Emma D'Arcy: Jace is right to feel offended by Rhaenyra's decisions on House of the Dragon

Is Rhaenyra Targaryen a religious fanatic? She believes that she's destined to sit the Iron Throne because she has inherited knowledge of Aegon the Conqueror's prophetic dream. She's been talking about the gods a lot lately on HBO's House of the Dragon, citing them as a reason why it's okay to go forward with her plan to recruit Targaryen bastards to become new dragonriders. "I cannot gainsay that which the gods have laid before me," she tells her son Jace when he objects to the plan in the latest episode.

There's been an air of divine destiny around Rhaenyra since the start; remember early in the first season when she and Criston Cole are the only ones to see the mythical white hart in the woods, and she decides not to capture it? Rhaenyra sees herself as ordained to sit the Iron Throne, but as we remember from Daenerys Targaryen's journey on Game of Thrones, seeing yourself as a messiah can have dangerous consequences.

Jace's objection to recruiting Targaryen bastards, known as dragonseeds, is that it puts the legitimacy of his claim in question. Jace is a bastard himself, something he knows but is careful not to admit aloud; his whole life, people have questioned his legitimacy on account of him not looking at all like his purported father Laenor Velaryon, Rhaenyra's first husband; he looks more like her lover Harwin Strong. But at least he rides a dragon, something only Targaryens are known to do. If other Targaryen bastards are allowed to mount dragons, he worries, his claim to the Iron Throne after Rhaenyra will again be thrown in question. People will resume their whispering.

Jace doesn't have these concerns in George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, but I found them moving and believable. Emma D'Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra, feels the same way. "Rhaenyra’s fire and volatility — the thing we see exhibit itself in Daemon as aggression or big impulsive acts — comes from the ultimate belief that she is supposed to take over her father’s throne," D'Arcy told The Wrap. "I think it borders on a kind of religious fanaticism — we see her become more and more wedded and ingratiated into her faith. She seeks the old gods, by which I think we also sort of mean dragons, as a key to her own future. In a slightly frightening way, there’s a religious fervor, like she has the gods at her back in this decision."

"Jace has every reason to feel deeply compromised by his mother’s choice. Ultimately, she will choose herself, really, above anyone. And here she chooses herself and her divine right over her son and her son’s legitimacy. I don’t think it’s an easy decision — we’ve seen Rhaenyra, over years, fight vehemently for the legitimacy of her children. We’ve seen her fight petitions. We’ve seen her stake all of her reputation, protecting those boys.

But in this case, she feels she’s received divine permission. Jace says — and Harry Collett plays it so beautifully in the episode — all these issues with how I look are silenced by the fact that I’m a dragon rider, and you are willing to give that license that I own away, and he’s right that she doesn’t shut down his argument, which I feel is the only respect she can show him, right?"

It's true that Rhaenyra doesn't really argue back against Jace's claim that the dragonseeds will once again call his parentage into question; she only says that she must go forward since the gods are showing her a path. I mean, the dragon Seasmoke chose Addam of Hull as his new rider. Are you going to second-guess the flying, fire-breathing miracle animal? As the dragonkeepers say, the dragons are the last bit of magic from Old Valyria still left in the world.

For the record, the dragonkeepers also object to Rhaenyra's plan, on the grounds that the dragons are sacred and that allowing Targaryen bastards to try and ride them is, essentially, sacrilege. Also remember what the smallfolk of King's Landing said when the head of the dragon Meleys was rolled through the streets a few episodes back. "I thought they were gods," says one shocked onlooker. "They're just meat," replies Hugh Hammer, who himself claimed the dragon Vermithor in the newest episode.

What happens when your gods are brought down to earth? What happens when you choose belief — in yourself or in your religion, which may be the same thing in Rhaenyra's case — over your family? Catch the House of the Dragon season 2 finale this Sunday on HBO and Max to find out.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.