Whereas Game of Thrones was so sprawling that viewers had trouble remembering all the characters, many of whom didn’t meet until the final seasons, House of the Dragon concerns itself with just the Targaryen family and those who marry into it. Like the Roys of Succession, the players here are vying to be the favorite at the moment their king, Viserys, finally dies, so they can inherit his title and powers. And the central conflict comes down to two former best friends: Rhaenyra, the king’s daughter and eldest child, named by him as his heir, and Alicent, the king’s second wife, mother to his only sons.
Rhaenyra is by far the more likable of the two. Her ascension to the Iron Throne would be a (tiny) win for a certain kind of…tyrannical feminism, plus she rides dragons, plus she has sex with whomever she wants. She’s played in the back half of the first season by Emma D’Arcy, who imbues the character with a steely wisdom and cold gutsiness that make her seem perfectly suited to rule the seven kingdoms.
Alicent, played now by Olivia Cooke, on the other hand, is a drama queen, a strategic emotional manipulator, and, as of recent episodes, something of a hothead. (This isn’t the first time Cooke has played a conniving social climber marrying her way to the top. She starred in Amazon’s adaptation of Vanity Fair as Becky Sharp and turned in a compelling and very funny performance.) Her son, the one she wants to ascend to the Iron Throne, is a total prick. Rhaenyra is Powerful; Alicent is Political. Alicent is an asshole; Rhaenyra is a badass. From what I can tell (reading the weekly roundup of HOTD memes posted by BuzzFeed, mostly), viewers are mostly Team Rhaenyra. Which I get. I like her too. But I’m Team Alicent all the way, baby—that’s my girl right there.
To start with, both women have lost their mothers, and in the absence of any real guidance on how to live, they’re just doing what their dads told them to do. Viserys instructed Rhaenyra to marry Laenor, have kids, and get ready to rule. Check. Otto Hightower, ex and now current Hand of the King, told Alicent to seduce Viserys, pump out his sons, and groom them for power. Check. But while Rhaenyra has performed her duties, let’s say, begrudgingly, not even bothering to find a lover whose kids might look something like her husband, Alicent follows her orders to a tee. I mean, Rhaenyra got to screw Ser Criston (annoying simp turned incel, but a hottie), and Harwin Strong (can get it any time he wants) and her uncle, a thing I will get to in a minute. Alicent has only gotten to have sex with Viserys. Of course she’s grumpy! Girl can’t catch a break, and you want to call her uptight for it? It reminds me of the words of the prophet Olivia Rodrigo: “And I’m so sick of 17. / Where’s my fucking teenage dream?… / All I did was try my best. / This the kind of thanks I get?” If I were to read Alicent’s diary, I imagine I might find something along the lines of “I’m so tired that I might / quit my job, start a new life. / And they’d all be so disappointed / ’Cause who am I, if not exploited?”
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Sure, Alicent has made some mistakes. Aligning herself with the nefarious Larys, who murdered his own brother for her, was a bad call. As Sara Bareilles might say, she’s messy, but she’s mine! Still, Rhaenyra’s big triumphant moment, telling a knife-wielding Alicent that now everyone sees the real her beneath the cloak of righteousness…. I found that argument unconvincing. In the world of Westeros, maybe you should be allowed to stab a child in the eye if he stabbed your child. And everyone got Big Mad at Alicent’s blonde kids for calling their nephews bastards, but the thing is…they were right. Aemond and Aegon are kinda shitty, but you’re gonna look at them and tell them they’re wrong????
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra ain’t exactly a saint. Sure, it was cool of her to let her gay husband fake his own death so he could go live his life somewhere else, but to enact the plan, she let Daemon murder some random, innocent guy. Daemon also murdered his first wife. Daemon, whom she married, and who is also her uncle. Which I am not here to judge or condemn. Just to point out that whatever Alicent is willing to do for pleasure or power…she never screwed her uncle. And I’ll leave that there.
But really, what it comes down to is that I love the bitch because I love a bitch. I’m team Blair Waldorf, I’m team Faith Lehane. Sure, the blonde girl might have been the special, chosen one, but a brunette with an attitude and an axe to grind will always be my favorite (no small amount of projection here, I admit). She’s so mean and I love it!
(And isn't one of the main lessons of Glee that the conniving Rachel Berry ultimately deserved the spotlight?)
Not only am I Team Alicent, I think she’s gonna win (no, I haven’t read any of the books, and no, I don’t care to be told what happens in them). Not in the sense of getting her son on the throne, necessarily, but I think in the fight for the upper hand, Alicent will triumph. She wasn’t born royal and she takes nothing for granted. Rhaenyra is Shiv; Alicent is Tom Wambsgans. Shady but compelling. And probably the most fun to watch of anyone on House of the Dragon, TBH.
In the seventh episode, Princess Rhaenyra reflects that though her family rose to power through its dragons and forged their kingdom in fire, fire is what took the man she loved (and the woman Daemon…tolerated?). Perhaps the sea, she muses, would make a better ally.
Rhaenyra is a bit like the sea; tempestuous at times but often steady; forceful, then quiet, in turns. She makes her own moves, yes, but always behind the scenes, in secret. It’s Alicent who bursts into the room in a flashy green gown, Alicent who’ll interrupt her son’s masturbation time to scream at him about being a king, Alicent who’ll quite literally cut a bitch. She’s the fiery one. She’s the dragon.