Warning: this article contains spoilers for House Of The Dragon episode nine.

Although Rhaenyra and Daemon were notably absent from last night’s House Of The Dragon, the drama certainly was not.

In the penultimate episode of the prequel’s first season, we pick up almost immediately after the death of King Viserys. As it so happens, Hand of the King Otto Hightower and his Small Council allies have been planning for this day for a long time to enact their long-awaited coup. The goal? To put Queen Alicent’s son Aegon on the Iron Throne. 

But it turns out that not everyone knew about this plan. Rhaenyra and Daemon are at Dragonstone, oblivious to the malicious plans in the works back at King’s Landing, and Queen Alicent finds herself realising that she doesn’t have nearly as much power or insider knowledge as she once thought.

The episode ends with Aegon’s coronation as he stands in the sept – the people’s new ruler with the Crown of the Conqueror sat atop his head.

It’s an episode filled with deceit and internal insurrections. 

One moment that has kept fans talking on Twitter overnight is Alicent’s somewhat questionable method of gaining intel.

But despite coups, coronations and, well… feet, the most talked about moment of last night’s episode comes from Rhaenys. In a gesture that echoes Helaena’s prophetic ramblings about a “beast beneath the boards”, Rhaenys bursts out from under the Dragonpit sept, clad in red and silver armour and riding the dragon Meleys. Although this moment isn’t included in George RR Martin’s source material, it’s certainly one of the most memorable and empowering moments in the show so far.

It’s a moment that caused viewers to sit with bated breath as they expected Rhaenys to utter the one word that every person standing in front of a dragon is terrified to hear, yet it doesn’t come. Queen Alicent braces herself for the fiery end that is sure to come, but is instead met with an earth-shaking screech from Meleys instead of flaming breath. Rhaenys gives the Queen a stony glare – a warning – before she flies out the door and into the endless sky.

“It’s the pinnacle,” said Eve Best, who plays Rhaenys. “It’s the moment when she shows herself to be the greatest possible ruler. It was the most outrageous and explosive action of the season.”

Of course, questions were raised as to why Rhaenys simply didn’t give the order to destroy the treacherous Hightowers and end the war before it began. If Twitter is anything to go off, it’s a moment that viewers were clearly desperate to see.

But it seems that the decision to leave them unscathed was to do with respect. An earlier moment in the episode, when Alicent liaises with Rhaenys and urges her to join their side, seems to change the relationship between the two.

“Alicent really proves herself in that scene,” said Best. “I think Rhaenys had taken her very much for granted as somebody who doesn’t really need to be paid attention to, and she shows herself to be somebody actually to be reckoned with. I think there’s a kind of mutual respect that happens as a result of that scene. It’s two women living through the appalling treatment, abuse, repression, oppression, the horrors of this patriarchal system. They see eye to eye, they understand, they empathise.”

After Rhaenys explodes through the floor, Meleys’s open jaws poised in front of Aegon, Alicent steps in front of him, a protective mother until the end. It’s a moment that director Clare Kilner and Best see as significant.

“I think [Rhaenys] learns so much from that moment because [Alicent] pushes Aegon behind her and stands to face you, and she’s ready to die,” Kilner says.

“She steps up as a mother,” replies Best. “I think Rhaenys sees that and respects that.”

It’s a moment that not only made for an eruptive ending but also made fans realise just how much we’ve missed out on by not having a Queen on the Iron Throne when there have been so many powerful women to choose from.

Although Rhaenys didn’t deliver the fiery demise everyone wanted, it leaves fans thirsting for more of the powerhouse character and it suggests that she will have a bigger role to play in the upcoming Dance of the Dragons. It’s likely that she’ll head to Dragonstone next to inform Rhaenyra and Daemon of the King’s death and alert them to the scheming taking place in King’s Landing.

Her allegiance to the two would solidify her position in the upcoming war, where we can expect her to play the part of a determined warrior who can not only cause chaos from dragon-back but can also strike terror into her enemies with a single look.

Long live the true Queen of Westeros!

Episodes of House Of The Dragon are released weekly every Monday at 2am and 9pm on Sky Atlantic, and are also available to stream on Now with an entertainment membership.  

Images: HBO