House of the Dragon director explains why the Alicent-Rhaenyra meetup didn't work

The latest episode of House of the Dragon, "The Burning Mill," ends with our lead character Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) disguising herself as a septa (basically a nun) and sneaking into King's Landing to meet up with Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), the mother of the man currently at war with Rhaenyra over the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra's hope is that she and Alicent can come to some kind of agreement before the war gets even more nasty.

But it doesn't work out; too much blood has already been spilled. "When Rhaenyra came [to King's Landing], she wanted Alicent to make a deal with her," director Geeta Patel explained to Mashable. "The problem is that she didn't offer Alicent anything. There was no collaboration, nothing that they did to work together. So coming out of that scene, Rhaenyra is thinking, 'I have no choice. I must go to war with you.'"

That certainly does look like what happens in the next episode:

Alicent realizes she was wrong, but doesn't budget: "It's too late"

So the attempt at détente didn't work out. The meetup is also a reunion between old friends; in some ways, Rhaenyra and Alicent's deteriorating relationship is at the core of the show. They were inseparable in childhood, grew apart as adults, and finally seemed to be mending their relationship towards the end of season 1.

But after Rhaenyra's father King Viserys died, Alicent — the king's wife — misinterpreted his dying words and then used them as an excuse to put her own son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) on the throne rather than honor Viserys' wish and crown Rhaenyra. In the new scene, Alicent learns that she was wrong, but doesn't back down.

"Alicent getting this new information is a very important moment that she will process in episodes to come," Patel said. "In the moment, she stands by her argument and holds fast to it. I think it's quite human in that way. Sometimes, someone tells us we're wrong, and in the moment, you think, 'no I'm not.' Then a day later, you realize, 'I was wrong.' This is one of those human moments where the writers did a really great job of allowing it to have this nuance that we all understand."

I've always wondered whether Alicent really believed that King Viserys changed his mind at the last minute and decided to make Aegon his heir, or if it was just something she told herself so she could go ahead and do what she wanted anyway. Now that she knows the truth, she'll have nowhere to hide. She'll have to move forward without any blinders on, which should be interesting to watch.

Watch it we will as the second season of House of the Dragon continues. New episodes air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.

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