The much-awaited finale of House of the Dragon’s first season aired on October 23nd. Unfortunately, the episode was leaked on the internet a few days prior to its official release on Sunday. Nevertheless, the shocking season finale had everything that makes the show so great: dragons, blood, and an impending war between two powerful queens, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy).

House of the Dragon is set 200 years before Game of Thrones begins. It depicts the golden age of the Targaryen house, as they are the rulers of The Seven Kingdoms. Being a prequel can come with many challenges, but there are also some benefits — it can learn from the mistakes of the previous show. The main one? Female protagonists and how the characters are treated.

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The first season of House of the Dragon received a lot of attention worldwide and ended on a high note. Here is a bit more about the two main forces in the show, the Queens that will govern the war that is to come.

The Women of Westeros

     HBO

Strong women in Westeros are not something new that House of the Dragon brought to this fantasy world. In Game of Thrones, there are some of the most individually complex and cunning women in recent fantasy stories, let alone television history. In every important family in GOT, there was at least one deeply important female character.

From Cersei (Lena Headey) and the Lannisters with her desire to rule to young Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) trying to find who she is (and becoming a lethal fighter in the process). And, of course, the only remaining Targaryen woman, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), with her need for justice and ambition for her birthright: the Iron Throne. In retrospect, this seems like a familiar fight for Targaryen women after the first season of House of the Dragon. The women in Game of Thrones were definitely a highlight, and it created an intricate game of power that everyone was a part of in some way or another.

Even if they were strong, there has been some criticism of how the show treated its female characters. The main problem was the explicit and constant sexual violence most of these characters had to endure. There were some questionable choices, such as making Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) run after Jaimie (Nikolaj Coster Waldau) in her nightgown, or Daenerys being killed in the midst of a kiss with Jon Snow (Kit Harington). But, besides some moments, most of the show paved the way for strong female characters that are very different from one another.

Battle of Queens in House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon took some of the criticism from its predecessor and addressed it in different ways. The show has been praised for its stance regarding various subjects, such as sexual violence and diversity. The series not only kept its word, but it deepens some important conversations. There is a big shift in the protagonists of the series: they are both women. It does help that the show has fewer characters than GOT, but the amount of importance given to them and their experience fighting this impossible political game has to be addressed.

Sexism and misogyny are integral parts of both protagonists’ stories. Alicent and Rhaenyra are extremely powerful and are critical pieces of the game of thrones that is at hand. Of course, there are men around them who are also powerful, but the queens are the core of each side of this war. Also, the show doesn’t shy away from what they have to endure for being women in court, including having to perform duties such as getting pregnant and giving birth while tolerating being discredited by those around them.

Rhaenyra and Alicent’s relationship is dearly important to them, but their emotions usually do not hinder their logic – something that has unfortunately happened in the writers’ room for many female characters in television and film. In House of the Dragon, there are a lot of times when they are the only ones who are reasonable in a room full of men who want to go to war, but there are also moments when they let their anger and ambitions get the best of them. One of the best scenes of the entire show is when they go head to head in order to defend themselves and their own. What is so enticing about these battles between queens is that they are both powerful in their own ways, and they won’t back down until they have what they want.

Season Two of House of the Dragon

The finale of season one just aired, and there is already much anticipation as to what will happen now that war was declared after the death of Rhaenyra’s son. After ten episodes of growing tension, the finale was arguably the peak of the season. The showrunner already announced that there will be war and more action in season two, and with these two fierce characters leading the armies, blood will not be spared. Although the audience got a bit of the taste of a war between queens with Cersei and Daenerys, this one feels a lot more personal for the characters and the viewer. Especially because of how these queens and their conflict were constructed.

Unfortunately, season two’s production is scheduled to wrao around the end of Summer 2023, which means it is unlikely that this war will start on our TV screens before 2024. Fans will have to wait a bit longer to see how these two queens and the dragons will battle to conquer the Iron Throne.