If You Thought Rhaenys Sparing Greens Was Stupid, Think Again
Yes, we all wanted her to say the word, but still.
Warning: the following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon episode 9
One of the highlights of episode 9 was the Queen Who Never Was riding her dragon Meleys and having the Greens right in front of her, scared and submissive... and never saying Dracarys so that the bloody civil war that followed would never happen.
Many people were frustrated with Rhaenys' decision to spare Alicent and her kids even though they have just usurped the crown. Twitter immediately exploded with memes and caps-locked opinions about how Rhaenys should have used her chance.
However, others argued that Rhaenys had her reasons not to turn the Greens into ashes.
Firstly, many fans believe that Rhaenys was moved by how Alicent immediately stood in front of her children to protect them. Rhaenys, who is a mother as well, could not have left that unnoticed.
There is a second reason as well.
"Just because the Greens abided by the laws and traditions of Westerosi male primogeniture, and installed Aegon onto the throne, doesn't meant that they deserve to die. They are also operating under the claim that Viserys wished this on his deathbed, whether they believe that or not," Redditor TheMantisToboggan_MD argued.
One might dislike Greens as much as one likes, but Rhaenys apparently decided to be better than that – even though her moral choice resulted in a full-scale war among the Targaryens.
After all, if Rhaenys ended up destroying the Greens all at once, who knows what repercussions could follow for team Black? We're unlikely to know that anyway, but what we will know is how things will inevitably escalate into the Dance of the Dragons.
The House of the Dragon finale is scheduled to hit HBO Max on Sunday, October 23.