Fantasy stories are lacking behind the strong women character like “House of the Dragon”

Stories about women’s power aren’t simply something without women riding them. They’re boring — and that’s the worst offense of all. Women’s anger, injustice, and machinations provide power politics their edge — and without edge, fantasy stories are simply testosterone-fuelled sword-swinging contests, a fate that would nicely befall House of the Dragon. In the world of Westeros (and beyond), women and fit women have often been moved around like chess (or crevasse, in case you will) pieces. Rarely have the girls themselves moved the portions, although they occupy seats of strength; this has been the keep of king (or queen) makers who, inevitably, are guys in small councils, where the strength truly resides. The intrigue of Game of Thrones (in the early seasons) became in the manner the girls understood and leveraged soft power — main to secret plots, bloodlines, prophesies, and betrayals that stored the wheels turning. Recall Cersei Lannister’s unforgettable quip: “Tears aren’t a girl’s simplest weapon. The best one’s among your legs.” It’s now no longer the most feminist component to say, however, it’s what makes her TV’s most compelling villain, as it is familiar with how girls leverage strength to transport the portions themselves. In a bid to make feminist statements, stories try and blandly fit women inside pre-existing structures of power. Any promise that a woman might make to break those structures rings hollow — given how this turned out in Game of Thrones. 

In House of the Dragon, many girls are involved in those masculine strength games, however, is simply one unmarried lady with any self-diagnosed company to talk of so far. It’s a disservice, then, to a tale so invested in power at its core, to have so few girls even speaking — let alone talking about it. If women are important to chart the fate of kingdoms, there ought to be extra dialogue shown to be taking place among them. Not simplest that, there has to be extra interest paid to their interior worlds — and much less hesitation in exploring vindictiveness, resentment,

jealousy, and revenge-fuelled death drives in women. With the manner history and its players have treated them, it must be unexpected if even one of them isn’t fed on by a few versions of this anger. But in the second episode of House of the Dragon, there’s a lot of rumination over strength and duty, but a glaring absence of plots involving people who are arguably the most primary to power: women. 

“Men might faster put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend to the Iron Throne,” a disgruntled Rhaenys Targaryen tells Rhaenyra, whom we left in the previous episode because of the named heir to the Iron Throne. Rhaenys is her aunt who was deprived of the identical opportunity, having lost out to a more youthful cousin, Rhaenyra’s father, who secured the top task on account of being a man. This ought to have brought about narrative tension. A scene from the optimum set up a second where Rhaenyra is called the “Queen who by no means was” in front of a whole tourney audience — however, there’s never any seen pay-off from this second. This one-liner is the best memorable moment of her episodes into the season — a wasted opportunity for a character-rich with the potential to drive ahead the plot with suspense, intrigue, and maximum importantly, stakes. 

Despite the public slight Rhaenys makes no moves to behave upon it. There’s a case to be made for she who had become too bitter, cynical, and upset about politics to even bother with it all. But where House of the Dragon falls quick is in understanding that political strategizing and alliances aren’t simply the area of robed men behind closed doors; the best-laid plans are certainly undone by the women stored out of the rooms and out of power. So far, Rhaenys seems to be a passive facet individual greater than a formidable player in the game. She certainly accepts her fate because the queen never was, simply as she accepts her twelve-year-old daughter being bartered with King Viserys in trade for securing a direct bloodline to the throne.