Mysaria Said What Rhaenyra Needed To Hear in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2

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

The big picture

• In episode 2 of
  House of the Dragon
  “Rhaenyra the cruel,” Rhaenyra tells Daemon that she can't trust him.
• Rhaenyra finds an unlikely ally in Mysaria, who is already proving useful.
• Mysaria's monologue strikes a chord with Rhaenyra and highlights the patriarchy at the center of
  House of the Dragon

Sunday's episode of House of the Dragon, a great deal of unspoken tension finally came to a head, leading to explosive verbal confrontations. Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) finally says Daemon (Matt Smith) that she cannot trust him, and Otto (Rhys Ifans) takes Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) for his cruelty and impulsive decision-making in the wake of Jaehaerys' murder. These are two truly fascinating scenes, but one of the most revealing conversations in Episode 2 takes place between Rhaenyra and Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), also known as the white worm. There's a lot less melodrama, though Mysaria's empathetic yet strategic monologue is an eye-opening moment for Rhaenyra.

Once he realizes that Mysaria is the woman Daemon used as a pawn in his stunt to get King Viserys (Paddy Considine) attention all these years ago, the tone of their conversation changes and their respective stories 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 the legitimacy of a woman's claim to the throne does not matter, she will never be seen as an equal or viable option to lead simply because she is a woman.

Rhaenyra is seen in Mysaria (and she doesn't like it)

When Mysaria is discovered stowaway on a Velaryon ship, she is taken back to Dragonstone as a prisoner, where Daemon questions 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 does not mean she is loyal to the Greens, considering Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) would later set fire to his house with Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) approval. When Rhaenyra first talks to Mysaria, she doesn't trust her though suggests that Mysaria may be an ally to his cause. This prompts Mysaria to tell Rhaenyra a bit of her life story in an attempt to gain her trust and prove that she has no loyalty to the Hightowers and no reason to betray her for their benefit. She describes her life as a slave, working and selling her body to survive and she eventually worked her way up to become a reporter, only to have the Hightowers destroy everything she worked for. Mysaria ends her speech by saying, “For too long, I made my goal a consequence. But now, I see it was a child's wish. Daemon, Otto Hightower, it makes no difference. I will never be accepted. I could have been a whore too.”

As Mysaria says this, we get a long shot of Rhaenyra realizing in real time that she's in the same situation, but the word “whore” seems to flip a switch in her. Rhaenyra's face turns cold before she asks sharply, “How did you get that scar?” referring to the white mark around Mysaria's neck from her past as a slave. Mysaria's words echoed a little too much for Rhaenyra's liking, especially after her most recent conversation with Daemon, during which she told him that Viserys only made her heir to the throne to hurt him. His reaction to the word “slut” also recalls season 1, when Vaemond Velaryon (Will Johnson) branded her in front of King Viserys and the rest of the court in an attempt to humiliate her and her children. It is an obvious double standard, but an unfortunate truth that Rhaenyra's illegitimate children with Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) did nothing but weaken his claim to the throne, causing those around him to question his virtue and ability to lead.

It makes Rhaenyra uncomfortable to see Mysaria, and although she is merciful enough to take Mysaria at her word about Daemon's promise and ultimately release her, she first makes a point to remind him that they are no the same. During their conversation, Rhaenyra realizes that Mysaria is trying to compare their situations in an attempt to gain her trust and possibly influence her decision-making, and her question about Mysaria's scar is a bitter reminder of Rhaenyra to stay in her lane. After all, Rhaenyra has Targaryen royal 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 displays a sense of self-awareness about her position as a woman in society that Rhaenyra has never had, though it's not 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 kingdom to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.” Rhaenyra then wrote her warning as the bitter words of the “Queen Who Never Was”, and now, all these years later, she really He doesn't like hearing the same from Mysaria, of all people. Everyone thought so, and some said so directly, but despite historical precedents, Rhaenyra truly believed that 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 her death, and now even those of the his own camp question his ability to lead and act without his authority.

Rhaenys was right, but Rhaenyra was too naive to see it at the time. Mysaria is right too, and this time Rhaenyra knows it but doesn't want to hear it, especially from a “common whore”. 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 is in the unique position of being able to approach Rhaenyra as an ex-lover of Daemon's, a representative of the little people, and another woman who grabs power any way she can. His outspokenness and attempt to find solidarity with Rhaneyra may have been off-putting, though Rhaenyra's decision to honor Daemon's promise suggests that she finds value in Mysaria's words and/or observations. Rhaenyra has few, if any, people she can truly trust, and this unlikely White Worm ally has already saved her life once.

House of the Dragon is currently Streaming on Max in the US with new episodes airing every Sunday.

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