House of the Dragon boss talks about expanding Mysaria’s role from the book in season 2

House of the Dragon boss talks about expanding Mysaria's role from the book in season 2

As a dedicated fan who has navigated through the tumultuous seas of Westeros for decades, I find myself intrigued by the evolving narrative of House of the Dragon. The recent alterations to Mysaria’s character have left me both perplexed and pleasantly surprised.

We’re currently discussing the recent developments in the “House of the Dragon” series, as George R.R. Martin voices his disapproval over the show deviating too much from his book “Fire & Blood,” and Ryan Condal, the showrunner, has addressed these concerns on a special episode of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” podcast.

In our previous discussion, we delved into Condal’s reasons behind the removal of significant characters like Nettles and Maelor Targaryen. Now, let’s explore what Condal shares about Mysaria, the influential information broker who forms a close relationship with Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon during season 2.

In the television series, Mysaria plays a more expansive part compared to her role at the current stage in the “Fire & Blood” book. While in the novel she’s busy gathering information clandestinely within King’s Landing, on the show, it is Mysaria who hires the assassins, Blood and Cheese, in the book, who murder Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen within the Red Keep. However, in the series, she merely suggests two potential candidates for this grim task to Daemon, who then carries out the rest of it independently.

In the narrative of “Fire & Blood”, the characters Mysaria and Rhaenyra do not cross paths until a later time when Rhaenyra arrives at King’s Landing. Contrastingly, in “House of the Dragon”, their relationship evolves into a closer working bond on Dragonstone, with an unexpected kiss exchanged between them at one point. While Condal doesn’t discuss these specific alterations, he does hint at expanding Mysaria’s character by speaking more generally about her increased role within the story.

Condal expressed his fascination for Mysaria, a character he found intriguing in the book “Fire and Blood“. Mysaria is a historical figure in the text who isn’t clearly defined as a character. She’s quite elusive, often appearing and disappearing within the narrative. Even historians themselves admit they don’t know her full intentions or plans, which makes for an enticing canvas for writing, offering fertile ground to develop a character. It’s like starting with an outline of dots and then filling in the details within those lines.

So we’ve tried to craft a character that honors all those events in the history. And what she’s said to participate in. We know that she was Daemon’s girlfriend, we know that she finds herself at the court of Rhaenyra. But how do we get there and what leads to those events happening? So we’ve tried to brush a lot of detail and texture into her character, but the same time follow that historical narrative and hopefully tell this multi-season arc of a character that goes through a really big change from beginning to end in terms of her standing in the world, her philosophy, her political alignment and what role she plays in the end game of all of this.

I know Condal is taking his lumps among fans right now for unduly changing things from Fire & Blood, but this is one change I enjoyed. I didn’t think much of Mysaria in the first season — she was kind of an inscrutable side character with an unconvincing accent — but I thought she was nicely fleshed out in the second. I thought she brought good ideas to the table and I liked her chemistry with Rhaenyra. I didn’t see their kiss coming, but I bought it and want to see more.

The lack of female agency on House of the Dragon

One aspect I find somewhat puzzling is the choice to diminish Mysaria’s role in the Blood and Cheese incident, transforming her from an active participant into someone who only reluctantly gets involved under pressure. In my opinion, this was effective in the series, but it aligns with a concerning trend on “House of the Dragon” where characters, particularly female characters, have their autonomy undermined.

In this podcast, Condal discusses his view that Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower are accused in “Fire & Blood” for initiating the violent conflict known as the Dance of the Dragons. However, I find this assertion debatable, given the numerous events leading up to the war that make it difficult to assign blame to just two individuals. Yet, it seems this claim has had a problematic impact on the writers, who in their effort to avoid portraying these female characters as power-hungry or violent have instead made them passive figures, acting only when circumstances force them to do so. For instance, Mysaria doesn’t actively hire Blood and Cheese; she merely gives their names in exchange for her freedom. Similarly, Alicent Hightower doesn’t intentionally oppose Rhaenyra Targaryen’s claim to the throne; instead, she misinterprets her royal husband’s dying words, eventually deciding to collaborate with Rhaenyra despite initially trying to protect her family.

It seems to me that the representation of women in House of the Dragon often simplifies them, portraying them as one-dimensional. However, it’s important to remember that both women and men can embody a variety of traits, such as greed and generosity, selfishness and selflessness. By limiting the female characters’ experiences to only the lighter aspects of humanity, they lose depth and become less convincing.

In essence, Mysaria wasn’t directly affected by this issue in my opinion, yet it aligns with a growing trend within the series. Hopefully, these points will be addressed at some point by Condal. For now, we eagerly await the potential third season of House of the Dragon , which might air on HBO and Max around 2026.

2024-09-06 22:41

Sister Wives star Janelle Brown, 55, gets emotional about the death of her son Garrison, 25, six months ago

Watch the first teaser for the new Wolf Man movie from Blumhouse and Universal