House of the Dragon: Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s Kiss Makes Total Sense
The ‘shocking’ kiss between Rhaenyra and Mysaria in House of the Dragon Part 2 makes perfect sense if you pay attention.
House of the Dragon Season 2 may be focused on the ongoing Targaryen civil war, but there was one moment in Episode 6 that seemed to leave viewers confused.
After forming a strong alliance over the course of the first six episodes, Daemon’s former lover and spy, Mysaria, and his wife, Rhaenyra, shared a passionate kiss.
While some viewers were shocked by their sudden kiss, the kiss between the two women made a lot of sense.
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Why did Rhaenyra and Mysaria kiss?
Rhaenyra and Mysaria kissed after Mysaria fully supported Rhaenyra’s claim to the Iron Throne.
The Dragon Queen is in a precarious position right now. Her husband was having incestuous dreams at Harrenhal, and her small council did not have full confidence in her war strategy.
With the loss of Rhaenys and Lucerys to Aemond, Rhaenyra felt like she was out of options and allies.
However, Mysaria, Daemon’s former lover and now mistress of whispers, was more than willing to take up the mantle of Rhaenyra’s number one cheerleader.
After recounting the painful story of her youth, Mysaria declared her complete support for Rhaenyra, which led to an embrace and a passionate kiss.
According to Sonoya Mizuno, who plays Mysaria, their intimate moment was not scripted at all. It just happened because she and Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra, felt like it was the right thing to do at the time.
“It wasn’t scripted as a kiss. “I think it was scripted as… just breathing between them or something, and then whatever was happening was cut off,” Mizuno told TheWrap. “Because we were alone in the room… [and] Mysaria was telling this story, [D’Arcy] felt an instinct to want to hug her, to comfort her. From there, it just felt natural to kiss her.”
D’Arcy echoed her co-star’s sentiments about the kiss, telling Variety: “In this developing relationship—it’s really heartfelt. At first, there’s a lot of empathy and gratitude for this person. Rhaenyra is very much influenced by the life that Mysaria has lived so bravely. Then they’re two bodies that are completely invaded by touch. As soon as they hug and their bodies touch, I think it’s pure physical desire.”
Some fans may feel the moment is a racist move on the part of the show. However, D’Arcy clarified that this isn’t the first time Rhaenyra has expressed more exotic feelings because of the “great closeness [she felt] in her early relationship with Alicent.”
While many of the show’s events are based on the Fire and Blood novels, the infamous kiss between Rhaenyra and Mysaria is not mentioned in the source material.
Their developing relationship, however, is very similar to the one in the books, though the series is developing in a different direction.
In Fire and Blood, Mysaria serves as Rhaenyra’s whisperer, but she still initiates sexual relations with Daemon, even though he and Rhaenyra are married.
Mysaria is not appointed to the small council, and she mostly acts as an extension of Daemon’s most violent impulses, as when she suggests sending Alicent and Helaena to a brothel and impregnating them with bastard children.
However, in House of the Dragon Part 2, the two women bond over their fiercely conflicted feelings for Daemon and their precarious positions in the hierarchy of King’s Landing.
Their intimate moments are the culmination of their desire to be desired for who they are and to seek power from someone who sees them as equals.
For more, you can find out if Criston Cole is Daeron’s real father or a secret villain you’ll hate. We also have details on the House of the Dragon release schedule. And don’t miss all the other new TV shows coming in July!
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