House of the Dragon's Queer Twist Is More Than Just a Kiss

House of the Dragon’s Queer Twist Means So Much More Than Just a Kiss

It’s finally official: Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is queer. The revelation, which came in the final minutes of Episode 6 of House of the Dragon’s second season, is not all that shocking—especially for those who have read beyond the surface of the relationship between Rhaenyra and her childhood companion-turned-mortal enemy Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). But the confirmation serves to elevate Rhaenyra as a character, with the scene itself acting as a pivotal turning point for the rightful heir in her season-long struggle with autonomy.

In the wake of Daemon’s (Matt Smith) long-brewing betrayal and the continued questioning from both her son and her council at large, Rhaenyra spends the majority of Episode 6 attempting to gain more solid footing within her own ranks. She attempts to find a dragonrider for her “deceased” husband’s dragon Seasmoke, only for the potential rider (and valiant, loyal knight) to end up meeting a fiery death. She stands by her decision to try to find more riders for the dragons they have available, but her council continues to question her; Rhaenyra slaps one of her advisors for his brazen disrespect. And as the denizens of King’s Landing grow more and more disillusioned with their new King (and their Prince Consort), Rhaenyra conspires with Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) to continue to sow resentment, sending both well-placed rumors and perfectly-timed ships carrying food for the starving, trapped citizens. At the end of the episode, Rhaenyra seeks Mysaria’s council, sharing her self-deprecating disappointment over her performance so far as Queen of Dragonstone. She loathes how little her son trusts her; she can’t stand that everyone only sees her as an extension of Daemon, a woman who needs a strong hand to guide her. After a surprisingly tender moment, where Mysaria shares how she got that scar, the two women share a kiss before they’re so rudely interrupted.

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While this development is certainly satisfying for those that have read this character as queer from the beginning, Rhaenyra stepping outside her marriage and kissing Mysaria is also paramount in her continued journey towards autonomy and liberation—both within her own body and as a ruler. She’s spent a vast majority of her childhood and now married life bending to Daemon’s will, playing this twisted game of cat and mouse where he makes her chase and claw for the affection and affirmation she seeks, only for him to pull it away just enough to keep her running on his hamster wheel. With Rhaenyra now fully exhausted with her husband’s games and accepting of his true nature (whether she knows his plans or not—in the episode, she does speculate that Daemon may not be raising an army for her in the Riverlands), she reclaims her desire from the iron grip her husband once held her within.

When she was a child, Daemon was Rhaenyra’s first sexual experience, taking her to a brothel in King’s Landing, where the two share a kiss before Daemon walks away, ultimately denying her the pleasure he promised for more than a decade before the two would reunite to consummate their relationship officially. She feels emboldened to sleep with Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) afterward, but she’s never truly affectionate with her sworn knight. He offers to take her outside of Westeros, to free her of the shackles that chain her to the Iron Throne, and she reacts as if he’s grown a second head. When Rhaenyra finally weds for the first time, she makes a pact with Laenor (John Macmillan) that they would both step outside their marriage, due mostly to Laenor’s own gayness. And while Rhaenyra seems to share a sweet relationship with Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr), we never actually see their relationship blossom on screen, with just the brown, curly hair on her sons’ heads as evidence to their dynamic before Strong meets an untimely end. So when Rhaenyra approaches Mysaria and pulls her into a fierce hug to start, it’s the first time we see her embrace a lover fully of her own accord.

As Rhaenyra slowly melts into Mysaria’s embrace, first tentatively nosing along her neck but then gaining confidence enough to actually kiss her, it’s the culmination of many bleeding elements as she’s been slowly emboldened throughout the season. With no jealousy, expectations, or grooming coloring the scene, it’s about as close to sweet as any of Rhaenyra’s sexual encounters can be described, and it perfectly aligns with her evolution into a more confident, liberated queen.

