House of the Dragon seasonseason 2:2: WhoWho ruledruled thethe screen?screen?

House of the Dragon season 2: The Runner-Ups

Many of the relative newcomers to the cast gave stellar performances this season, and it would be beyond the scope of what I might say here to address each of them individually. That being said, two actresses and one actor in particular stole the show every time they crossed our screens.

Bethany Antonia as Lady Baela Targaryen

Bethany Antonia and Phoebe Campbell especially impressed me as the twins Baela and Rhaena. Their characters have been given more to do than they were in the book. For one, Baela is already riding her beautiful green and pearlescent white dragon, Moondancer. Moondancer’s not yet large enough to ride at this point in Fire and Blood.

Additionally, she provides the heart and soul of Team Black throughout the season. Bethany conveys an impressive level of empathy and compassion. Bethany is noted for utilising her soft-spoken tones and meaningful glances. In this way, she, as Baela, comforts and emboldens three of Team Black’s significant players: Rhaenyra, Corlys, and Jacaerys (“Jace”).

Phoebe Campbell as Lady Rhaena Targaryen

Rhaena, meanwhile, actively seeks out a role for herself and finally tracks down the ugly wild dragon Sheepstealer. This storyline is far her being confined to the Vale without a dragon for the course of the war as she is in the book. 

Phoebe succeeds dramatically in showing the loneliness and desperation of their character. Rhaena still wars with the insecurity harboured all her life at not having a dragon. Now, she sees herself as more of a liability than an asset in this war. As I discuss separately, that seems set to change. Alas, we have quite a long wait before that!

Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon Targaryen II

Tom Glynn-Carney deserves an honourable mention for stealing every scene he was in as Aegon. His character’s tragic fall from the very zenith of power, visualised in his fall from the sky upon his dragon Sunfyre, leaving him half dead and powerless, proved to be one of the more emotionally evocative plotlines of the season.

In the premiere, Tom masterfully gave us a comedic and immature Aegon, only to convey with heartbreaking sincerity the trauma, both physical and psychological, he suffered after Rook’s Rest.

HOTD: The Standout Stars

Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke need no introduction here. Suffice it to say the chemistry between these two and their characters on screen was matched only by their prowess; they spent most of the season apart.

Emma D’Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen

Emma continues to give us the wearied, disillusioned Rhaenyra of the book but with a sympathetic streak, which makes the character a delight to watch. It’s true the writing was not perfect for their character this season.

The decisive and embittered woman of season one has inexplicably given way to a rather indecisive and wistful character who feels more like a regression in characterisation than an evolution. However, this is no fault of Emma. They deserve accolades for giving a standout performance in every scene regardless of the plot’s direction.

Olivia Cooke as Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower

Olivia is placed in a similar predicament, within which her acting skills likewise remain beyond reproach. Alicent’s character suffers more than Rhaenyra’s this season. Gone is the head-strong, vindictive, and self-assured figure of season one, who reflected her book counterpart but with an added layer of believability, having been a victim of the machinations of her father and husband, and estranged from her best friend, Rhaenyra.

We are now left with a version of Alicent who isn’t sure who she is. In using her as a metaphor for how women are used in a patriarchal, feudal society, the writers have failed to comprehend what made her character so engaging in the first place.

We believed in her character and rooted for her despite everything precisely because her society, values and upbringing had pushed her past the point of no return. In one season, they have made her a hypocrite, then a martyr, and finally, a failure of a mother willing to betray her own children.

House of the Dragon: S1 Alicent Hightower

Where is the Alicent who, alone and without allies at court, stood up for herself by donning a green dress, stunning all present into silence? Where is the Alicent so determined and assured in her values and protective of her children that she demanded the eye of Lucerys in exchange for Aemond’s? And, when thwarted, turned her dagger on Rhaenyra herself?

Olivia succeeds in drawing our eyes to her pursed lips and judgemental gaze in every scene. In her final confrontation with Rhaenyra, I cannot help but be impressed by her subtle facial expressions and contortions, which betray her sorrow and despair.

Who knows what season three may bring for her character? I feel like we would have been better off with the far more believable and engaging bitter rivalry between these two women. It is so characterised by the book and the show itself, set up so meticulously in the first season.

HOTD: The Unsung Hero

All that remains is to give credit where it is due to Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen. Oh, Helaena, the most tragic and sympathetic character the Greens have to offer. Just as Paddy Considine brought Viserys to life in a way the book never did and gave us one of the most exciting and captivating characters of the first season, so does Phia in this season.

Phia Saban as Queen Helaena Targaryen

In Fire and Blood, Helaena is described as a pretty, amicable girl who grows into a gentle-natured woman. She loves her children dearly and goes mad with grief and guilt after making the impossible choice forced upon her by Blood and Cheese. Phia gives us all of this but with the added complexity of playing a version of Helaena, who has prophetic visions and ‘dreams’. The task of believably depicting such a layered and tragic character on screen is not enviable, but Phia rises to it with relish.

Some criticised her dreamlike and disorientated demeanour during the Blood and Cheese sequence as underdeveloped and unrealistic, but it was nothing of the sort. Phia gave us a deeply moving and compelling reaction from a mother in shock, especially from one who may be on the autism spectrum. Her cryptic and distant expressions gave way in the finale to a confident, ethereal quality as she harnesses her power and asserts herself.

Phia’s skill in portraying this mystical, magical, mournful woman is encapsulated in her devastating delivery of the line ‘it wouldn’t change anything’, stunning Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) into silence after he threatens to kill her for revealing his demise.

House of the Dragon Season 2

The jury may still be out on House of the Dragon season 2. Still, these stars stole our attention and strengthened our desire to see what comes next. No matter what the plot throws at us, it is the cast’s job to deliver it believably, and in that, they resoundingly succeed.