The female characters in House of David are forces to be reckoned with. From Saul’s queen, Ahinoam (Ayelet Zurer), to a servant girl named Kazia (Inbar Saban), the series is full of intelligent and cunning women. Two new characters enter the storyline this season, with Lyna Dubarry playing a healer named Sara and Joy Rieger as the headstrong and tenacious Dina. The women in House of David have never been more prominent than they are in Season 2. These eight moments showcase the strong writing, directing, and acting that make House of David so dynamic to watch.
Mychal Tries To Stop Loving David for Her Family’s Sake
When a would-be marriage for Saul’s eldest daughter Mirab (Yali Topol Margalith) ends in disaster, the princess feels her opportunity for marital happiness slipping away. Mirab attempts to take her destiny into her own hands and figures that while she does not love David, he is at least a kind, decent, and good man who would make a suitable husband. She tells her father that, to make up for his cancellation of her first proposal, he could give her to David as a bride.
This maneuver drives a dagger into the heart of her younger sister, Mychal (Indy Lewis), who is in love with David. Their father, the king, is a stubborn man, and once he has made his mind up, there is no changing it. So Mychal, heartbroken as she is, realizes that for her family’s peace and unity, she must try to stop loving David. This task may have been easier for her if it were only her heart on the line, but David also loves her, and every time she is with him, the pain is bitter.
Mychal proves that she is a courageous person who tries to put others before herself. Unlike Mirab, who saw an opportunity and seized it, no matter whom she hurt, Mychal is willing to suffer herself so that others can have peace. Luckily, David has something to say and to do about the situation, but Mychal’s actions to put her sister and David’s well-being above her own speak volumes.
Kazia Works Her Way up the Social Ladder
Audiences were introduced to Kazia (Saban) in Season 1. As a servant in Saul’s palace, she already has a high ranking position in that she personally attends to the royal family, including the king and queen. Similar to Season 1, Kazia remains a clever and ambitious social climber. She has connections both in and outside the palace and knows how to navigate her way through any situation.
When Saul and Ahinoam (Zurer) have marital discord, Saul makes Kazia his concubine. Kazia knows she now has even more influence over the king and uses that influence to make a bold social statement. When Saul holds a feast to honor Jonathan (Ethan Kai) and Sara’s (Dubarry) marriage, Kazia asks to attend the event as a guest, not a servant. This is extremely taboo and brash, but her influence over Saul is so powerful that he allows it.
Furthermore, Kazia chooses to attend the feast, wearing a necklace that used to belong to the queen. These events start a downward spiral for Ahinoam, and ultimately, she is banished and thrown out of the palace. This is a phenomenal victory for Kazia as Saul has clearly chosen her over his wife. It is only left to wonder how far her ambition will take her and what sway she will command in the palace.
Mirab Supports Mychal
After David beats the odds, he survives an ambush and a suicide mission set for him by the queen. Saul must now grant David permission to marry Mychal, per his word and the details of their arrangement. Mirab is disappointed, to say the least. The one thing she wanted was not to be embarrassed. David publicly demonstrated that he would rather risk his life to marry Mychal than be coerced into marrying her.
Although devastated, Mirab chooses to support Mychal and be present for her sister on her wedding day. This touching scene is even more poignant because their mother has been exiled, and Mychal is sad not to have Ahinoam there. This time, it is Mirab’s turn to put her own feelings aside and support her sister’s happiness. Later in Season 2, when the truth about David is finally revealed to everyone, including Mychal, Mirab is there for her sister again. She comforts and reassures her, even though everything they hoped for and knew about David has collapsed. Mirab is coming into her power in Season 2, and it shows.
Dina Being Unapologetically Dina in Every Scene
Joy Rieger joins the House of David cast in Season 2 as Dina. When Prince Eshbaal (Sam Otto) is accused of taking advantage of Dina in Season 1, he is exiled when he refuses to marry her. After being kidnapped and tortured, Eshbaal returns a changed man, and though he has ulterior motives, they are yet to be made known in the series.
Part of Eshbaal’s 180 is now being willing to marry Dina. This choice is a brilliant one for the series and for audiences, as Dina becomes an important character for Season 2. Dina, who was raised by her father as if she were the son he had wanted instead, is different from any other woman Eshbaal has ever met. She is a skilled hunter and tracker and likes being outdoors. Dina is also refreshingly blunt and independent. She lets Eshbaal know in no uncertain terms what her expectations are for him as a husband and what she will and will not do for him as a wife.
