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Why does Rhaenys keep returning to the attack in House of the Dragon Season 2?

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Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 4 of House of the Dragon.


The big picture

  • In
    House of the Dragon
    Season 2, Episode 4: Rhaenys Targaryen sacrifices herself to attack Vhagar, changing the tone of the war.
  • Killing Aemond and Vhagar would significantly weaken the Greens, making them a valuable target.
  • The loss of Rhaenys and Meleys leaves Rhaenyra vulnerable and forces the Blacks to change their strategy.


House of the Dragon has just had its biggest dragon fight, and the end result has completely changed the tone of the war. We watched as three dragons took to the sky and scratched and clawed at each other, each ready to fight to the death. But while the “dance” of the dragons ended with Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) burned and his dragon Sunfire injured, the Battle of Rook’s Rest meant the end for a certain Black figure: Rhaenys Targaryen (Eva Best). When Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) literally emerged victorious, some viewers might notice that while Rhaenys ultimately died with her dragon Meleys, She had several chances to return to Dragonstone. So why would Rhaenys continue to attack Vhagar when she had the chance to escape? It didn’t seem like Aemond cared if she escaped at all. So Why didn’t Rhaenys save herself and live to fight another day??



There has never been a better chance to kill Vhagar

The fact is that Vhagar is a huge advantage for the Greens. In fact, in terms of firepower, Vhagar might be the only thing stopping the Blacks from simply overtaking Criston Coles (Fabien Frankel) army and roasts them alive, since we haven’t seen Daeron’s dragon Tessarion (or Daeron, for that matter) yet and Aegon has been repeatedly prevented from mounting his dragon due to the risk to his life. Not only does Vhagar protect King’s Landing, but Aemond isn’t afraid to use her in battle. As the largest dragon in the world, the Black One should use every opportunity to kill Vhagar. That is why Daemon’s (Matt Smith) plan to attack Vhagar with Rhaenys in the first episode of the season isn’t technically a bad one.


As Rhaenys says to Rhaenyra before leaving for Rook’s Rest (Emma D’Arcy) and their advice, Meleys is their largest dragon and above all one with combat experience. The Blacks do have more dragons, but almost all of them are young and inexperienced. The experienced dragons do not have riders and thus are not really an advantage for them at this point. When Rhaenys and Meleys meet Aegon and Sunfyre on the battlefield, she has a clear advantage. Meleys knows how to attack with her claws and almost instantly Sunfyre’s wing is injured and he is bleeding from the abdomen. If Aegon was the only Green dragon rider in the battle, that would have been an easy win for the Blacks.

But when Vhagar arrives, the dynamic of the battle changes. Aemond hits both Rhaenys and Aegon with a barrage of dragon fire, and while Rhaenys manages to push Meleys away, Aegon and Sunfyre take the full force of Vhagar’s flames and fall to the ground. At this point, Aemond does not pursue Rhaenys, she can return to Dragonstone. But what would that do? Rook’s Rest would be taken and the Blacks would lose their access to the mainland. If she turns back and fights Vhagar, she might die in the process, but she might also take out the dragon right away. So she repeatedly goes on the attack, even knocking Vhagar out of the sky at one point. Although Meleys is smaller than Vhagar, she puts up a fierce fight. So Rhaenys turns back; there was literally never a better chance to kill Vhagar although it is not a fair fight. She seems to know that she will die whether they win or lose this fight.


A close-up of Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) looking sad with her eyes directed to the left of the frame in Season 2 of

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Helaena is the only flawless green in “House of the Dragon”

She may be the queen, but Helaena is as much an innocent victim of this war as anyone else.

The loss of Rhaenys and Meleys will greatly weaken the Blacks

Although the Blacks now hold Harrenhal, keeping Harrenhal is a bigger problem. Daemon must deal with the complicated politics of the Riverlords while also dealing with his own traumatizing nightmares about the young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and a witch (Gayle Rankin) tries to drug him. He cannot leave the castle, otherwise there is a risk that it will be taken over by the Greens. Harrenhal is an extremely strategic location. It is the largest castle in Westeros, which means it can house a large army. It is also in a central location, making it a good rallying point. But the problem is that Daemon is one of the few people who has experience riding his dragon to war. In Season 1, Episode 3, we saw Daemon and Laenor (Theo Nate) fight in the stepping stones on Dragon’s Back, and we have also seen that they encountered forces that could repel attacks from dragons. With this knowledge, Daemon has the most combat experience both defensively and offensively with his dragon Caraxes.


But now that Rhaenys is dead and Meleys is no longer in office, puts Rhaenyra in a very vulnerable position. The only remaining dragons are Rhaenyras Syrax, Jaces (Harry Collett) Dragon Vermax and Baelas (Bethany Antonia) Dragon Moondancer. The latter two are young dragons, and Rhaenyra cannot go into battle as it would make her too easy a target. As Jace points out, if she dies, the cause is lost. The reality is that without Meleys, someone else will have to man the gully and the blockade, and then only two dragons will be left. This will cause the blacks to change their strategyas book readers know, but for now, it explains exactly why Rhaenys kept going back to attack Vhagar. If she can take out Vhagar, or at least maim her enough to take her out of the game, the war is essentially won.


For the Greens, the loss of Aegon, or at least its decommissioning, is not a great loss. As Alicent (Olivia Cooke) coldly points out in this episode that the best Aegon can do is nothing. The Council is better at managing the war than he is, and Aemond and Cole’s strategy to conquer the crown lands seems to be working. But the Blacks no longer have access to the land, so are still without an army, and have now lost one of their most valuable chess pieces. The Blacks must move quickly if they want to have a chance of winning. There have been assassinations, dragon attacks, and now open war. Anything is possible, and it will only get bloodier. Rhaenys has tried her best, but in the end she has only achieved the death of a dragon rider – which is a sad but poignant parallel to her own daughter’s wishes. “The Dance of Dragons” marks the first major death in this war, and it is one that gives one side a very clear advantage.


House of the Dragon The first episodes of the second season will air in the US on Sunday at 9 p.m. EST.

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