Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of House of the Dragon.
House of the Dragon Season 1 has come with its share of emotional roller coasters. From time jumps, to actor changes, to gruesome birth scenes and toxic family drama, the Game of Thrones spin-off wastes no time pulling in its viewers. Nonetheless, one of the greatest emotional roller coasters comes in two separate scenes from three different characters and two dragons.
One can easily conclude that Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is the primary antagonist of Season 1. From the beginning, he sees his daughter as little more than a pawn to move in on Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), who was recently a widower. Otto is cunning, cruel, and sneaky, often manipulating those close to him for his own gain. He is willing to gain power by any means necessary, even murder.
The Red Queen, Rhaenys, and her Frustrating Mercy
The penultimate episode begins with the death of Viserys, who, honestly, looks like he's been slowly dying since the series started. Beginning with a misunderstanding of his last words, Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) calls council to place Prince Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) on the Iron Throne, usurping Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'arcy). To Alicent's surprise, this has been The Greens' plan all along, with Otto specifically willing to murder Rhaenyra and her children to make it so (honestly, he's so grizzly). Alicent was never on board with the latter or even usurping Rhaenyra as heir, but Otto is the conductor of their fates. After an episode-long search for Aegon in which viewers learn that he sucks worse than initially thought, he takes the throne with all the arrogance one would expect. Meanwhile, as Aegon and the Hightowers enjoy one second of triumph, Rhaenys Targeryan (Eve Best) flies in on Meleys, The Red Queen, destroying the celebration and maybe killing some smallfolk. Meleys lets out a mighty roar and flies away, leaving the Hightowers with a moment of relief that may serve as a calm before the impending storm.
The breath of relief that must have left Alicent, knowing that she was not just burned alive, was met with confusion for many viewers, leading to one of the final emotional roller coasters of the season. How easy could it have been to yell a jubilant "Dracarys" and blow away the hateful Otto and the rest of the Greens? Well, aside from the sin of kinslaying, and honoring both the late Viserys' and Rhaenyra's wishes, Rhaenys insists in the final episode that "the war is not hers to begin," which leads us to Rhaenyra.
Rhaenyra's Level-Headedness
Once crowned queen by the Blacks, Rhaenyra takes a prudent approach to her rule, choosing to count allies in case war erupts rather than immediately starting one. When slippery Otto arrives at Dragonstone bearing the Greens' offer to Rhaenyra to acknowledge Aegon as King, Rhaenyra flies in on Syrax for the meeting. Again, we have an opportunity to hear a victorious "Dracarys!" and see evil Otto turned to ash, but Rhaenyra does not seize this opportunity. Instead, she listens and agrees to consider their offer. At the same time, she stops her charismatic but trigger-happy uncle husband, Daemon (Matt Smith), from erupting into justified violence against Otto.
Otto departs and, once again, gets to walk away in one piece. Unscathed. Not charred. This leads viewers to another tremendous emotional roller coaster because "Dracarys" may have solved a lot. May have.
Truthfully though, that view isn't fair to Rhaenyra. For starters, viewers know what Rhaenyra doesn't know: that there is a possibility that this negotiation is false, being that Otto has already made it clear that he intends to kill her and her family, and last we heard, Aegon hadn't protested that. If the possibility of her and her children's demise is not in Rhaenyra's consideration, then she is only looking at the betrayal of her father's wishes and the treasonous claim of her birthright. Taking after her father, Viserys the Peaceful, and remembering her oath to keep the realms united, Rhaenyra chooses to consider the option that may shed the least amount of blood.
A Question of War
As it stands, Rhaenyra does not believe that war has started. She knows that if any of the Blacks were to kill Otto, it would be an act of war, regardless of whether it came from her or not. At this point, Rhaenyra also does not know who her allies are, and the Greens have more men. To Daemon's point, the Blacks do have significantly more dragons. Dragons can easily kill men, but men cannot easily kill dragons. Only other dragons can, as we sadly see of Arrax to Vhagar. However, this is also Rhaenyra's point: A war of dragons would destroy the realms and all who live in them, and she does not want to rule over "a kingdom of ash and bone." But it's more than that, which is key because it demonstrates how Rhaenyra is the antithesis of Otto Hightower.
As previously stated, Otto will gain power by any means necessary. He is not above killing Rhaenyra, or her young children. He is not above usurping a throne and potentially placing his grandchild in a position to be murdered, as long as Aegon, who is as Hightower as he is Targaryen, is on the throne. Rhaenyra doesn't see things this way. As she clearly states, her true duty to the realm is to maintain "peace and unity." It is not "to sit on the Iron Throne at all costs."
She knew that killing Otto would incite war, and even if war is inevitable, she believes it is her duty not to start it.
Being Targaryen
There is also one piece of knowledge that Daemon does not know. In fact, now that Viserys has died, only Rhaenyra has the full understanding of this knowledge, and that is, of course, The Song of Ice and Fire. Rhaenyra understands that the survival of the realms is necessary to prevent the end of man. Furthermore, a Targaryen seated on the Iron Throne when the war from the North occurs is also essential to prevent the end of man. Rhaenyra knows that at this present moment, there is a Targaryen on the throne, even if he should not be. Rhaenyra's knowledge of this prophecy, combined with a united realm, is her most significant concern. If her personal ambition to take the throne should result in either one of those things falling apart, then she would genuinely rather not have it. Therefore, her decision not to kill Otto and incite war is purely selfless.
This then leads us to understand that the only reason why despicable Otto Hightower is still alive is for the sensibility and selflessness of both Rhaenys and Rhaenyra, who are both acting on their duties as members of a ruling family. These shared qualities make the fact that they were both supposed to be queens but are currently not a real shame because they may have been the best fit. Whether Rhaenyra's feelings will change now that Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) has been killed by Aemond's (Ewan Mitchell) dragon, and therefore Aemond by association, we'll have to see in Season 2. Even if her feelings did change, after all she went through in those two days, who could blame her?