And so could her dragon, for that matter.
Princess Rhaenys had so many strengths: wisdom, fearlessness, her dragon Meleys (more on her below), tall wigs, enduring patience for Corlys’s bullshit, enduring patience for all of the men of this realm’s bullshit. But her greatest weapon was her face. One sharp glance from her across the Small Council table and you knew it was judgment day. Especially if that you is Daemon.
Sadly, in Sunday’s episode, “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” we got our last-ever look at Rhaneys giving one of her famous looks before she was killed by fellow face-server Aemond. (Unless she becomes the next person to haunt Daemon at Harrenhal.) Below, a recap of Rhaenys’s deadliest stares and smirks, in tribute to the Queen Who Never Was (but Should Have Been).
S1 E2: Warning Rhaenyra for the first of a million times that men just wanna see the world burn.
S1 E7: Once again letting Coryls know that his ego trip over her claim to the throne is getting their family killed.
S1 E8: Once again schooling Rhaenyra on how to play the game.
S1 E9: Letting Alicent know she’s surprisingly not that dumb…and still nowhere near as good at this game as Rhaenys.
S1 E9: Letting all the Greens know this is their last lucky day.
S1 E10: Making it known to everybody on Dragonstone that her knee doesn’t bend so easily.
S1 E10: Side-eying after Daemon prematurely counted Meleys among Team Black, as if he has any control over her battle movements.
S2 E2: Making it extremely known to Daemon (and everyone) that she knows he’s responsible for all of Blood and Cheese’s actions.
S2 E4: Shooting lasers at that man at the Small Council who dared question her authority.
Coda: RIP to the Queen Who Absolutely Was
You can’t talk about Rhaenys without mentioning Meleys. Some of the dragons in this dance are hard to tell apart, but Meleys had presence. They called her the Red Queen. She was big, bold, and beautiful — decorated head to claw in scales the color of her own flames, with spikes running along her skull and neck like a Jurassic crown. According to Fire & Blood, when Rhaenys married Corlys, she insisted on including Meleys in her grand entrance, arriving to the ceremony on dragonback. (Imagine if Vogue existed in this world.) We’re told Meleys was also a skilled warrior, cunning and quick, even if we only ever saw her in action in her last battle.
Remember how she was previously only permitted to intimidate the Greens, roaring at them instead of burning them alive in season one? She did so with frightening style, swagger, and a stare into the soul — much like Rhaenys herself.
In the Battle at Rook’s Rest, Meleys never really stood a chance, something Rhaenys understood when she volunteered to ride her straight into battle alone. They were unknowingly outnumbered and ambushed twice in the span of maybe ten minutes. Even so, look how difficult it was to bring down the Red Queen: Sunfyre, Aegon’s dragon, barely left a scratch on her, but Meleys tore him up. And Vhagar, this world’s largest threat, couldn’t defeat Meleys in their first scuffle because Meleys’s sneaky under-the-belly scratch attacks were effective. She briefly made Vhagar spiral to the ground! It’s just horrible luck that Vhagar is so damn big and somehow so damn good at playing hide, seek, and kill that she won round two. (Treating Meleys’ neck like a chew toy really emphasized the cruelty of such an unfair duel.)
But even in her dying moment, you could sense Meleys was more concerned about losing Rhaenys and failing her. This was essentially her mother, and she was a good one: Rhaenys hugged and pet her before and after rough excursions and demanded she be given time to rest and gorge. Did you catch that affectionate look Meleys gave Rhaenys after their small victory against Vhagar? Did you see Rhaenys’s proud smile in return? There was deep love and mutual respect in this bond. Seconds later, we watch the life leave Meleys’s eyes as she struggles to look back at her rider one last time before the pair plunge to their deaths. Two Targaryen greats gone in an instant. Meleys was the first dragon we saw this season. I hate that the last we’ll see of her is her decapitated head.
