House of the Dragon hasn't wanted for terrific acting from its outstanding cast, but as season 3 unfolds, Emma D'Arcy has continued to stand out in scene after scene.
D'Arcy has been excellent since taking over the role from Milly Alcock in the middle of season 1. Still, this time around they have taken the role to new heights, portraying Rhaenyra Targaryen with masterful skill.
Rhaenyra has always suffered from impostor syndrome, being a woman of power in an extremely patriarchal society. Though her father publicly named her heir to the Iron Throne, many nobles were against the idea because she was a woman. Things didn't get easier for her when her father's new wife, Alicent Hightower, produced male heirs.
When her half-brother Aegon was given the crown, Rhaenyra revolted, gathering strength at Dragonstone. She names her son Jace her heir to the throne while she plans to retake it from Aegon, who is a usurper in her eyes.
Emma D'Arcy has been outstanding in House of the Dragon season 3
Episode 2 of season 3 highlighted just how much D'Arcy has grown into their role as Rhaenyra. In episode 1, Jacaerys, eager to prove his mettle, had his mother locked up so he could fly into battle in her place. At the end of the battle, Jace is killed.
When Rhaenyra finds out about Jace's death, D'Arcy gives an outstanding performance of her grief. The audience can feel Rhaenyra's grief. They believe her grief. D'Arcy is playing a mother who's lost two children (Lucerys did at the end of season 1). We've seen grief played many times. Seldom has it been played as real and raw as D'Arcy did. These scenes were superbly done.
Rhaenyra had been working with Alicent to return to King's Landing and take over the Iron Throne. Aegon was gone and presumed dead, and Aemond was ruling in his stead. Alicent is scared for Aemond, and scared of him, because he certainly has the Targaryen penchant for cruelty and violence.
Still grieving, Rhaenyra comes to King's Landing and takes the throne back. D'Arcy plays this beautifully. Rhaenyra is getting what she always wanted, what she deserved, but she is all but overwhelmed in her grief.
At the end of episode 2, Alicent's father, Ser Otto Hightower, who was the architect behind Aegon's ascension to the throne, is found in a cell. He is brought before Rhaenyra in the throne room, and she knows he must be put to death for his role in stealing her throne for his grandson.
Daemon, Rhaenyra's husband/uncle, tells her that she must execute Ser Otto. The look of fear and consternation on D'Arcy's face says a thousand words. Rhaenyra knew the man must die, but she hoped Daemon would take care of it for her. But Daemon was right; in the world of Westeros, she had to be the one to wield the sword.
She made a mess of it. She was never fully trained to wield a sword, and she missed on her first attempt, something she feared. She does complete the task, but the trauma of this piles on top of her still raw grief.
In her closing scene, Rhaenyra sits on the Iron Throne, clutching a bloody sword; a look of fear, grief, paranoia, and insecurity played upon her face all at once. She looked more like a child who got what she wanted and didn't know what to do at that moment of success. This whole episode was an homage to D'Arcy, and they were brilliant from start to finish.
In episode 3, Rhaenyra has to act like a ruler. She has a tremendous scene where she serves rats to the nobility at a banquet, telling them she is raiding their homes, seeking food for the city. She chastizes them for hoarding, and while it looks like a bold move, it is a naive one. Rhaenyra alienates the nobility but doesn't seem to realize that she will need their support in the future.
She then takes the supplies rooted out and personally hands them out to her people. Again, it is a fine moment for her as Queen, but D'Arcy is able to insert into Rhaenyra that degree of innocence that makes the Queen think it will lead to long-term harmony and support of her people.
D'Arcy's performance was even more subtle in episode 4. Rhaenyra has what she's always wanted, but now she is annoyed with the minutiae of the day-to-day ruling of a city and a kingdom. Small things need to be addressed, but they aren't things she wants to spend time on. She's often flippant and dismissive. D'Arcy shows that despite all of Rhaenyra's training to be a ruler, the Queen is unprepared for the scope of the job.
When Rhaenyra is told about how she isn't as loved around King's Landing as she hoped, she acts defensively. She does not consider the weight of her words as queen. She orders that the negative words and graffiti written on walls around the city be removed and the culprits dealt with; her orders are taken seriously.
Although Rhaenyra was angry and annoyed about the news, she was too abrupt and careless with her orders. Those orders are carried out with the brutality of a tyrant, which will surely cause Rhaenrya issues in the future.
D'Arcy plays these scenes with purpose, showing the audience just how unprepared Rhaenyra is for the role and how she has underestimated it. D'Arcy projects a surprising amount of naïveté into the queen's actions, decisions, and general attitude.
The queen has a lot going on, trying to find the person responsible for Jace's death, figure out where Aemond is hiding, and uncover the plans of her new enemy Ormund Hightower. She wants to focus on those things but is dismissive, to an extent, with everything else.
In D'Arcy's performance, audiences can feel the pressures bubbling just underneath the surface with the queen. Few Targaryens have been good rulers, and though Rhaenyra desperately wants to be one, you can feel she is on the brink of insanity. Anger and hurt over Jace's death are still raging within Rhaenyra, and D'Arcy is pushing their character to the brink in an incredible way.
D'Arcy has been brilliant this season, and it has been a delight to watch them each week as they shows all the layers, good and bad, of Rhaenyra Targaryen.
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