Fans Say Rhaenys' Dragon Scene Was One of the Worst HotD Moments: Here's Why

HBO's new hit series, House of the Dragon, broke many streaming records last year, restoring fans' faith in George R. R. Martin's universe after the disappointing final season of the original series. People enjoyed watching the power struggle over the iron throne between the two branches of House Targaryen: the shifting alliances, forever compromised morals, and over-the-top violence reminded many why they loved Game of Thrones so much in the first place.

But the season one finale seems to have fallen somewhat short of many people’s expectations, with some even going as far as to compare it to the final episode of the original show, which, everybody agrees, was a disgrace.

The first season ends with Aegon’s coronation in a majestic ceremony hailed as the best coronation in television history and featuring beautiful music, and great visuals. Unfortunately, it’s interrupted abruptly when Rhaenys storms the castle on the back of a dragon, killing dozens of people in the process. The intrusion is brutal and unexpected, clearly designed to serve as a cliffhanger for the second season, but a lot of people were shocked and extremely peeved by it.

Over on Reddit, numerous fans poured scorn on the scene for one simple reason: it’s not in the book. George R. R. Martin purists were up in arms when HBO once again strayed from the source material. However, others pointed out that if the show had followed the books to the letter, it would have been extremely boring to watch. Rhaenys’ attack on the castle during Aegon’s coronation is an interesting plot twist that cannot be dismissed out of hand just because it’s not in the book.

Some fans say they were really annoyed by the fact that Rhaenys killed a bunch of innocent bystanders at the coronation and didn’t even touch the villains she was supposedly after. It sure was a controversial move on her part but who’s to say that the show’s characters have to be either good or bad, they can be both.

Rhaenys is as power-hungry as the other pretenders to the throne and just like them, she can’t be expected to care about the lives of the commoners. As the saying goes, all is fair in love and war and the show’s writers seem to understand that very well.

The final reason why some fans on Reddit claimed the coronation scene was the season’s low point can come across as somewhat shallow: people seemed to really like the atmosphere at the coronation and were really disappointed when it got disrupted by the surprise attack. Others, though, quickly reminded them of the Red Wedding in the original series, putting the debate to rest. After all, it seems that neither George R. R. Martin nor the show writers want to see their characters happy. It’s sort of like in real life: when everything seems to be going your way, it means something really nasty is probably just around the corner.