#this episode was directed by a woman and you could tellllllllllll (in a good way)

[elizabethtudors]

I have a lot of thoughts about episode four and gender/sexuality

from the opening of the latest episode of house of the dragon, we are primed for a story about marriage.  rhaenyra begins the episode in a sort of christina rossetti’s goblin market where eligible suitors are paraded out in front of her.  she rejects them all.  we then see a shot of daemon flying back home.  during his welcome home reception we are reminded that rhaenyra is now 18 and mature (almost old for westerosi standards, GRRM I AM IN YOUR WALLS).  we have a scene between alicent and rhaenyra where rhaenyra says she wishes to not end up in the situation that alicent is in: a glorified breeding mare for a king.  alicent laments her loneliness and how all everyone sees is her role, the queen. rhaenyra’s conversation with alicent is then repeated in her conversation with daemon.  she expresses her fear of ending up like her mother and her desire to be more than just a political pawn in her father’s game, that men won’t want her for herself but who she represents (an ironic parallel to the beginning where she is offered protection but what good is protection if you have a dragon?).  

it’s when rhaenyra and daemon leave the castle that the show really starts to get interesting when it comes to gender, class, and expectations of sex and sexuality.

disguised as a man, rhaenyra wanders the streets with daemon.  intercut with scenes of her looking in awe at the magic tricks, sexual freedom, and common plays are scenes of alicent tending to viserys’ wounds.  viserys believes she has a gentler touch than those treating him, a reinforcement of traditional gender roles of wife as nurturer.  rhaenyra and daemon watch a play where the common folk recount her being named heir to great disappointment (a chorus of boos repeat) while aegon, who the play explicitly reminds us is named after a conqueror, is met with cheers because he has what rhaenyra does not: a cock.  rhaenyra tries to gain control of the narrative cheering when her name is mentioned but it is no good.  when she asks daemon why should she care about what they think, he reminds her that she will be queen of them one day.  it serves as another reminder to the message the show has been building since episode one: can a woman be accepted on the iron throne?  even disguised and given the authority of a man, rhaenyra is powerless to change the tide.  

once we get to the brothel is where things get very interesting.  We get cuts of daemon and rhaenyra journeying deeper into the depths like a sort of journey to the underworld.  They are interspersed with alicent being called to perform her wifely duties with viserys.  we get a shot of alicent below viserys (both literally and in terms of the power play in this sex scene), her eyes vacant as if no pleasure can be derived from the activity but only duty.  meanwhile, we see daemon telling rhaenyra that chamber in the brothel is a place where people come to take what they want.  we see many people of varying ages and sexualities in the throes of pleasure.  and daemon and rhaenyra join them.  the scene is deliberately vague.  did they have sex?  rhaenyra ends the scene with her pants down.  one thing is very clear, the encounter was purely driven by pleasure and lust, something lacking in alicent/viserys scenes.  for now, it seems rhaenyra has access to that kind of power, in spite of her sex, something she takes full advantage of when she returns home and sleeps with cristian cole.  in that sex scene, rhaenyra is the one who initiates it and she assumes the top position her father had, the position of power.  we have two ideas at play here: sex as duty and sex as pleasure.  and in this moment, it seems like maybe rhaenyra will be able to overcome her gender’s fate to genuinely enjoy sex for what it is both in disguise as a man and with someone who calls her princess and sees her for what she is.

of course, as the second half of the episode shows, that kind of power is an illusion.  otto hears from his spies that rhaenyra and daemon went to a brothel and tells viserys.  while viserys puts on a show not believing him (we will later learn that this is a farce), it becomes very clear that there is no power to be had for women when it comes to sex in this world.  alicent confronts rhaenyra and here is where we reach ultimate Gender Fuckery™️ in this episode.  rhaenyra denies anything happened.  however as the conversation progresses, rhaenyra realizes that her protests are not enough on their own.  so rhaenyra takes the gender expectation and roles in her denials.  daemon was her escort.  she could not leave without him and he took advantage of that and her.  she swears on her mother that she is a maiden, the same mother who quite literally bled out for the westeros gender expectations and roles.  it works.  alicent believes her and will even go to bat for her with viserys.

meanwhile, viserys confronts daemon.  this is perhaps the show at its most blunt and least subtextual (I know writers who use subtext and they are all cowards!).  daemon rightfully points out that at viserys’ age, they both making their way through the brothels and in response, viserys says, “we were boys, she is a girl.” (or something to that effect).  unlike rhaenyra, daemon does not have to hide what they did.  he is proud of it.  viserys rightly points out that he has ruined her and daemon plays his card: he was promised anything for his service in the stepstones, and what he wants is to marry rhaenyra.  yes he is married (will the artist known as rhea royce please stand up, girl we need to see you) but it doesn’t matter.  aegon had two wives after all, why shouldn’t he?  again, the callback to the conqueror but this time, despite having a cock, he is denied for a different reason.  viserys thinks this is a play for the throne that daemon has coveted.  is it? we don’t know.  we have certainly seen that he cares for her and she him (again when daemon tells viserys it was better he fuck her than another man, the idea that it be someone she desires rather than politicking).  

finally, viserys and rhaenyra have a conversation.  again, the prince that is promised prophecy makes an appearance, something that viserys uses to remind her that what is at stake is greater than the throne.  the word blood in the prophecy takes a new meaning when we consider how many times we have seen women bleed for the targaryen legacy and the ways pregnancy and blood have been linked throughout the episode.  viserys says that she will marry leanor, bringing together the two houses and conveniently fixing his sea snake problem.  rhaenyra rightfully calls this out as the political play.  once again, we are back to where we were at the beginning of the episode with rhaenyra being used as nothing more than a pawn.  she has done all this learning about sex and pleasure and her gender still traps her.  daemon can find sex freeing and empowering but she has had power taken away from her throughout this second half.  she does manage to eek out a minor victory in getting otto hightower out by rightfully pointing out his ambition but the victory ultimately feels hollow, especially when in the final scene, rhaenyra is brought a tea with abortive properties.  daemon may be able to walk away from their experience (quite literally) but rhaenyra is left with nothing but consequences.  women may get pleasure from sex as men do but cost is always great.

#house of the dragon #hotd spoilers #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #alicent hightower #viserys targaryen #my meta #v stream of consciousness but i need to get my feelings out #this episode was directed by a woman and you could tellllllllllll (in a good way) #anyway gender thoughts make my brain go vroom