The world of Westeros is no stranger to making a spectacle of sex, and lots of it.
If any significant theme has taken center stage so far this season, it is duty.
What does it mean for ones autonomy when their future is already governed by tradition?
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Women are to stay home and make heirs, while the men are sent out to govern.
To a large extent, Queen Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) retroactively haunts this series.
The childbed is our battlefield.
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We must learn to face it with a stiff lip.
Rhaenyra is all too well aware of her position as essentially a prize horse in the race for power.
“King of the Narrow Sea,” meanwhile, is as dialogue-heavy as it is hot and heavy.
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It establishes a lot of the characters sentiments regarding the various positions they hold.
Two main conversations anchor the themes of this episode.
First, we have both Alicent and Rhaenyra.
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While discussing the princess marriage tour, both women approach the issue in radically different ways.
Sex is presented to her as duty, never pleasure.
Nobody would bat an eye if they were to see Daemon in a brothel, but the princess?
Thats a whole other can of worms.
Who wouldnt recognize the iconic white Targaryen hair?
Not only are his vows at risk, but he could very well lose his head for this.
In many ways, this scene is Rhaenyras complete rejection of duty.
He is a member of the Kingsguard rather than the Queensguard, after all.
As Rhaenyra climaxes, Alicent can be seen expressionless as a rat slithers its way into the camera frame.
For the two women, using their sexuality to attain power manifests in radically different ways.
Hell, even the question of sex holds power.
We all know Alicent and her fatherhave their own agendaregarding the throne (who doesn’t?
As this episode shows, sex can be used to attain both fleeting and long-lasting power.