For Rhaenyra, her sexual exploits have always been tied to her politicking. Her father paraded her around the kingdom searching for a mate; Daemon laid his trap when she was young, using his seduction to mold himself the perfect wife to lead with a heavy hand; even Criston’s affections came with the caveat that he “save” her from a future she was ready to embrace. Here, as she finally takes initiative with a lover, Rhaenyra allows her sexuality to be her own, moving of her own accord rather than at the whims of men who wish to control her. With Mysaria, the scene is pointedly an equal exchange of vulnerability. After Rhaenyra laments her believed failings to her trusted advisor, Mysaria doesn’t use that vulnerability against her like lesser characters would have, but rather matches it with her own. Before they even embrace, the two share an emotional connection, one that we haven’t seen in any of Rhaenyra’s previous encounters—she’s always been on the manipulative end of grooming or expectations. Here, her honesty and openness are met in kind, allowing for a true bond to be formed before they’re forced to jump apart.

But it’s that clean break that allows Rhaenyra the confidence to storm her way to Syrax to chase after the rider parading Seasmoke around Driftmark. With no thought of Daemon and his intentions, with no regard for her council and their disapproval, with no concern for the son who chases after her, she finally puts the various bickering voices that have plagued her for six episodes out of her mind and moves ever closer towards becoming the warrior she was always meant to be. Mysaria spent the entire episode reassuring Rhaenyra that her choices are sound and her decisions are effective, and her final vote of confidence does lead to their shared passion, yes, but it also makes way for Rhaenyra’s bold choice to forgo the advice she’s been shackled to for the entire season.

Earlier in the episode, Rhaenyra swings a sword around, playing warrior in the comfort of her own chambers. As she’s leaving, sword still in hand, Mysaria stops her and tells her that holding a sword “becomes [her].” Rhaenyra reacts shyly, seemingly forgetting that she was even holding it in the first place. She puts it down and leaves it behind before she attends to her duties. But at the end of the episode, after reclaiming her own desire, her own agency, and sharing that connection with Mysaria, she is ready to fully embrace what she shied away from just a few scenes ago. She has Mysaria’s trust and confidence, and that’s enough to push her into the role she believed was out of reach to her before.

No longer content to be a caged dragon, both in her sexuality and in her rulership, Rhaenyra ends the episode finally free of the expectations placed upon traditional rulers, cementing herself as an unconventional and pointedly progressive queen who cannot be confined by the same standards as those that came before her. Rhaenyra’s queerness recontextualizes her past, allowing her relationships with Alicent, the throne, her father, and even her new council to become colored by the specific empathy that accompanies a queer existence.

She’s always been a rebellious spirit, and instead of using that blasé attitude towards society’s bounds to signal a perversion or lack of morals (as it has in other series attempting to engage with the intersection of queerness and morality), this revelation acts as an advantage to Rhaenyra, and further elevates her claim and complexity. As Prince Consort Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) threatens and dismisses his most vulnerable family members (pointedly torturing his now-feeble brother and cruelly disregarding his knowledgeable mother), Rhaenyra’s response to vulnerability is not a man’s violent grasp or cunning politicking, but instead a tender kiss. And while that kiss goes a long way to separate Rhaenyra from her cruel and cunning half-brothers and the Greens at large, following that scene up with her emboldened move to chase after Seasmoke herself builds upon that vulnerability and allows it to coexist with the strong hand that is required to rule.

In reclaiming her autonomy through those two actions, Rhaenyra is simultaneously kind yet forceful; powerful yet soft. It’s the perfect evolution for this queen-to-be, allowing the quiet empathy of queer femininity to blend perfectly with the willful, strong, and rebellious spirit that has always existed at the heart of this character.

Anna Govert is the TV Editor of Paste Magazine. For any and all thoughts about TV, film, and her unshakable love of complicated female villains, you can follow her @annagovert.

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House of the Dragon’s Queer Twist Means So Much More Than Just a Kiss