Warning: The first major spoilers for the “House of the Dragon” second season finale and the book “Fire and Blood.”
Rhaenyra Targaryen and her arch rival, Alicent Hightower, form an alliance to take over the throne in “House of the Dragon” in the second season finale. They can succeed if the series follows the George RR Martin book on which the show is based.
Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) was the first heir to the throne after her father, King Viserys I (Paddy Considine), died in the first year. But Alicent (Olivia Cooke) thought she heard him change his mind and distrust Rhaenyra, so she supported Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), her eldest son with Viserys, to become king the next one.
In season two, Rhaenyra is plotting a way to reclaim the throne without endless bloodshed. When this seems fruitless, he prepares for an all-out war at the end of the second season.
Alicent then arrives, offering to help Rhaenyra take over the capital, King’s Landing, in exchange for the safety of her and her daughter Helaena (Phia Saban). Alicent just wants to run away from the kingdom with her daughter and even asks Rhaenyra to come with her, but Rhaenyra refuses.
As for Alicent’s two sons opposing Rhaenyra, Alicent allows Rhaenyra to kill her firstborn, Aegon, but there is no plan for Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his great dragon, Vhagar.
Unfortunately, we don’t see this plan moving forward. This series leaves a lot of room to keep the fans looking forward to the next season.
But if you don’t want to wait, here’s how Rhaenyra takes the throne from Martin in “Fire and Blood.”
Rhaenyra takes over King’s Landing without Alicent’s help in ‘Fire and Blood’.
Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) uses her dragons to conquer King’s Landing. Theo Whiteman/HBO
In this book, Aemond, Vhagar, and Criston Cole leave King’s Landing with a large army to fight Daemon, Rhaenyra’s husband, in the Riverlands and rebuild the castle of Harrenhal.
Instead of confronting them, Daemon left Harrenhal with his dragon Caraxes. He and Rhaenyra took over King’s Landing with their dragons, their group of dragonriders, and a fleet led by Corly Verlaryon.
All the messengers were cut off before they could send a cry for help, and Alicent’s brother, Ser Gwayne Hightower, was also killed in the chaos.
Alicent eventually surrendered the capital, but Aegon II, his daughter Princess Jaehaera, and his son Prince Maelor escaped with Larys Strong.
But when Rhaenyra finally sat on the Iron Throne, the book said the throne cut off her arm. This was a sign that the throne had abandoned her, and she would not be queen for long.
Ser Otto Hightower and Lord Jasper Wylde were later killed, Ser Tyland Lannister was tortured, Alicent and Helaena were imprisoned.
Meanwhile, Aemond and Criston Cole easily captured Harrenhal, but were separated when they heard of Rhaenyra’s plan. Aemond continued to burn the Riverlands, hoping that Rhaenyra’s dragoons would follow him, while Criston Cole took his forces south to join forces against Rhaenyra.
“Dragon House” seems to be already changing the events of this part of the story. Alicent betrayed the Greens, offering King’s Landing on a silver platter to Rhaenyra. The question remains whether Rhaenyra will honor her word and let Alicent go free or capture her.
Otto Hightower and Tyland Lannister are nowhere near King’s Landing, so they can escape their dire fate. Finally, Aegon and Larys seem to have left Jaehaera behind when they fled the capital in the second season.
The fall of King’s Landing probably won’t play out the same as in the book.
Rhaenyra rules from King’s Landing during the long war
Rhaenyra (Emma D’arcy) does not have a smooth, long reign like her father in “Fire and Blood.” HBO
After this turning point in the war, Rhaenyra reigned for less than a year, but it was not an easy rule.
Aegon and Aemond are still resisting his rule and have not been arrested. Daeron, Alicent’s third brother, and Lord Ormund Hightower have a dragon army in the south that is slowly advancing towards King’s Landing.
Rhaenyra struggled to raise enough money to maintain King’s Landing because most of the gold had been shipped.
Then, two of Rhaenyra’s minions, Hugh Hammer and Ulf White, switch sides and betray Rhaenyra, taking with them their dragons, Vermithor and Silverwing. Rhaneyra then questioned the loyalty of the other two passengers, Nettles and Addam, and called for their arrest, but both escaped.
Corlys Velaryon was arrested for helping Addam escape, and most of his fleet fled.
The last straw was when Helaena committed suicide, fueling rumors that she had been killed and sparking an uproar calling for justice.
Some men took advantage of the chaos, with criminals claiming to rule in their place and other groups going to the dragon’s den to kill the dragons.
Rhaenyra’s son, Joffrey, rode Syrax to save the other dragons, but fell and died. Then Rhaenyra and her surviving son, Aegon the Younger, fled the castle.
Rhaenyra no longer reigns after this and is later killed by her brother Aegon using his dragon Sunfyre. Since most of the important players had died by this time, there were only a few battles after Rhaenyra’s death.
It is unclear whether “House of the Dragon” will follow this story completely or take a different path. Fans will have to wait until next season starts.
#Rhaenyra #Targaryen #queen #season #House #Dragon