Mysaria Said What Rhaenyra Needed To Hear in 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 2.

On Sunday's episode of House of the Dragon, a lot of unspoken tension finally came to a head, making for some explosive verbal confrontations. Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) finally tells Daemon (Matt Smith) that she can't trust him, and Otto (Rhys Ifans) takes Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) to task for his cruelty and impulsive decision-making in the wake of Jaehaerys' murder. These make for two truly riveting scenes, but one of the most revealing conversations in Episode 2 takes place between Rhaenyra and Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), aka the White Worm. There's far less melodrama, but Mysaria's empathetic yet strategic monologue is an eye-opening moment for Rhaenyra.

Once she realizes Mysaria is the woman Daemon used as a pawn in his stunt to get King Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) attention all those years ago, the tone of their conversation changes, and their respective histories with Daemon establish a unique sense of understanding between them. Their conversation brings up one of Rhaenyra's deepest fears and one of the overarching themes of House of the Dragon — that no matter the legitimacy of a woman's claim to the throne, she will never be viewed as an equal or a viable option to lead simply because she's a woman.

House of the Dragon

TV-MA

Fantasy

Drama

Action

See Also

‘A Man Called Otto’: Release Date, Trailer, Cast, and Everything We Know So Far

Adventure

810

The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to the popular HBO seriesGame of Thrones. Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, House of the Dragonis set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys.

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Creator

Ryan J. Condal, George R.R. Martin

Cast

Paddy Considine , Olivia Cooke , Rhys Ifans , Matt Smith , Eve Best , Steve Toussaint , Emma D'Arcy , Milly Alco*ck , Emily Carey

Rhaenyra Sees Herself in Mysaria (and Doesn’t Like It)

When Mysaria is discovered as a stowaway on a Velaryon ship, she's taken back to Dragonstone as a prisoner, where Daemon interrogates her about her activities as a spy in King's Landing. Mysaria is loyal to no one but herself, and exchanging information with the Hightowers certainly does not mean she's loyal to the Greens, considering Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) would later have her house set on fire with Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) approval. When Rhaenyra first speaks with Mysaria, she does not trust her but suggests Mysaria may be an ally to her cause. This prompts Mysaria to tell Rhaenyra a bit of her life story in an attempt to earn her trust and prove she has no allegiance to the Hightowers or reason to betray her for their benefit. She describes her life as a slave, toiling and selling her body to survive and eventually working her way up to become an informant, only to have the Hightowers destroy everything she worked for. Mysaria ends her speech saying,"For too long, I made it my aim to be of consequence. But now, I see that was the wish of a child. Daemon, Otto Hightower, makes no difference. They will never accept me. I might as well have remained a whor*."

While Mysaria is saying this, we get a lengthy shot of Rhaenyra realizing in real time that she's found herself in the same situation, but the word "whor*" seems to flip a switch in her. Rhaenyra's face turns cold before she abruptly asks, "How did you get that scar?" in reference to the white mark around Mysaria's neck from her past as a slave. Mysaria's words resonated a bit too much for Rhaenyra's liking, especially after her most recent conversation with Daemon, during which he told her that Viserys only named her heir to the throne to spite him. Her reaction to the word "whor*" also calls back to Season 1, when Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson) branded her one in front of King Viserys and the rest of the court in an attempt to humiliate her and her children. It's an obvious double standard, but an unfortunate truth that Rhaenyra's illegitimate children with Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) did nothing but weaken her claim to the throne, making those around her question her virtue and capacity to lead.

It makes Rhaenyra uncomfortable to see herself in Mysaria, and though she's merciful enough to take Mysaria at her word about Daemon's promise and ultimately set her free, she first makes a point to remind her that they're not the same. During their conversation, Rhaenyra realizes that Mysaria is trying to compare their situations in an attempt to gain her trust and possibly sway her decision-making, and her question about Mysaria's scar is a bitter reminder from Rhaenyra to stay in her lane. At the end of the day, Rhaenyra has royal Targaryen blood, while Mysaria will always be a slave to a different master.

Mysaria Said What Everyone Was Thinking

In her brief conversation with Rhaenyra, Mysaria shows a sense of self awareness about her position as a woman in society that Rhaenyra never has, even though it's hardly the first time she's been reminded of it. In Season 1, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) tried to warn Rhaenyra when she was still a teenager, famously telling her, "Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne." Back then, Rhaenyra wrote off her warning as the bitter words of the "Queen Who Never Was," and now, so many years later, she really doesn’t like hearing the same thing from Mysaria, of all people. Everyone was thinking it, and some said it outright, but despite historical precedent, Rhaenyra truly believed she would be the exception to this patriarchal rule. The soft spot Viserys had for his daughter left her unprepared for the reality that men would not be ready to bow to a woman after his death, and now even those in her own camp are questioning her ability to lead and act without her authority.

Rhaenys was correct, but Rhaenyra was too naive to see it at the time. Mysaria is also correct, and this time Rhaenyra knows it but doesn't want to hear it, especially from a "common whor*." Rhaenyra left her heated confrontation with Daemon feeling used and betrayed, and Mysaria, in turn, uses her own history with Daemon to find common ground with her. Mysaria finds herself in the unique position of being able to approach Rhaenyra as an ex-lover of Daemon's, a representative of the smallfolk, and a fellow woman grasping power in whatever way she can. Her frankness and attempt at finding solidarity with Rhaneyra may have been unwelcome, but Rhaenyra's decision to honor Daemon's promise suggests she finds value in Mysaria's words and/or observations. Rhaenyra has few, if any, people she can truly trust anymore, and this unlikely ally in the White Worm may have already saved her life once.

House of the Dragon is currently streaming on Max in the U.S. with new episodes airing every Sunday.

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