HBO’s original Game of Thrones Prequel series House of The Dragon’s fourth episode “King of the Narrow Sea” starts with Milly Alcock’s young Rhaenyra dealing a marriage proposals. The viewer can see that not one of the suitors has any feelings for Rhaenyra as they propose to her. This is due to the fact that they are all there just to strengthen their power and status with House Targaryen. This is made evident by the fact that the king has organized the entire event to get her engaged. Obviously, she rejects every single one of her suitors due to her not wanting to have her life mapped out for her. She thinks that the whole ordeal is a waste of time for her and everyone else. She believes that women are more than just tools to be married off to someone. This is a result of her being taught more educational things than most women her age are allowed to. As she returns to kings landing, she meets with Emily Carey’s Alicent Hightower to talk about the marriage proposals. The interesting thing is she seems to have mended things with Alicent as they seem to speak like the friends they once were. The conversation leads to them discussing about the constructs of the kingdom how the expectations of women are supposed to make children and nothing else. As a result, Alicent seems sad at this fact as she has no other purpose now that she gave birth to a son. By the look the viewer sees on her face things are not going well for her and Paddy Considine’s Viserys marriage. All she is seen doing by the viewer is talking to other nobles or sitting in her room. A difference in treatment between Alicent and his late wife can be seen. Viserys sought out his late wife’s advice on what he should do to resolve a situation. However, he mostly asks his hand or advisors about the best course of action with a situation. He tends to sideline Alicent when it comes to serious issues that come along. This could be because she was not raised to address high-priority situations that affect millions of lives.
A few minutes into the episode, the viewer sees Rhaenyra and Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen sneak out of the castle to attend a festival. In Daemon’s mind, he thinks that just because they are royals does not mean that they should deprive themselves of the joys in life. This comes from the fact that he has grown up with the ability to do whatever he wants even though he had responsibilities. It is at this point that the viewer sees just how the people of the kingdom see her as a future ruler. As a result of her being a female, people make fun of her ability to rule. They even go as far as to make a play about the day she was named heir to the throne just to make fun of her. Understandably, the viewer sees a sad and angry look on Rhaenyra’s face when she sees what the people think of her. With this act, the viewer can see she has even more incentive to prove them all wrong. In her mind, Rhaenyra is sick and tired of everyone judging her based on her gender and on whether she will be a great ruler. She knows that she can be enough for everyone if they only give her the chance to show what she is made of.
At the end of the episode, Rhaenyra will have to deal with the consequences of her messing around with Daemon and getting caught by a spy. So far, she managed to keep her claim to the throne even when she knows she should have been disowned like Daemon was for her transgressions. She knows now that she does not get to decide who she will marry; this can be considered her punishment for her transgressions.
Rating 8.5/10