Rhaenyra Targaryen shall be a foul queen as a result of she hates enjoyable

Guys, I hate to say it, however I believe House of the Dragon‘s Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) goes to be a foul queen.

No, it is not due to how she retains alienating allies like Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), or how she springs to execute her detractors among the many smallfolk of King’s Landing. And no, it is not due to the crises she inherited, like a depleted treasury or a ravenous, stressed metropolis.

Instead, it is as a result of she dares disrespect the Targaryens’ most enjoyable custom. Don’t fear, it is not incest. It’s the Small Council’s marbles.

First seen in House of the Dragon‘s Season 1 premiere, these multi-colored balls function a approach for the members of the Small Council to clock into work. Once you set your marble in your dish, you are punched in and able to assist rule the realm.

The marbles are an aesthetically pleasing world-building element, however they’re additionally versatile: In Season 1, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) kills Lord Lyman Beesbury (Bill Paterson) by smashing his cranium into his personal marble. In Season 2, King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) fiddles along with his personal ball throughout a gathering, even letting his son Jaehaerys give it a spin. Forget their potential as a bureaucratic software or homicide weapon; these marbles simply appear enjoyable to play with.

Which brings me to my beef with Rhaenyra. In House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 4, she tells Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) that he’s welcome to remain on her Small Council as long as he stays loyal. When he goes to clock in along with his marble, she stops him, calling them “relics of a dead regime.”

Respectfully, Rhaenyra, how dare you? The Small Council balls have been a pleasant approach for members to announce their presence. They enable each member to have some colourful aptitude, they sound nice once they plunk into place, they usually look so enjoyable to play with. Would you deny your workforce the satisfaction of a little bit ball to fidget with? Ruling the realm is a anxious process, Rhaenyra! Maybe you may discover that enjoying with a giant outdated marble is a significantly better option to decompress than taking your worries out on the smallfolk.

But what worries me most about Rhaenyra’s assertion is not her clear hatred of a enjoyable time. It’s the truth that she declares the marbles a relic of a lifeless regime, which means Aegon’s. Yet the marbles had been in place throughout her father Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) reign, and sure through the reigns of lots of the Targaryens who got here earlier than. Is she so blinded by hatred of Aegon that she would dismiss her father’s comparatively peaceable rule? Is she over prior Targaryen patriarchal regimes basically and hoping to have her personal Daenerys Targaryen “break-the-wheel”-style second? Or did she simply neglect the marbles even existed throughout her a few years away from the Red Keep? (I do know, who may neglect them?) Whatever the explanation, Rhaenyra’s on skinny ice post-marble gate. Let the Small Council play with their balls!

House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.