i don’t think ppl understand that rhaenyra is supposed to be hesitant about killing otto. it’s not in her nature to be cruel, even to those who deserve it. her executing him is the stepping stone of her descent into a queen that has to do horrendous things to keep her claim
Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy really are in a tier above. The chemistry is insane. It’s wild how they spent the vast majority of last season away from each other
The execution was intentionally awkward because neither Rhaenyra nor Otto got the ending they thought they deserved. Otto spent decades playing the greatest political game in Westeros, only to die not in a grand battle of wits, but as another casualty of the war he helped create. Rhaenyra, meanwhile, had dreamed of a triumphant return to King’s Landing, yet by then she was exhausted, grieving, and burdened by impossible choices. The lack of a dramatic payoff is the payoff,it shows that the Dance robs everyone of the glorious ending they imagined.
If we’re being serious, though, House of the Dragon often avoids giving major characters “hero moments.” The Dance is written as a tragedy, so many important deaths are abrupt, uncomfortable, or emotionally unsatisfying on purpose. Instead of celebrating victory, the story emphasizes how hollow it has become.