Eve Best Has Heartfelt Message For Her ‘House Of The Dragon’ Character

Following the last episode of Dr.’s HouseAgo titled “The Red Dragon and the Gold” which aired Sunday night on HBO and Max, an epic battle ensued and a beloved character appeared to have met his end.

If you haven’t watched Season 2 Episode 4 yet and would rather avoid spoilers, I suggest you stop reading for now.

After a rather dynamic and thrilling fight scene between King Aegon II Targaryen, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, and Prince Aemond Targaryen, atop each of their dragons, it seems that Rhaenys has sealed her fate, following a deadly sneak attack on her dragon, Meleys (also known as the Red Queen), at the hands of Aemond.

Actress Eve Best, who played Rhaenys throughout both The house of dragOver the seasons, she sat down with me to reflect on what she enjoyed most about her character’s evolution in the drama series, a story based on the book Fire and Blood by George RR Martin.

Best said: “I love the fact – I told (showrunner) Ryan (Condal) at the end of last season, I really want Rhaenys to become a samurai in season two Because the whole first season was in peacetime, it was domestic. She was in a dress and everyone was wearing their nice clothes all the time. I was just like, I want her to become a real warrior.”

She added: “She’s a soldier. In episode 9[of the first season]when she broke the ‘glass ceiling,’ she identified herself as a warrior. She’s played the political game so smartly that she’s managed to remain absolutely neutral and ambiguous, in terms of agenda or taking sides or anything like that. So this season, having stood by Rhaenyra through gritted teeth because it was the right thing to do, and her conscience and sense of duty trumps her own personal, complex feelings for Rhaenyra and Daemon – ultimately, the right thing has to be done. I think just exploring her in her warrior mode has been really fun.”

Now that Rhaenys has probably made her last turn on The Dragon HouseAs the daughter of Aemon Targaryen and Jocelyn Baratheon and wife of Corlys Velaryon, I wondered what Best would say about her complex character, if only she could, after playing her onscreen for these two seasons.

“I think I would say to him: Oh my God you’re doing so well and let them see your vulnerability – let them see your heart “I think people often ask me, ‘What do you think your character’s strengths are?’ and I would say she’s incredibly strong, she’s so strong. As the season goes on, it feels like she’s carrying the chaos of everyone – the absolute, utter chaos of Rhaenyra unraveling before her eyes and Daemon is in his crazy, rebellious, messy world. Corlys is quite fragile and is putting parts of himself together.”

Best added: “At the same time, she’s dealing with her own massive feelings of grief — about Luke, about the loss of everything that she’s lost. The things that come back in this season with this relationship[with Corlys]that’s always been the rock — the foundation for both of them, I think, and that’s started to unravel as well. So my advice to her would be — and she never lets anyone see this — she’s so busy being strong and so busy holding herself together and containing her own feelings of fragility. I just want to tell her, It’s okay to just let it go.”