The Way ‘House of the Dragon’ Handles Death Is Ruining the Show

(Warning: Spoilers ahead for this season of House of the Dragon.)

With the death of Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) in “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” the Black faction in House of the Dragon has taken its first major blow. You wouldn’t know it though, by the way in which characters stare passively into the distance at the news of her death, as if they’re pondering over her existence rather than grieving the life that she lost.

Not only was she a major player in the show, Rhaenys was a wife, former mother-in-law, and grandmother to the characters on Team Black. In Season 2, she has been one of the few people on Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’Arcy) council defending and supporting the queen’s actions. Along with Rhaenyra is Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), Rhaenys’ husband. While their relationship grew strained after they officially decreed for Rhaenyra instead of her brother Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), the two previously had one of the most endearing relationships in the show.

You’d think then, that Rhaenyra and Corlys’ reactions to Rhaenys’ death would be momentous, but sadly, they’re not. The two of them gaze off silent in separate scenes, almost as if they’re thinking about the weather—and not their biggest ally being brutally killed by the opposing team. Later, they both share a scene (albeit separately) with Rhaenys’ granddaughter Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) and they have a tender, albeit brief, discussion about her. The problem is, Baela and Rhaenys have not spoken to each other in Season 2, and only shared the screen together briefly in Season 1.

The series is unlike its predecessor Game of Thrones in some great ways, but mostly in the fact that its emotional beats never hit as hard as they did in the previous series. Thrones allowed us to spend time with characters and build up their relationships, so when deaths happened they were also felt. While Baela’s discussion with Corlys and Rhaenyra are two highlights in “Regent,” I was left scratching my head and wondering if these discussions about Rhaenys’ bond with her granddaughter would feel more poignant if we actually saw them spend time together.

The writers of House of the Dragon seem adamant about not letting these characters mourn, and while yes, they are at war, mourning is a defining factor of Fire & Blood, George R. R. Martin’s novel which this series is based on. The accumulation of death and grief on both Team Black and Team Green weighs on the shoulders of those who are left behind, making for an overwhelmingly tragic story. It’s a tone and narrative that isn’t translating on screen, however, with the breakneck pacing of this adaptation haunting the show and its emotional beats.

Rhaenys’ death isn’t the first to hold almost no weight this season. While the memory of Lucerys Velaryon’s (Elliot Grihault) murder reverberates in Season 2’s first episode, his name barely makes an appearance in the installments that follow. In Martin’s Fire & Blood, Luke’s death is the catalyst for the war. But on the show, everyone continues to just…sit around. “And with his death, the war of ravens and envoys and marriage pacts came to an end, and the war of fire and blood began in earnest,” Martin wrote in the original novel. Still, more than halfway through an already short 8 episode season, there’s a lot of war left to be had, and desired.

Perhaps the writers fear that they will make their characters look weak if they’re emotional, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Grief can make these characters all the more human, as seen in Thrones with villain Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). In her grief for her many children, the lone woman of House Lannister became more real and relatable, and was finally able to connect to fans that previously hated her. Without allowing these characters to mourn, they instead feel like stilted caricatures not only of their book counterparts, but TV characters in general.

It’s a shame, because Season 1 of House of the Dragon was so strong in its tense and emotional moments. The monologue shared between Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) in “Driftmark” is undeniably one of the strongest pieces of writing in the series, and showcases the talents of both Cooke and D’Arcy. Along with that highlight is Rhaenyra’s last look into the camera in the Season 1 finale—one that promised a smattering of emotions, grief among them. In Season 2, however, none of these emotions have been replicated.

The stakes in House of the Dragon are waning, and the show’s unwillingness to let the characters display any high emotions is a direct reason for this. One of the best things about Game of Thrones, even until its unsatisfying final episode, was its emotional beats. Even when characters died in ways that could be avoided or ways that made fans scratch their heads, these deaths were felt, not only by the audience but also by the characters on screen.

When pivotal characters like Ned Stark (Sean Bean) and even supporting characters like Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) died, Thrones asked us to sit with these deaths and wonder how they would change the series and the people within it. Now, it only takes a simple conversation for characters to bury their feelings and swiftly move along, stunting their development, and fans’ emotional attachments in the process. House of the Dragon unfortunately holds its audience at an arm’s length, and if it continues to do so, this series won’t be able to surpass the show it so desperately wants to set itself apart from.