to the Dance of the Dragons, and the focus on this aspect sidelines Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney). Poised to be Rhaenyra’s rival for the Iron Throne, Aegon II is crowned through the ambition of his mother and grandfather, Otto (Rhys Ifans), rather than his own actions. Throughout Season 1, Alicent fills the role of head of the Greens, but Aegon II is supposed to be their king. As House of the Dragon developed the family drama that leads to war, it focused on the falling out of Rhaenyra and Alicent, and due to the timeline, this made sense. But Alicent is not their leader, and her son is old enough to take control. Without Aegon II, the Greens have no claim to the throne or would at least have to move to one of his younger brothers in their efforts to crown a king. Yet both Alicent and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) have done more in the story than the man who has been crowned king. As the conflict escalates, this needs to change, giving Aegon II the chance to take an active role and lead his faction instead of following Alicent.

House of the Dragon

TV-MA

Fantasy

Drama

Action

Adventure

The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys.

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Creator

Ryan J. Condal, George R.R. Martin

Cast

Paddy Considine , Olivia Cooke , Rhys Ifans , Matt Smith , Eve Best , Steve Toussaint , Emma D’Arcy , Milly Alcock , Emily Carey

Seasons

2

Distributor

HBO

Focusing on Rhaenyra and Alicent Made Sense in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 1

Undoubtedly, Rhaenyra is one of the show’s main characters. As a contender for the throne and a driving force in Season 1, it’s impossible to deny that she will continue to play an important role throughout the show. Therefore, her relationship with Alicent is significant, especially as it creates a division in the family throughout Season 1. While their rivalry is helped along by Viserys’ clear favoritism, their falling out is critical to understanding the story. It is a natural focus as this portion of the story took place before the war began, and much of it was before important characters were even born. The Rhaenyra and Alicent friendship does not appear in Fire & Blood but was added to make the beginning of the war more compelling, and it succeeded. While the book has a more stereotypical evil stepmother dynamic, the show added layers of complexity to depict the struggles of women. This also plays up the moral ambiguity of the world, not making Rhaenyra or Alicent a villain.

Throughout Season 1, these two women went back and forth in their relationship. In the beginning, they were best friends, and House of the Dragon even hinted at more between them. When Alicent marrying Rhaenyra’s father, they grow apart. And Rhaenyra lying to Alicent exacerbates things. Once Alicent shows up to Rhaenyra’s wedding in her green dress, the factions between the queen and the princess are set. Their rivalry manifests in their children, who fight despite Viserys’ attempts to reconcile his family. Though there seems to be a hope of peace until the end, there is no turning back from the war. But the exploration into their relationship is largely complete. Why Rhaenyra and Alicent hate each other is established, as is why their children cannot get along. And, with their children killing each other, Rhaenyra and Alicent will never truly be able to make up. No longer able to change, this relationship becomes less important. The war cannot stop until one side wins, and neither Rhaenyra nor Alicent will reevaluate their loyalties. The show cannot waste time focusing on the ever-growing animosity between Alicent and Rhaenyra when a more important dynamic is at stake.

‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Needs to Spend More Time on Aegon II

Though it made sense to focus on Alicent throughout Season 1, as she gave the Green faction their name, she is not in line for the throne. Alicent was instrumental in campaigning for her son to inherit the Iron Throne before he was old enough to understand, but she is not the leader of the Greens. That role falls to Aegon II as the oldest son of Viserys, though he isn’t as willing as his mother or brother. Aegon II was minimally involved in Season 1, and that trend cannot continue. The time he spent in the story portrayed him as less-than-kingly as he got drunk, assaulted a servant, was used as a pawn, and showed no interest in ruling whatsoever. This contrasts with Rhaenyra, who is prepared to fight for her claim. As they are the ones with claims to the throne, Rhaenyra and Aegon II should be the focus moving forward, but to build the competition between them, Aegon II must actually rule.

Aegon II is crowned through the actions of others, namely Alicent and Otto. When his father died, House of the Dragon showed Alicent and Otto racing to find him, each planning on installing him as king but using his to further their own goals. This shows what each expects from Aegon II as king, which is to follow their instructions, or better yet, provide the Targaryen name while each attempts to rule in his place. But if he is meant to be a serious contender for king, Aegon II must be an active part of the war, not a pawn. With the war coming, it is undeniable that his brother Aemond is more suited to the role. With his dragon Vhagar and skills as a warrior, Aemond fits the image better, and he has already proven himself more active as he recruited the Baratheons’ support and killed Lucerys, albeit by accident. Aegon II’s coronation showed him embracing the cheers of the crowd, suggesting that he may enjoy his new role in the future. In the trailers for Season 2, we see Aegon taking a much more active role in the war, including riding on his dragon, Sunfyre, in full armor.

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The Dance of the Dragons Is Larger Than Alicent and Rhaenyra

Though they are crucial in starting the conflict, the Dance of the Dragons is about more than Rhaenyra and Alicent. In fact, it’s bigger than the Targaryen family. As Westeros picks sides, the scope of the war grows, incorporating old feuds and impacting everyone in the kingdom. Once people start dying, it is no longer about Rhaenyra and Alicent’s problems with each other. Even by the end of Season 1, the scope had grown beyond these two. With the next generation of Targaryens growing in importance, Rhaenyra and Alicent lose control of the rivalry. These characters are not present for half of the first season, making Rhaenyra and Alicent the obvious focus, but since their introduction, the division has grown. When a brawl between the children ended with Aemond losing an eye, it became clear that Alicent and Rhenyra were no longer needed as the driving force behind this rivalry. Though they initiated the fight, their children are capable of continuing it, proving that even if there is a change in dynamic between Rhaenyra and Alicent, it could not usher in peace.

Though the addition of their friendship and subsequent falling out served Season 1 well, it is not a plot that needs to be continued. Instead, the series should focus on the war, which is between Rhaenyra and Aegon II and those who support them. Certainly, Alicent, Aemond, Daemon (Matt Smith), and many other members of the family play important roles, but Aegon II and Rhaenyra are the leaders, and the show must remember that. Both Rhaenyra and Alicent have plots available to them outside their conflict. Rhaenyra leads the Blacks, opposing her brother in her attempt to gain the throne. Meanwhile, Alicent can still strive to protect her family without the series centering on her relationship with Rhaenyra. Alicent can and should remain a central part of the series without the drama between princess and queen being dragged out further. Rather than replacing Aegon II with his mother to continue to focus on an old feud, House of the Dragon should let Aegon II take an active role and develop his and Rhaenyra’s competition.

House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere June 16, 2024. Season 1 is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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