House Of The Dragon Episode 2 Review - 9 Ups & 1 Down

Don't look now, Westeros may just have a potential Queen on their hands.

While Milly Alcock's Rhaenyra may not be Daenerys, her character has seen considerably more exploration in the first two episodes of House of the Dragon than the aforementioned Mother of Dragons did in Game of Thrones. Daenerys spends her first two episodes being horrendously terrorized and abused by her brother or her purportedly brutish new husband, with little in the way of any actual character development.

Rhaenyra meanwhile, is demonstrating signs of the guile, cunning and ruthlessness that are required to make a successful ruler in the very early days of the show. Brave enough to raise her voice at the Small Council meetings to question the King, Rhaenyra also demonstrates her intelligence in selecting Criston Cole to fill a vacant spot on the Kingsguard; while the other candidates all come from prestigious families and have many tourney related accolades, she chooses Cole as he is the only man with any actual combat experience, despite his lower political ranking. Not only that, she demonstrates her resolve as she staunchly refuses to bend to Otto Hightower's request to reconsider her choice.

Rhaenyra doesn't just spur the King into action by highlighting the true extent of Daemon's insult to him, she singlehandedly resolves the stand-off at Dragonstone after arriving in epic fashion on Syrax and berating her uncle. Milly Alcock appears to be shaping up magnificently as HBO's new iteration of a formidable dragon Queen and it was particularly fantastic to watch this week.