HotD Season 2 Episode 4 Was Devastating, but Rhaenys' Death Isn't What Broke Eve Best's Heart

Summary

• Rhaenys and Corlys' relationship was the most compelling on the show.
• The fourth episode featured a difficult moment for both characters.
• Eve Best says her character was heartbroken by the couple's final on-screen conversation.

The world of House of the Dragon is not a place for love. For most characters, marriage is merely a political arrangement. Daemon and Rhea Royce, Rhaenyra and Ser Laenor Velaryon, neither couple tied the knot out of great love for each other. Rhaenyra and Daemon also have a more complicated relationship than just love, made ugly by their actual kinship.

Among this variety of unromantic stories, the relationship between Rhaenys Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon seems to be the most satisfying. Though they were married in a political arrangement, they grew to love each other over the years. And their affection for each other didn't wane.

Throughout Season 1, Rhaenys and Corlys proved to be the wisest characters on House of the Dragon, whose understanding of each other was more than admirable. Aside from Rhaenys' disapproval of Corlys' lust for power, which cost them their children, they were always on the same page and talked about everything, surprising the audience with how healthy their relationship is. With that in mind, it's no surprise that confronting Corlys about his bastards was the most heartbreaking thing for Eve Best to film.

Eve Best on Rhaenys' Heartbreak from Talking to Corlys about His Bastards

'It's absolute agony, and it's been this secret between them. We talked, Steven [Toussaint] and I, and we really felt that they had never, it had never been spoken about. And yet, absolutely, it's the biggest sword in her heart, obviously,' Eve Best recently said of the Episode 4 scene where Rhaenys talks to Corlys about Alyn, the sailor who saved him and his bastard son.

In Season 1, Corlys' life hung in the balance after his ship was ambushed during another war at the Stepstones. As was later revealed in Season 2, it was Alyn of Hull who jumped overboard to save Corlys' life. And though it wasn't mentioned, there was a sense that the two had a deeper connection than just a loyal servant and a kind master. And it was finally confirmed by Rhaenys, who urged her husband to care for Alyn because she knew it was the right thing to do, even though it hurt her to find out that her husband had children with another woman.

'He's in complete denial about it, and it's absolute agony for her. I really felt like her heart was breaking,' the actress continued, explaining her character's habit of putting herself and her feelings aside and doing what's right and necessary.

Rhaenys died heroically at the end of the episode, so she'll never know if Corlys takes her advice. In G.R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, both Alyn and Addam are legitimized by Corlys and play a major role in the Dance of the Dragons, with Alyn becoming the heir to Driftmark and later its lord.

It remains to be seen how HotD will deal with this. Episode 5 of Season 2 will premiere on July 14.

Source: Variety.