Today we will say goodbye to Rhaenys (Eve Best), we will see Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) lose their grandmother and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) will be confronted for having let her cousin go alone to face the Greens. Today’s episode is one of the most anticipated of the ENTIRE franchise, and I anticipate that many will complain about the result. If you know, you know.

Rhaenys’ death will have an impact on the series because apparently, children don’t affect politics. Lucaerys and Jaehaerys were brutally murdered but overcome in three seconds because the plot has to move forward. This difference in the book is not a purist’s bummer: it brought a tragic dimension to Rhaenyra and Helaena (Phia Saban) which was lost due to concerns about criticism. That’s right, the female Targaryens are in the shadow of their descendant, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) instead of the other way around. It’s a syndrome of women in the family.

In Game of Thrones, Daenerys had a trajectory worthy of a classic heroine: abused, violated, survivor, empathetic, charismatic, and leader. For all this, she genuinely cares about the less privileged, embracing the fact of ending slavery as the primary cause for her return to the Iron Throne. Even more, to free the oppressed with revenge from the oppressors, the Justice that they always lacked.

This speech, which started out genuine, never stopped being opportunistic, but few picked up the clear clues along the way. Daenerys never ceased to be impressed with herself, creating a legend for herself, a mythology that justified any measure to be maintained.

Daenerys’ strength is undeniable. Her weakness was listening to the advice of men who didn’t share her vision, trying to be what she was no longer at that time. The opposition of Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), the two women who did not surrender to the image that Daenerys had of herself, destroyed the character, and the world is still divided between those who defend the Mother of Dragons. and those who saw her for what she was: a despot with a mania for grandeur who lost connection with reality.

As you can see, I’m not team-Dany, I’ve always been team-Jon (Kit Harington).

The problem with Daenerys’s “change”, which was well constructed, but which took people by surprise, is that now, the House of the Dragon showrunners find themselves in the trap of putting all the female Targaryens as the Daenerys that fans they saw, not the complex character imagined by George R. R. Martin.

This “broken heroine syndrome” is strange because it turns every suggested depth of human flaws into something inconceivable. In the pages of Blood and Fire, Rhaenyra is a hurt, bruised, betrayed, insecure, paranoid, and inexperienced woman, even though she is a devoted and caring mother. Likewise, Helaena was a woman who was driven mad by the violence of the Civil War. None of this is on screen.

Rhaenyra became a sweet leader, prepared and concerned about the Kingdom even before her personal pain of being stolen, having a son brutally murdered, an attack in her room, and still having to fight for the “good of the Kingdom”. She is not the Rhaenyra of literature, a hurt, traumatized, and proud woman, who embarks on violence as a “just” response to the evil she has suffered. I prefer the one in the book, I confess.

Rhaenyra whose problem is machismo just stays shallow. This political Rhaenyra would have made a deal and sought a diplomatic response as soon as Otto (Rhys Iphans) knocked on her door. It would be a Rhaenyra who would understand the agility that would require a response to the death of Luce, the one Daemon (Matt Smith) expected as his wife.

However, this “fair” Rhaenyra charms Rhaenys and Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), themselves women who wouldn’t necessarily appreciate these qualities. That Rhaenyra is a hero is one thing, but a perfect Targaryen is contradictory.

What have we lost with politically correct Rhaenyra? Everything the drama could provide. Imperfections are essential to humanize a character, especially one from the fantasy universe. For her to feel bad about wanting revenge, and still moving forward, would be one thing, but she is ALWAYS the victim of misunderstandings or ambitious men.

I understand that the showrunners want to give us a perfect female heroine, one that not even men would measure up to, which is what Daenerys fans see in the character. It’s tempting to be on good terms with this part of the public and tiring to oppose them. But this takes ALL dramatic dimensions away from Rhaenyra, making her dangerously lacking in strength or challenge. Daenerys had challenges like Rhaenyra’s, even greater, we can argue, and she overcame them with the flaws I already mentioned. Rhaenyra doesn’t have failures.

Likewise, Helaena was already a bit “crazy” before the trauma, and was understanding to the point of saying that her pain of having witnessed her son beheaded by murderers does not compare to the pain of local mothers who lose their children to hunger. Sorry, no mother would agree with her.

This simplification of the script does not ruin House of the Dragon but it does not equate it with the boldness of Game of Thrones. We can complain about the series’ final decisions, but never accuse it of trying to play it safe. And House of the Dragon is too safe. That is very dangerous.

The difference between young Rhaenyra’s petulance, perfectly inserted by Milly Alcock, is greatly missed by the adult. We resume the season hearing that she spent 10 days personally searching for Lucaerys’ remains, asked for Aemond’s (Ewan Mitchell) head, survived the attack by the Cargyll twin, and still went to talk to Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and to make matters worse, on the recommendation of Rhaenys, herself a witness and victim of the Greens’ attacks. Even in fantasy? Unlikely.

What are the consequences? Rhaenys’ death, on her birthday, may be epic, but it’s irrelevant. Peace had a chance for five seconds, only Rhaenyra insisted on discussing it at the cost of innocent lives.

The changes made to Rhaenys make me want to see her battle, but I can’t wait to say goodbye to her. She didn’t print it like in the book. Whose fault? From Daenerys Targaryen. The most legendary of all Targaryen women.

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