How 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 addresses sexism and women gaining power in Westeros patriarchy
"For too many thousands of years, it's just been a nonexistent idea that a woman, really, should be in charge," Eve Best said
Since Game of Thrones premiered in 2011, much has been scrutinized and evaluated about how women were portrayed in the series, specifically criticism around how the nudity was handled in the show. Now that Season 2 of the prequel series, House of the Dragon, has premiered, the new series continues to place a significant focus on how women in positions of privilege seek power in this deeply patriarchal society.
"Even though it's fantasy and the sort of epic scale and unknown, actually what it's dealing with, the nitty gritty of it, is things that are intensely pertinent and resonant to what we're all going through right now," actress Eve Best, who plays Rhaenys Targaryen, told reporters. "In particular, the emergence of the feminine presence in positions of leadership and governance, and the beginnings of that exploration of what that looks like for all of us."
"For too many thousands of years, it's just been a nonexistent idea that a woman, really, should be in charge. ... What is that form of feminine leadership? What does it look like? What's the difference? And moving forward now for women to not just be women in a man's job, but women in a woman's job, how do they define that role? How do we define truly feminine leadership, which is not gender specific necessarily at all. But the energetic principle of what feminine leadership looks like is fundamentally different to a masculine form of leadership, and that's something that is so pertinent to one of the most important things that we're facing in our world."
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Best's costar Steve Toussaint, who plays Rhaenys' husband Corlys Velaryon, added that whatever project actors and creative teams work on "reflects the time that you made it," no matter the time period in which a movie of TV show is set.
"If you look at the first couple of seasons of Game of Thrones, that was pre-#MeToo," Toussaint said. "I've heard Emilia Clarke talk about not a very pleasant time on set, in terms of the nudity and so forth, and other women. Our show was made post-#MeToo, so as far as I'm aware we've not had that issue, because we've become more aware."
"It seems so crazy to say in the 2000s, we've become more aware that women have their own feelings."
'Even though she was the queen, she was so bound by duty'
An evaluation of power is certainly evident with Olivia Cooke's character Alicent Hightower, who is at the height of her power when Season 1 of House of the Dragon came to and end, putting her son on the throne and now in the role of Queen Dowager.
"With that, her son has sort of turned from her and he no longer seeks her counsel, and Aemond hasn't for a very long time," Cooke highlighted. "Then she's wandering around the castle as all these chips are sort of falling away from her and I think a weird sense of liberation comes from that."
"Even though she was the queen, she was so bound by duty and she was so indoctrinated by her father, and she was there to serve and she was a chess piece in the 'game of thrones.' ... Especially shooting those small council scenes where physically I'm being talked over all the time and I'm trying to weigh in and put my point across, which is more measured and it's more intelligent. It's not leading with hormones, id or spontaneity, or just impulse. Alicent's able to zoom out, and also zoom in and look at her sons and really know that, 'F**k I've made the wrong decision here."
'A version of all of the great women that have raised her'
A character many House of the Dragon fans have been excited to see more of in Season 2 is Bethany Antonia's Baela Targaryen, daughter Laena and Daemon (Matt Smith). Baela had a particularly fractured childhood, spread out across different parts of Westeros, which impacts how she approaches strength and power, and grief.
"I wanted to show that she was a version of all of the great women that have raised her," Antonia said. "I just tried to take my favourite parts of all the people that have led her."
"So much of Rhaenys has gone into her, so much of being around Rhaenyra has gone into her. So much of Laena's spirit has gone into her and I think that's affected everything from the way she stands and the way she dresses, and the way she speaks and holds herself at court. And I think this season it was mainly just about finding the nuances in how differently she behaves, depending on who she's with and depending on what setting she's in."
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Antonia also highlighted that we meet Baela in Season 2 at an "interesting" point, when "everybody that's been important to her up until now has been taken away from her."
"So we find her in a position of not knowing where her loyalty lays or who she should follow, or who she should look to for guidance," Antonia said. "What I really wanted to explore was how loyal she would be, but to a point."
"Everybody has a wall that they get to and for Baela, I think that she follows Rhaenyra and I think in this season we see her hit the point at which she starts to question why she's doing this. Or whose side she should actually be on and how important it is to follow your family, just because they're family. ... People are going to get to see her learning what it means to her to be a Targaryen and how she wants to use this power that they all have, as a family, for good. And she wants to stop the hardship that she's felt and experienced happening to other people."
