House of the Dragon fans had been shipping Rhaenyra and Mysaria all season, and their collective jaws dropped when the two actually shared a kiss near the end of last Sunday’s episode.
While it did feel like a natural arc for the characters this season, the moment was apparently unscripted, and it was something the actors just felt was right for the moment.
Why Did Rhaenyra and Mysaria Kiss?
The whole season has had men underestimating Rhaenyra in her council, and while Rhaenys has always been there to stand up for Rhaenyra, her death at Rook’s Rest has left the queen more vulnerable than ever. Despite this, Mysaria has always been supportive of the queen, even giving her advice on what she should do with her special insight and connections to the smallfolk.
With the death of Ser Steffon Darklyn after Rhaenyra’s experiment with Seasmoke, the men of her council have become even more doubtful about her leadership, but Mysaria, like she has been in previous episodes, has been comforting Rhaenyra and tells her that she believes that she should be queen. Oddly enough, this prompts Rhaenyra to hug Mysaria; one thing led to another, and the two end up kissing before being interrupted.
The Kiss was Unscripted
In a recent interview with The Wrap, Sonoya Mizuno revealed that the kiss wasn’t originally in the script. “It wasn’t scripted as a kiss. I think it was scripted as … there’s just breath between them or something, and then whatever happens is interrupted,” she said. What’s interesting is, it was also Rhaenyra Emma D’Arcy who suggested the two should kiss. Mizuno continues: “Because we were separate in the room … [and] Mysaria has told this story, [D’Arcy] felt the instinct to hold her, to comfort her… From that, it felt so organic to go into the kiss.”
With so much tension happening between the characters all season, Mizuno also stated that she didn’t want the scene to feel ‘queer-baity in any sense’, and that’s what kind of made the kiss feel like it was the right move for the characters.
Interestingly enough, there was no mention of Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s romantic relationship in the source material Fire and Blood, but there is definitely room for the show to try and explore that relationship since Mysaria did end up being Rhaenyra’s Mistress of Whisperers during the war.
It’s funny how ‘mistress’ in the show takes a whole new meaning this time.
What about Mysaria and Daemon?
Though Daemon was with Mysaria first, it does look like he’s going to spend the whole season just messing around in Harrenhal. After all, Alys Rivers does become his bedmate in the books, so it’s possible things are done between him and Mysaria.
With fans having backed the relationship between Mysaria and Rhaenyra though, it does seem like the show is going to delve further into this romance. While the source material had nothing to say about it, the very nature of the book is how history can get messy and how the narrators can’t be trusted.
Catch new episodes of House of the Dragon Sunday nights on Max.