Rhaenyra’s Biggest PR Problem Is Daemon

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2.

Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is currently on the losing side of a war for her own ascension in House of the Dragon — and, honestly, it’s not hard to understand why. Not only is her small council full of boys pretending to be men while they play at war, but the leader of Team Black also seems to lack the necessary skills to helm a successful war effort. Let’s face it, Rhaenyra may be smart, and just, and all that jazz, but deciding to simply sit the conflict out for a good few episodes and leaving her generals completely in the dark about it is far from being a stellar move.

To add insult to injury, there’s also the propaganda side of things. With the Greens being quick to weaponize the death of baby Jaehaerys and now the Blackwoods flying her colors as they wreak havoc in Bracken land, there’s no amount of starvation in King’s Landing that will make the people of Westeros see Rhaenyra as anything more than a tyrant. But, when it comes to optics, the poor queen has had very little say about what people think of her. After all, she has just come from a series of episodes completely oblivious to what her generals have been doing. She hasn’t ordered the death of Jaehaerys, nor has she ever come in direct contact with the Brackens or the Blackwoods. So what exactly is the problem there? What is going on with Rhaenyra’s PR team, and why can’t they make her look good in the eyes of the people of the Seven Kingdoms?

Well, Daemon (Matt Smith). That’s why. Okay, maybe Daemon and the fact that Rhaenyra, like most would-be medieval leaders, does not have a proper PR team. Still, Daemon has a big role to play in all of this. Quite frankly, even if Rhaenyra were to travel in time and hire the best firm on the market to handle her public image, Daemon would still be there to ruin everything. And we’re not just talking about the fact that he seems to have decided to turn his back on her. We get it, he wants to be the real king, not the king consort. He’s a man, and the original heir to King Viserys (Paddy Considine), yadda-yadda-yadda, and the fact that he keeps oscillating between making his intentions known and pretending to be raising an army for Rhaenyra sure makes it seem like she has no control over her subordinates. The real problem is that Daemon keeps getting people to commit atrocities in Rhaenyra’s name, and it doesn’t seem like he’s about to stop.

Daemon’s Actions Paint Rhaenyra as a Baby Killer in ‘House of the Dragon’

Granted, we could say that Daemon isn’t all that to blame for the horrible things that have gone down in Westeros so far. After all, he did hire Blood (Sam C. Wilson) and Cheese (Mark Stobbart) to off Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), not Prince Jaehaerys. However, he did it all without consulting Rhaenyra, and his instructions to his hit men were vague enough that the two felt comfortable replacing the head of an adult man with that of an infant. Surely, their boss wouldn’t notice, right? Except he did, and so did Rhaenyra and the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms. The murder of baby Jaehaerys, in House of the Dragon, is the first big war crime that turns the smallfolk as well as many of the lords of Westeros against Rhaenyra. And, credit where credit’s due, the Greens were pretty swift in making it known throughout the whole realm that the Blacks were the ones behind Jaehaerys’ gruesome death. Still, their entire propaganda campaign could’ve remained stagnant if Daemon hadn’t decided to take matters into his own hands.

Lest you think we’re being too hard on him, let’s take a look at how Rhaenyra’s vengeful streak traveled down the chain of command. It all started with Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) being killed by Aemond at the end of House of the Dragon Season 1. From the look on Aemond’s face after Vhagar swallows his nephew whole, we can infer that it was an accident, but that hardly matters when it comes to a war between two sides of the same family. Rhaenyra is rightfully enraged by her son’s demise, and she demands Aemond’s head. However, she never makes it clear how exactly she wants her half-brother to be killed, and, as far as everyone knows, she’s still putting the war on hold when all of this goes down. Daemon, though, is incapable of asking Rhaenyra, who is effectively his boss, what their course of action should be. He decides to be proactive. Alas, while proactivity can be a nice personality trait in the workforce, this isn’t always the case. When deciding to hire some swords to eliminate a prince in the middle of a war, it might be best to ask for your superior’s advice.

