In House of the Dragon, Rhaenys does not bow to Rhaenyra because she needs to confirm with Corlys that House Velaryon will stand behind her even though Rhaenys already supports her.
Rhaenys is one of the more complex characters in House of the Dragon and she has quickly become a fan-favourite on the show.
This is illustrated perfectly when she does not bow to Rhaenyra, even though she has watched Rhaenyra closely over the years and clearly supports her.
However, she is still a representative of House Velaryon, and as a result, she still needs Corlys’ support to bend the knee.
Rhaenys’ history in House of the Dragon
The main storyline in the first season of House of the Dragon is based on the Fire and Blood novels by George R. R. Martin and it has had no shortage of nuanced characters.
Rhaenyra Targaryen is one of these characters that is often pushed to the background of narratives, but she is clearly a key player and a complex character. Rhaenys became a dragonrider at thirteen, and later, an accomplished and fierce dragonknight.
This proves that even though she clearly loves Lord Corlys, their children, and her dragon, Meleys, she is also a keen strategist who has known battle and who makes calculated decisions.
This complexity is what has made her character so interesting to watch and what has made her such a fan-favourite among fans.
 |
| Buy it on Amazon |
House of the Dragon: Why does Rhaenys not bow to Rhaenyra?
Throughout the first season of House of the Dragon, Rhaenys’ decisions have left many viewers baffled and confused. The most recent of these instances was during the funeral at Dragonstone in the finale.
At this funeral, Daemon places Viserys’s crown on Rhaenyra’s head and names her queen.
Many people bend their knee at this moment to show their support for Rhaenyra, but even though Rhaenys has quite a close relationship with Rhaenyra, she does not bow during this moment.
This is despite the fact that Rhaenys understands her anger and fight better than anyone else, since she was also passed over to give the Iron Throne to a man.
This is likely because even though Rhaenys herself supports Rhaenyra, she is also married to Lord Corlys, and she needs to make sure which side the Velaryons will be on before she, as a representative of the house, bows before Rhaenyra without consulting Corlys, who is still in a coma.
However, Rhaenys does offer Rhaenyra a smile as encouragement and her actions in stepping up to help Rhaenyra with her battle plans show that she is certainly on Rhaenyra’s side, even though she did not bow to her.
Why does Rhaenys keep such a close eye on Rhaenyra leading up to her coronation?
From the first season of House of the Dragon, it is clear that Rhaenys has a special fondness of Rhaenyra.
This makes sense because Rhaenys can probably understand and relate to everything that Rhaenyra is thinking and feeling when her father names her heir to the throne, and she is then passed over, because Rhaenys went through exactly the same thing.
Rhaenys is also the one who immediately flies to Dragonstone to inform Rhaenyra that Aegon has been crowned.
This means that even though Rhaenys does not burn the Greens when she has the chance to, she supports Rhaenyra, she knows that she is going to have many battles ahead in order to win the Iron Throne, and she wants to make sure that Rhaenyra is worthy of being the first queen to rule the Seven Kingdoms.
How does Rhaenys support Rhaenyra even though she does not bow to her?
Although Rhaenys does not bow to Rhaenyra before she can confirm with Corlys that they will be allegiant to the Blacks in this war, when she does make Rhaenyra’s battles her own, she becomes an instrumental part of their strategy-building team.
From the lore and from what we saw in the last episode of the first season, when Rhaenyra takes a step back to mourn the death of her son, Rhaenys is the one to step up and volunteer to take Meleys to the Gullet.
This shows that she supports Rhaenyra’s efforts and that she actually helps to plan them even though she could not bow on behalf of the Velaryons earlier in the episode.
What will happen to Rhaenys in the future of the show?
Although the show has already changed many of the crucial moments that take place in the book, and Rhaenys’ future on the show is unclear until it happens, if the show follows what happens in the lore closely, Rhaenys will stay loyal to Rhaenyra’s cause, but she will be killed along with Meleys before she can see Rhaenyra take the Iron Throne.