In House of the Dragon season 3, episode 2, Rhaenyra Targaryen at last claimed her birthright, the Iron Throne, and is finally Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Her enemies are in disarray: King Aegon is badly injured and on the run, Prince Regent Aemond has been lured far away from the heart of the war, and Otto Hightower is dead by the new queen's hand. You'd be forgiven for thinking this was Rhaenyra's happily ever after at last.
But episode 3 is far from the triumphant epilogue that you would expect to follow the rightful ruler reclaiming her title after two seasons of bitter betrayal. Instead of a glorious coronation or a victory lap of noble houses pledging their undying loyalty, Rhaenyra must grapple with the humdrum, nitty-gritty details of ruling. Where another fantasy show might handwave away the logistical realities of regime change, House of the Dragon season 3 dedicates an entire episode to the banalities of becoming the new monarch in turbulent times.
Rhaenyra's problems have nothing to do with magic or fiery dragon battles. Instead, she arrives to an empty treasury, hasn't had a chance to name a new Queensguard, has a recalcitrant High Septon who refuses to coronate her until Aegon is proven dead, a bickering small council, an infestation of rats, and even menstrual cramps, to name just some of her roadblocks. When her uncle/husband Daemon starts speaking of lofty ideals of conquering the world, Rhaenyra reminds him they need to take King's Landing first: this is no happily ever after. Instead, the episode perfectly fits with the ethos of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and that's what makes it a standout of the entire series.
Rhaenyra's tax policy
Martin himself seems opposed to the neatness of a happily ever after, despite Game of Thrones season 8 – which gleefully twisted our expectations all the way through – giving in to the temptation. That finale concluded with Bran becoming king, and no details on what happened afterwards. Westeros was still a powder keg of conflicting alliances and agendas, and it's hard to imagine all of that simmered away overnight.
Of course, House of the Dragon isn't going to end a season and a half early with a happy ending that isn't true to the source material. But its latest episode not only bucks our expectations of what a Rhaenyra regnum would look like, it also fulfils Martin's own philosophy of fantasy monarchs by answering the question of what comes after the great victory.
"Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with," Martin told Rolling Stone back in 2014 (via TolkienSociety.org). "Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history, and it's not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn't ask the question: What was Aragorn's tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs?
"By the end of the war, Sauron is gone, but all of the orcs aren't gone – they're in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?"
Rhaenyra's war might look won, but the real struggle is just beginning. Already, she's faced with the choice between placating the noble houses or avenging the smallfolk who have suffered, while dragonseed Hugh Hammer and her Hand Corlys Velaryon both ask favors of her. Meanwhile, the smallfolk line up to beg for her help. Whatever she does, she upsets someone.
She even has a knotty, moral dilemma like Tolkien's baby orcs, too, with the issue of young Prince Daeron. Daemon urges her to kill the boy, who is a threat to her rule, but Rhaenyra hesitates because he is just a child. There are no simple answers for the new queen.
After the victory
Throughout the series, Rhaenyra has proclaimed her right as Viserys's heir to take the throne, but we've never heard any of her ideas on governance or seen exactly why she should wear the crown. That's why this episode is so refreshing: reality has at last set in. Its change of tempo, from dragon battles to treasury woes, makes it a standout of the entire show so far, as it reminds us life goes on after the crown is taken (and it challenges the idea of a divine right to rule, too). It's even better because the groundwork for such a hollow victory was laid in the previous installment.
Rhaenyra's claiming of the throne wasn't a joyous moment, but rather a raw, painful one, as she cried uncontrollably while she hacked at Otto's neck, then trailed bloody footprints on her way to the throne. As she told Daemon earlier in the episode, she has brutally lost two of her sons to sit on that chair: episode 3 is what the blood of her children bought her, and it might not be quite what she imagined.
The end of the episode is also a reminder that the civil war between the Greens and the Blacks is far from over, too. Ormund Hightower takes Tumbleton and clearly plans to continue to fight on, with Tessarion the dragon and the real Prince Daeron at his side.
So, Rhaenyra will have to balance the grinding struggle of ruling with the ongoing war. After all, this is the dying of the dragons, and the beginning of the fall of House Targaryen. There will be no happily ever after.
House of the Dragon continues weekly on HBO in the US and HBO Max, Sky, and NOW in the UK. Keep up to date with our House of the Dragon season 3 release schedule.
For even more, check out our House of the Dragon season 3 review, or our guide to all the upcoming Game of Thrones movies and TV shows.
