The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, now streaming on Max.

House of the Dragon Season 2 has come to an impressive ending, leaving fans excited at the promise of epic action in upcoming seasons. The Game of Thrones prequel series depicts the bitter battle for the Iron Throne when a question arises about the legitimacy of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s succession. After her father named her the first female heir to the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra immediately became a controversial figure and, after Viserys’s death, his son Aegon, backed by the Hightowers of Oldtown, seized the throne for himself. However, Aegon and Rhaenyra aren’t the only two characters in House of the Dragon, with other Targaryens vying for power themselves in Season 2.

Targaryens have ruled the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros for over a hundred years, but not all of them were good kings or queens. An old Westerosi saying claims that “every time a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin,” indicating that each Targaryen is just as likely to be a bloodthirsty tyrant as they are to be a benevolent ruler. Many Targaryens have put themselves forward as the next ruler of the Seven Kingdoms in Season 2 of House of the Dragon. While Rhaenyra and her half-brother Aegon fight for the throne, both struggle with the potential that someone close to them might usurp their position. Rhaenyra is forced to deal with her husband Daemon’s aspirations for the throne as he builds an army at Harrenhal. Meanwhile, Prince Aemond plots to kill his brother Aegon and take the Iron Throne for himself. However, among these four potential leaders, only one has proven to be a good ruler. The other three all showed that they would be terrible leaders during the events of House of the Dragon Season 2.

Daemon Proved That He Would Be A Weak And Ineffective King

House of the Dragon Season 2 Cast & Character Guide

Character
Actor

Rhaenyra Targaryen
Emma D’Arcy

Daemon Targaryen
Matt Smith

Aegon II Targaryen
Tom Glynn-Carney

Alicent Hightower
Olivia Cooke

Otto Hightower
Rhys Ifans

Rhaenys Targaryen
Eve Best

Corlys Velaryon
Steve Toussaint

Larys Strong
Matthew Needham

Helaena Targaryen
Phia Saban

Aemond Targaryen
Ewan Mitchell

In the first season of House of the Dragon, Otto Hightower feared that Daemon might be a second Maegor the Cruel. However, Daemon’s arc in Season 2 proves that he wouldn’t be nearly strong enough a leader to be compared to Aegon the Conqueror’s wicked son. After a spat with Rhaenyra early in the season, Daemon retreats to the Riverlands, taking up residence in Harrenhal. There, he is haunted by visions of his past, including a young Rhaenyra, Viserys, Laena, and his mother. In between visions, Daemon tries as hard as he can to raise an army from the men of the Riverlands. However, with every day, Daemon’s weakness as a leader becomes clearer. He forges a hasty alliance with the Blackwoods resulting in even more chaos in the Riverlands and dismisses the future lord Oscar Tully because of his young age. All the while, Daemon whines and groans about the titles the Rivermen use to address him, demanding to be called king, though this is not his rightful position.

When the young Oscar Tully confounds Daemon after becoming Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, even the king consort begins to realize that he doesn’t command the respect that he would need to sit on the Iron Throne. Thankfully, the mysterious witch Alys Rivers planned to help him realize this difficult truth all along, finishing the deal by giving him a vision that lends Daemon some much-needed perspective on the war to come. By the time Rhaenyra arrives to determine Daemon’s true loyalty, he is prepared to pledge fealty to her. Though this doesn’t excuse Daemon’s many terrible actions, he is at least capable of admitting his mistakes and moving forward with a new purpose and perspective.

Aegon And Aemond Both Failed As The Ruler Of Westeros

The Game of Thrones Franchise

Series
Years
IMDb
Streaming

Game of Thrones
2011-2019
9.2
Max

House of the Dragon
2022-Present
8.4

Though Rhaenyra is the rightful leader of the Seven Kingdoms, her half-brother Aegon is the one who sits on the Iron Throne in King’s Landing. However, he quickly proves to be a terrible leader. Most notably, Aegon committed one of the cruelest acts in House of the Dragon, publically hanging every ratcatcher in the city when he couldn’t determine which had been involved in the assassination of his son. While what happened to Aegon’s son was horrific and inexcusable, the king responded with senseless violence and anger, two attributes that are unseemly in a leader. Even beyond this horrible action, which alone is enough to disqualify him as a true king, Aegon seems largely disinterested in the matters of ruling the Seven Kingdoms. He is bored by the matters of the kingdom and would rather spend time with his rambunctious friends, whom he has appointed to the Kingsguard despite their lack of qualifications. By the time Season 2 ends, Aegon has fled King’s Landing in fear of Rhaenyra’s coming attack, abandoning his people when they most needed him.

Prince Aemond, however, turns out to be an even worse leader than Aegon. Using the mighty dragon Vhagar, Aemond purposely burned his brother during the Battle of Rook’s Rest, leaving him unable to rule until he had recovered. Aemond then took over as the prince regent, putting the Seven Kingdoms under his thumb. While Aemond proves to be a competent military leader, he lacks the compassion and good sense required of a leader. He and his family live in splendor and plenty while the people of King’s Landing starve. Even worse, he burns an entire city in anger when he discovers that Rhaenyra has recruited new dragon riders. Aemond is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode–and should never be allowed to sit on the Iron Throne.

Rhaenyra Has Proven That She Would Make A Good Queen

Trivia

.Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, is known for playing Naomi Richards in the BBC drama Wanderlust.

Despite her incompetent half-brothers in King’s Landing, Rhaenyra Targaryen is the queen that the realm deserves. In Season 2 of House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra overcomes her despondent Small Council, resisting their poor advice and surviving every obstacle thrown her way. When she lacks dragon riders, Rhaenyra finds a new and inventive way to find new individuals to ride the mighty beasts. Even more important, Rhaenyra proves that she cares for the Smallfolk, something that cannot be said about Daemon, Aegon, or Aemond. She sends food through the Velaryon blockade to feed the people of King’s Landing. Though she did this to win their favor, Rhaenyra at least had the character to think about the Smallfolk at all, especially when her brothers failed to do the same. She even struggled to order the attack on King’s Landing, knowing that many innocent people would inevitably be killed in the crossfire. To Aemond, the people of the city are hostages but Rhaenyra sees them as people.

Rhaenyra Targaryen is House of the Dragon‘s standout character, proving over and over again that she is the best choice to rule the Seven Kingdoms. As the war breaks out between the Targaryens, many different individuals lay claim to the Iron Throne, but none measure up to Rhaenyra’s nobility as a leader.