Rieger is exceptional as Dina, who is a formidable match for Eshbaal. Though she does not love him, she is intrigued by him and is self-possessed enough to know that she can choose to marry him without feeling dependent. Dina speaks her mind no matter what situation she’s in and refuses to let anyone else tell her what she can or cannot do. When the women in the palace use manipulation and underhanded schemes to get their way, Dina is a therapeutic change in that she is up-front, honest, and frank. She is unlike any of the other women in the series and is destined to be a fan favorite character.
Mychal Chooses To Stay Instead of Leave With David
Chaos shatters through the palace when the truth is revealed that David is the one chosen by God to be the next king of Israel. This monumental secret has been well-kept from everyone, even Mychal. Shortly after they are married, Mychal learns in an instant that David is the person the prophet Samuel (Stephen Lang) anointed, and her father is trying to kill him.
House of David does a terrific job of giving this moment the complicated and nuanced ethos it deserves. Half of Mychal’s instincts are telling her to flee with her husband, and the other is telling her to stay. Mychal’s feelings and thoughts are a swirling mass of confusion, betrayal, and trepidation. She fears for David’s safety, but at the same time has to acknowledge that he has been hiding this from her the whole time. Contrary to what many sweeping romances would write, Mychal does not follow David. She stays in the palace. It could be that loyalty to her father puts her at odds with loyalty to David, or she feels hurt and afraid and chooses to remain in safety. Either way, David leaves without her, and their fate as a newlywed couple hangs in the balance.
Queen Ahinoam Is Exiled
Queen Ahinoam is an extremely shrewd person. She is always trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else and find the most advantageous opportunity for her family and herself. Despite all of her conniving and manipulating throughout the series, her house of cards crumbles in Episode 6, “Forged in Fire.”e
Sara Heals More Than Jonathan’s Body
When Jonathan is wounded, Kazia tells him about a healer of great skill. Jonathan travels to the healer, and while there, the healer’s granddaughter and skilled assistant, Sara, attends to him and saves his life. Jonathan suffers more than just a flesh wound as he is still grieving his first love, Naomi, who died of illness. Pining for his beloved, Jonathan has not been interested in anyone since. That is, until he gets to know Sara.
Like Dina, Sara is unlike any other woman Jonathan has met. Being a healer was rare for a woman, and Sara is very skilled at it. She is also inventive, caring, and kind. As Sara tends to Jonathan, he starts to develop strong feelings for her. Finally working up the courage, Jonathan asks her to marry him. She says no. Sara explains that Jonathan’s heroics in battle inspired her brother so much that he joined the army and was killed as a result. While Sara knows it’s not Jonathan’s direct fault, she can’t help but make the mental connection, especially when she treats Jonathan for an arrow wound, the very same injury that killed her brother.
Jonathan gets some time to brood for a while, but after being encouraged by Samuel to find joy in his life, he realizes that he wants nothing more than to marry Sara. In take two of the proposal, Sara speaks her mind, and unlike other women who have craved riches and power, she does not, and is strongly opposed to the thought of being the next queen. In a shocking moment for Season 2, Jonathan confides in Sara that he knows he will not be king, that God has chosen another.
This moment solidifies just how knit together the two of them have become. Jonathan has not told another soul about David’s destiny, not even members of his own family.
Trusting Sara with this secret shows how deeply he trusts her and how much he wants to marry her, assuring her that they would never have the pressure of being monarchs. Unlike Ahinoam, who tried to control her husband, Mychal, who doubted her husband, or Mirab, who tried to swindle a husband, Sara proves to be a loyal partner. She states her mind and her thoughts, and meets Jonathan as an equal. As a true partnership, they go forward together in the series, and it is clear why Jonathan could not and would not love any other.
House of David
- Release Date
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February 27, 2025
- Network
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Prime Video, Wonder Project
- Directors
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Jeff T. Thomas, Jon Gunn, Jon Erwin, Lynsey Miller
- Writers
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Jon Erwin, Jon Gunn, Jonathan Walker, Bekah Hubbell, Nathan Andrew Jacobs, Laura Kenar, N.D. Wilson
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Alexander Uloom
King Achish
