*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon*
I love a female-driven show, and HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, started off being just that...and more. The first season was largely expository, but still compelling, setting up the long and complicated relationship between "protagonists" Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), daughter of the king's hand, and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), heir to her father's throne (as in, the throne). But things take a turn when the princess's widowed father remarries and introduces Rhaenyra to her new step-mom: Alicent. Awkward. There's also the problem that even through the king names Rhaenyra his rightful heir, Alicent believes he changed his mind on his deathbed and communicates this final, perceived wish: now Alicent's own son becomes king. Pressure builds to the point that war between the family seems inevitable. Who's right and who's wrong? It's all gray area that would play out in season two.
But after watching the season two finale that aired this past Sunday, I'm not sure House of the Dragon is headed in the right direction when it comes to its two strongest female characters. In contrast to how season one ended, by the finale of this most recent season, Alicent and Rhaenyra have both been stripped of their agency, and not in a way that moves the plot forward. Instead, it seems as if they've been neutralized to be more...dare I say...likable? Alicent is randomly promising to hand over King's Landing after essentially starting this whole thing by telephoning in a new heir, and Rhaenyra is whimpering around as if she's on house arrest because her council doesn't want her to risk her life in battle. In both cases, these circumstances take the two queens out of the driver seats. The writers are essentially saying, if innocent people die, it's not their fault because they represent the divine feminine. They're mothers. They're the caretakers of the realm. They have to be likable.
