Since the advent of the Game of Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon, the showrunners have drawn multiple parallels between Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra Targaryen and her descendant Daenerys. However, unlike in the case of the latter, who eventually descends into madness, the writing for Ancestor hasn’t completely won fans over.
While the books give little to no indication about her being a good ruler, the show has been making her likable as an able leader, which the character exactly isn’t. This has led to some questioning the show’s writing, claiming the show feels disjointed.
The Writing for Rhaenyra Targaryen Has Left Some Fans Less-Than-Thrilled
Prior to House of the Dragon season 2’s premiere, Emma D’Arcy previously stressed their character is going to be more unleashed, stressing it’ll delve deeper into her rage.
They told EW:
This season really investigates rage and maybe in particular a woman’s rage. All of a sudden she’s of no use to anyone. She’s done what she was supposed to do — put her son on the throne — and now she’s discarded. Who is she if she can’t be the person to implement wisdom?
However, instead of presenting her as a mad queen, the showrunners have ensured to make her more likable. But some fans are left less than thrilled by the writing.
Taking to X, fans shared:
Although the showrunners have taken their fair share of creative swings, considering how shocking her death is in the books, it’ll be interesting to see how they will adapt it in the following episodes.
House of the Dragon Director Confirmed Princess Daenerys Reference in Episode 3
In the third episode, four very fragile dragon eggs were sent alongside Rhaenyra’s two sons to the care of her niece. Interestingly, the gold, green, and reddish-black eggs looked very similar to Daenerys’ dragon eggs from the main show, which she received in the pilot of Game of Thrones.
Reflecting on it, the director of this episode, Geeta Vasant Patel, confirmed that these were, in fact, the eggs that Daenerys inherited in the main show. Considering how big fans they are of the show, shooting this scene, which directly references the mad queen from the original show, was very exciting for the makers per Patel. She told Mashable:
Those are Daenerys’ eggs. All of us who work on this show are big Game of Thrones fans, so it was very exciting to shoot that scene.
With five more episodes to go, it’ll be interesting to see where the showrunners take it from here, and hopefully, it’ll not stray too far from the source material.
House of the Dragon season 2 is available to stream on Max.