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So, yeah, while Blood and Cheese are ultimately the ones to blame for Prince Jaehaerys’ beheading, the problem did not start with them. There was a serious communication failure way up the chain of command, and it all started with Daemon deciding to play telephone with Rhaenyra’s grief instead of doing the reasonable thing and planning their next move strategically. Had he not done that, Rhaenyra would definitely have the people of King’s Landing at her side, considering just how scarce food has become in the area due to the war, not to mention the terrible omen that Meleys’ decapitated head represents to the people of the city. The Blacks could be sailing on some pretty smooth waters when it comes to the capital’s public opinion if Daemon had just presented his plan to his wife before putting it into motion.

Daemon’s Most Recent Shenanigans Might Have Cost Rhaenyra the Riverlands

Now, that alone should’ve earned Daemon a trip to Team Black’s equally non-existent HR department. But, hey, it’s just one mistake, right? Well, not really, as he’s been going around Harrenhal telling everyone that will lend him ears to drop the “consort” in “king consort” and that the Iron Throne will be his, with Rhaenyra welcome to sit by his side. The problem is, he hasn’t actually informed Rhaenyra of this decision. Daemon seems to have engaged in a bizarre form of quiet quitting, in that he has quit his job as Rhaenyra’s general, but is keeping this on the down-low from his wife and a considerable chunk of her allies. Said list of allies currently in the dark includes the Blackwoods, who have just destroyed the Bracken’s lands, killing everyone, including women and children, all while flying Rhaenyra’s colors. All of that was done unbeknownst to Rhaenyra, of course — and all of that was done once more with Daemon’s acquiescence.

Again, there was miscommunication involved. In Episode 5, “Regent”, Daemon tries to talk the Brackens into submission but fails miserably. Wanting to avoid bloodshed, as he needs their armies to enlarge his own, he asks Ser Willem Blackwood (Jack Parry-Jones) to take care of things. He’s adamant that there are things a king shouldn’t say, and Ser Willem seems to understand him pretty well. Alas, he doesn’t understand him well enough, as he goes into Bracken land surrounded by flags and banners depicting a red dragon on black canvas. Naturally, the lords and ladies of the Riverlands hear about the crimes that have been committed on behalf of Rhaenyra Targaryen and immediately flood Harrenhal, demanding answers from Daemon. The king consort is yet again shaken that his plan has backfired, but, seriously, what did he expect?

It’s Time for Rhaenyra to Fire Daemon

Now, the one person who is completely oblivious to what Daemon has been doing in her name — because, yes, even if he claims to be the one true king, he’s still working for someone else – is Rhaenyra herself. However, she won’t remain unaware for long, as Ser Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna) is departing to Harrenhal and will soon send her news of Daemon’s misdeeds. That is, of course, if Daemon doesn’t kill him first, which, considering his track record, is far from being an impossibility. But let’s keep on the sunny side. Let’s posit that Rhaenyra will learn of the terror her husband has wreaked upon the Riverlands. What should she do then? She could cut him loose and allow him to become a third party in their little Targaryen civil war, but that would be one hell of a liability. She could demote him, somehow, but that would be unlikely to make him stop challenging her and making bad decisions. No, the only correct course of action for Rhaenyra is to fire Daemon — the Targaryen way.

Or maybe we should say the Aemond way. In “The Red Dragon and the Gold”, Aemond takes advantage of a chaotic battle to attack his brother, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), with Vhagar, rendering him unconscious and severely injured. He could’ve killed Aegon in the process, but that really doesn’t seem to bother him. As a matter of fact, that would’ve probably been for the best, as Aemond would finally get what he wanted: to be king. Now, Rhaenyra is already queen in her own right, but there is someone challenging her position — someone besides Aegon. In order to avoid further accusations of kinslayer and to get Daemon out of the way as soon as possible, she should pull an Aemond and have him hit by friendly fire in battle. If he dies, good riddance! Maybe after she gets rid of him, she can make a trip to Essos and see if they have a PR firm she can hire around those parts.

Season 2 of House of the Dragon is currently streaming on Max in the U.S. New episodes come out on Sundays.

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