House of the Dragon is setting up Rhaenyra to repeat Game of Thrones' biggest mistake

Fantasy stories like House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones can provide a temporary escape from reality. For an hour or so at a time, we can imagine ourselves tethered to dragons rather than the darkness of our daily newsfeeds. Some of the best fantasy stories, however, don't seek full escape from the darkness of the real world, but a more hopeful alternative. For me, that has been the appeal of watching Rhaenyra Targaryen throughout season 2 of House of the Dragon. She's a queen on the precipice of war who tries everything in her power to avoid it.

Following up on a season that leaned into the gruesome brutality of medieval times (including, but not limited to, the difficulties of childbirth before modern medicine), season 2-Rhaenyra became a pleasant surprise. She agonized over every death and put herself in harm's way to prevent further bloodshed. It felt like the House of the Dragon writers spent some time watching Avatar: The Last Airbender before they wrote Rhaenyra's arc this season.

At every turn throughout Season 2, Rhaenyra made carefully measured, compassionate choices. We all thought the season would open with Rhaenyra enacting a swift and brutal retaliation against Aemond Targaryen for killing her son, Lucerys. Instead, she spent an episode grieving her son’s death (Ignore the fact that her grief ultimately led to a child getting its head chopped off). Rhaenyra spent the next six episodes resisting any direct confrontation with the Greens until even Mysaria, her advisor-with-benefits, is like, "Come on, dude! Do something!" (Her words may have been slightly different).

As frustrating as Rhaenyra's hesitancy was throughout the season, it was also endearing. Critics have rightfully pointed out season 2 dragged, in no small part because of Rhaenyra's inaction, but at least she was one character on the show we could count on for sympathy, compassion, and level-headedness. For better or for worse, Rhaenyra came through the first seven episodes of season 2 looking like "The Good Queen," "The Right Queen," and "The Queen We're Rooting For."

Then she committed to reigning dragonfire on scores of innocent people.

Sound familiar?

Is Rhaenyra Targaryen heading towards the same fate as her descendant Daenerys?

If you're reading this, you probably don't need a reminder, but just in case: After spending the better part of eight seasons of Game of Thrones becoming "The Queen We Were Rooting For" and meticulously planning a bloodless takeover of King's Landing, Daenerys Targaryen says, "Just kidding" (Her words may have been slightly different) and decides to torch King's Landing and its civilians on dragonback, thus becoming Daenerys "The Mad Queen."

Rhaenyra and Daenerys' stories have significant parallels, the heaviest of which is the weight of history both characters carry. The House of the Dragon season 2 finale made it clear Rhaenyra feels an obligation to the past which compels her to take the Iron Throne by almost any means necessary. During a meal with her new dragonriders, she says they need to fly out and "break the will of our enemy," aka burn them to cinders. Her willingness to lock a bunch of hopeful dragonriders in a room with the angry dragon Vermithor the episode before also indicates an increasing willingness to be ruthless. In the final shot of the episode, we see Rhaenyra through a single empty slot at the bottom of a shelf of scrolls. Those scrolls, we have learned, contain records of the Targaryen bloodlines. That shot is the first foreshadowing we get that Rhaenyra might be crushed by her history rather than elevated by it.

Which is exactly what happened to Daenerys (that, and a dagger to the gut courtesy of Jon Snow). The injustice and abuse Daenerys endured, as well as, debatably, a genetic penchant for madness, drove Daenerys to vengeance, cruelty, and the arms of her dagger-wielding lover-nephew.

Maybe the takeaway from their stories is supposed to be that none of us can buck the weight of history. Maybe it's the ol' "absolute power corrupts absolutely." These are worthy themes to consider, and in Rhaenyra's case, there's a sense that war and power simply demand certain atrocities. They are the inevitable steps required to win the game of thrones. Not even Rhaenyra can escape that.

That makes sense to me. And when I think really hard about why Daenerys burns King's Landing, it also makes sense to me. But I still didn't believe it. In Rhaenyra’s case, wouldn't a queen who has spent her entire rein avoiding war and bloodshed attempt to make moves that would minimize collateral damage? Instead, Rhaenyra jumps straight to, “Whelp, I guess it’s time to burn some folks" (Again, slightly different words).

Rhaenyra’s justification is that killing a few innocents now will save more in the long run. However, the whole point of Rhaenyra's slow, meticulous arc is that she evaluates her situations more wisely and more compassionately than everyone else. Surely a queen who has won us over with her singular — albeit sometimes boring – combination of judiciousness and courage can come up with a better rationale than, "Buy now! Save later!"

With her decision, Rhaenyra steps out of the pure, shining light we've seen her in this season. Her hands, her reputation, and her legacy are about to get dirty. It should make for great television, just as Daenerys' descent should have been the final, thrilling twist in a series that kept us on our toes every episode. The biggest problem with Daenerys becoming the Mad Queen was that it undermined so much of the character Game of Thrones built. Her twist felt like a regression rather than an unfortunate progression. I hope the House of the Dragon writers don't repeat that mistake. I hope they treat Rhaenyra's character with the same care and patience Rhaenyra herself has shown, even if she ends up earning the title that, until now, has been a false label: Rhaenyra the Cruel.

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