ok, so while I adore Eve Best and love show Rhaenys, you can tear book Rhaenys from my cold dead hands, I am ride or die for book Rhaenys, hence the mostly black hair. Anyway. What is this outfit! It is awful, the shoulders are cut weird, the length of the jacket? is just bizarre considering not even the men wear tunics that short. I based the redesign very loosely on the outfits Alys Rivers, god I love her, wears in season 2. Because that is how you design a coat for a woman in this show. It doesn’t have to be overly fancy to not look stupid. And I also kept her in the blues that she pretty much exclusively wears with very few exceptions. Also. I hate season 1 Rhaenys’ hair, thank god they fixed her hair in season 2.
"The Stranger has visited me more times than I can count, Grand Maester. I assure you… he cares little whether my eyes are open or closed."
Laena, and her unborn grandchild: far away from her, unexpectedly.
Laenor: in their home, whilst she was sleeping, he was murdered due to dangers she had already articulated.
Vaemond: in front of her eyes, despite her earlier warnings, by her own family.
Corlys: far away from her, on the brink of death, after six years apart.
No matter where she is, what she does, if she foresees the danger or not, if she has her eyes open or shut to the reality, the Stranger doesn't care. Her loved one can die right in front of her or a country away. The Stranger leaves her powerless. The Strange takes and takes. She couldn't save any of them.
Rhaenys is proximate or aware of most deaths during the series. She is a castle away from Aemma, her cousin, who dies on the birthing bed - and is present at her funeral. She details, casually, the manner in which Rhea Royce dies. She is there and a witness to Joffrey's death.
And then we cast forward to after she says this statement. Corlys lives, yes but who else dies? How many more deaths is she attached to? How many graves? There's the general theme of war: the cost of it, the savagery, the toll. She thinks of it almost constantly ("if something were to befall you"). But actual deaths?
Viserys: The very next morning, after this quote. He dies rooms away. But he's been dead to her for a long time, despite the love there.
Caswell: she sees his hanging body.
Visenya: She sees the blood and the beginning of that death. She is present at the funeral.
Luke: She is there when he volunteers, she did not foresee this, she wanted to keep those boys safe. Yet he dies. And she feels that grief but is not allowed to feel that grief because everyone else feels it far too heavily, and there's a job to do. She attends his funeral.
Jaehaerys: She is present when the Blacks get the news. She didn't see it coming but isn't surprised. She looks straight at the culprit.
Erryk and Arryk: Again, so proximate to it. In the same castle, one would assume. And she stands at their graveside.
Then Rook's Rest. Literally staring death in the face. If we go back to "He cares little whether my eyes are open or closed", then it has to circle around to Meleys and herself. That final look. Her eyes are wide open as she watches Meleys's close. And she is powerless to save her dear, dear dragon.
And then she falls herself. Her eyes open. It doesn't matter if she closed them or not, she's falling. She's dying. She's dead.