Not for the first time, HBO’s House of the Dragon presented a perplexing character decision in need of further dissection. from Laena Velaryon’s suicide to foot fetishes, season 1 of the Game of Thrones prequel series is absorbing, to say the least. The latest episodes — episode 9 — saw Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, aka The Queen Who Never Was, take her turn in the spotlight.

Let’s discuss that huge final scene with the Princess and why she chose not to burn a certain family to cinders.

Warning: Spoiler ahead.

Why didn’t Rhaenys burn the Hightowers?

Despite having been imprisoned by the Hightowers, Princess Rhaenys chooses to spare their lives — for now. After escaping her room with the help of defected knight Erryk Cargyll, Rhaenys finds herself swept up in Prince Aegon’s coronation ceremony. She slinks away as Aegon receives the Conqueror’s crown, managing to descend beneath the floorboards and reunite with her red-hued she-dragon Meleys. Rhaenys and Meleys then burst through the floorboards, sending the ceremony into chaos.

Facing down the Hightower clan — including Queen Alicent, her father Otto and her son Aegon — Rhaenys has the opportunity to end the Hightowers’ reign for good. All she has to do is say “Dracarys,” the High Valyrian (language of the old Valyrian Freehold) word for “Dragonfire” and order Meleys to breath fire. Instead, Meleys lets out a deafening shriek. Rhaenys shares a meaningful look with Alicent, who’s standing protectively in front of Aegon, before she and Meleys

There’s one scene in episode 7 of Andor that sent me reeling.

It starts out weird. Cassian Andor, having pulled off an impossible heist on the Galactic Empire, was doing what any reasonable criminal would do in the aftermath: partying it up in what can only be described as “Space Ibiza.” Getting boozed up by night, lounging off the hangover at the beach by day. A strange vibe for a universe usually dialed in on space wizards duking it out with laser swords, but I digress.

While lounging, Cassian – a passerby in a completely new, separate crime he has no involvement in – gets pulled up by a Stormtrooper and is interrogated on the spot, accused of taking part in a crime he merely witnessed.

Anyone watching that scene who’s been interviewed by a rogue cop almost certainly had a knot in their stomach. Cassian, polite and forthcoming, frantically tries to avoid trouble as he is slowly ensnared by a calculated series of leading questions, resulting in him being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. It’s a scene both brutal and baffling in its truthfulness. What feels initially like parody slowly unravels into something horrifying. The outcome feels depressingly inevitable: This is what happens when you allow fascism to flourish without recourse.

It’s funny, but Andor – a spinoff show focused on a character from a spinoff movie – is literally the first Star Wars