The Queen That Never Was
Rhaenys Targaryen is known as “The Queen Who Never Was,” passed over as heir to the Iron Throne because the realm favored her cousin Viserys. Actor Eve Best talked about how that is something her character keeps at her core. “When that happened, that essential primary miscarriage of justice, which is what it was went really deep—it’s like a dagger to the heart. And I think that’s where her vulnerability really is. So she has this supercool exterior,” she said. “It’s like she’s almost closed down her emotional toolbox as a kind of coping mechanism to deal with pain, but also has a political way of navigating these very choppy waters of this intensely volatile and corrupt environment that they all are in. And to find a way to position herself in a way that sort of holds on to her own self-respect in the face of such a crushing defeat, and also the self-respect of other women around her. [She] is a strong woman in a very vocal position, even though she [is] technically [without a role]—which is another source of great potential humiliation, to be so prominent and so in the spotlight, but actually have nothing to do. They have nothing to do except for give wine to their men or possibly die in childbirth.”
