HOTD Season 2 Features Mily Alcock Returning as Young Rhaenyra
With circumstances so far from ideal, it’s no wonder that Daemon is starting to mentally deteriorate. Having parted ways with Queen Rhaenyra following their heated argument over his attempt to murder either Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) or Prince Jaehaerys (Jude Rock), two key figures on Team Green, Daemon has retreated to the ancient stronghold of Harrenhal, partly to brood and partly to plan Team Black’s next steps in the war to come. Here, he meets a mysterious individual by the name of Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), who seems to have had a hand in the waking visions he’s experienced soon after stepping foot in the cursed castle. The first ghostly visitor he runs into turns out to be none other than his niece Rhaenyra as a teenager, eerily sewing little Jaehaerys’ head back onto his body as Daemon’s forced to confront the results of his monstrous actions.
In a perfect intersection of giving the fans what they want while also servicing the characters themselves, this ominous sequence only deepens our understanding of Daemon. He and Rhaenyra clearly harbored inappropriate feelings towards one another, though the late King Viserys (Paddy Considine) was largely powerless to do much about it (short of banishing his reckless brother on multiple occasions though, ultimately, to little effect). But more than reminding us of past history, young Rhaenyra’s reappearance further highlights the war brewing within the Targaryen king consort: his very real loyalties to his wife and Queen, and his own guilt over what he’s done in his grand ambitions for power. Alys’ creepy prophecy that he’ll “die in this place” suggests he may never reconcile this split within himself.
“House of the Dragon” season 2 airs new episodes on HBO and Max every Sunday night.
