Here’s The Irony In Alicent’s Gift To Rhaenyra On House Of The Dragon

When Otto approaches Rhaenyra and her formidable husband Daemon (Matt Smith) on the bridge that leads to Dragonstone, he tries to make a bargain with them: if they bend the knee to Aegon and accept him as their king, he’ll let Rhaenyra and her sons keep Dragonstone, and her sons will also serve as squires and cupbearers to Alicent’s children. Daemon definitely doesn’t mince words about his feelings on the matter, refusing point blank. Understandably, Rhaenyra feels the same way, going so far as to rip Otto’s pin signifying his status as the Hand into the sea. This betrayal of Rhaenyra’s father’s wishes clearly infuriates both her and Daemon, but at the last minute, Otto produces a gift from Alicent meant from Rhaenyra that seems to soften her just a little.

What Otto gives Rhaenyra is an envelope containing a torn page from a book that she and Alicent read together when they were young (back when they were played by Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, in fact). That page focuses, as a young Rhaenyra once told Alicent, on Nymeria — yes, the same Nymeria that a young Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) once idolized and used as the namesake for her direwolf! — a fierce warrior who brought a fleet of 10,000 ships across the Narrow Sea when she faced attacks from enemies in Valyria and then married into the Dornish royal family. When the two girls read it, they’re still close friends, and clearly, the page brings back some memories for Rhaenyra.