House of the Dragon star, Eve Best, recently compared ‘that’ Rhaenys Targaryen scene to Russia’s war with Ukraine.

House of the Dragon Episode 9 SPOILERS ahead

Rhaenys Targaryen actress, Eve Best, recently gave an out-of-touch comparison between her character and Russia in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

In Episode 9 of House of the Dragon, Rhaenys Targaryen rose from beneath the floor of the Dragonpit atop her dragon Meleys. Despite killing what could have been over ten thousand commoners as she rose from the ground, her character decides to spare the Green faction, headed by the Hightowers. She compared her character’s mercy to the opposing faction’s elites to Russia’s war with Ukraine, despite killing thousands of commoners in the process.

In a way, the two acts are very comparable, but not in the way that Best is saying. In the fictional scene that Best is alluding to, it is the elites who are spared and the commoners who experience suffering and death, just as it is in Russia’s war with Ukraine in real life.

In the end, all of the commoner’s deaths were meaningless, as Rhaenys fumbles her chance to end the coming war in an act of pseudo “grace” and “kindness” for the sake of preserving decorum. Many more low-born people of Westeros will likely die in the war that is to come, while the Targaryens reign down fire and destruction from above. It was certainly a moment of class solidarity.

Best’s full comment: “It’s the moment when she shows herself to be the greatest possible ruler. It was the most outrageous and explosive action of the season. In a way, it’s also the most merciful and most graceful act. It’s because she’s so intelligent and in the end chooses to do the right thing, which is not to destroy. It’s a truly forgiving moment and sort of a loving moment, in a weird way. She has all the ammunition, and the desire for revenge is so great. She’s suffered so much loss, and for her own sake and on behalf of so many others, the urge to destroy is so strong. And yet the choice not to destroy becomes even stronger. That’s the mark of greatness and [a] truly inspiring moment — I think actually one that is particularly resonate in this context of what we’re going through right now in our world with everything that’s going on with Russia. The choice not to drop the bombs is the greater choice.”

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““In the end she chooses to do the right thing, which is not to destroy … That’s the mark of greatness … [it] resonates [with] what we’re going through right now in our world [with] Russia. The choice not to drop the bombs is the greater choice”

— Eve Best on #Rhaenys

#HOTD“

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