Disclaimer: This post contains spoilers for HBO's House of the Dragon, up to and possibly partially including episode nine (not sure, haven't seen it yet, but I've seen spoilers and such online, so can't guarantee things won't bleed in). If you do not wish to be spoiled, please read no further. This post will still be here once you've caught up, if you so wish to return (and we do hope you will)!
Edit (20 Oct 2022): Apparently there was a glitch when I initially posted and so part of the entry came out looking wonky and incoherent. I have corrected this and added a bit more commentary.
(As a note, I'm not off of hiatus just yet, but I have a minute and I'd like to write, so here I am, at your pleasure.)
I feel I should give full disclosure in that I have yet to read any of George R. R. Martin's books, so all I have to go on is what is presented in the show and any peripheral information that has leaked into my consciousness from being on social media. I am aware that Fire and Blood is a history written by Maesters, as it were, and it is established that they aren't exactly the most unbiased source (which, from what I've read about variations between the book and the show, has impressed me as a form of storytelling).
I'm also going to inform you all that I am a stout supporter of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Nyra) and her claim to the Iron Throne.
Okay, so I've seen a lot of discourse surrounding the Lady Alicent Hightower and how she is basically a victim of circumstance. There is some truth to this, I will grant. Her father, Otto, is to fair extent the true villain in her life. He sent his only daughter, barely an adult herself, to his grieving king's side as a pawn. He knew exactly what he was doing and what he wanted out of it that would help boost his ambition. And so did Alicent, and whether she truly wanted it or not, she went without complaint and played her part well.
We got to initially meet a much more innocent Lady Alicent, childhood friend and practically consort to the young Princess Rhaenyra. Their relationship was very close, prompting quite a few people online to express admiration and fondness for their sisterliness (plot twist, though, that wasn't a sisterly bond). Because of their love and innocence with each other, it is easy, perhaps, to pity Alicent as she is shunted around for her father's political ambitions. She is a victim of circumstance and misogyny and oppressive religion, yes? Torn from her happiness and forced into a life of servitude and solitude.
But... You know what? That isn't actually the case here. Not entirely.
Alicent's first mistake was to betray Nyra's trust, and this was a choice she made on her own. It is true that she knew why her father sent her to Viserys, especially after he told her to wear one of her mother's dresses, but at the time their rendezvous were still innocent. There was literally no reason for her not to tell her bestie that she was asked by her father to spend time with the king. Viserys didn't ask her not to tell Nyra until they had been meeting for quite a while, so it wasn't like there was anything preventing her from confiding in her friend.
Instead she hid it from her so that when Viserys, with his normal sentimentality, announced he'd be taking Alicent to wife instead of Laena Velaryon, Nyra, the one person she was closest too (perhaps even more so that her own father), was blindsided and left feeling betrayed.
Had she told Nyra from the start, the two of them could have perhaps plotted an inoffensive way to prevent Alicent from being stuck married to a man (king or not, that doesn't seem Alicent's 'meal' of choice). Even if they had not, Nyra could have been her pillar of support during the marriage, but instead she kept quiet and the shock of the king's pronouncement drove a wedge between them.
Alicent instead gave into her misery. She has painted herself as a martyr in her own head, and her isolation is of her own doing, as well. Don't get me wrong, I get it. To an extent, she was alone. Viserys cared for her, but he never loved her as he loved Aemma. Her father was a scoundrel intent on using her, so it wasn't like he could be properly supportive. Without Nyra, I could imagine it could get lonely... But it isn't like Nyra was the only other person living in King's Landing.
Even if she was, it was Alicent who alienated that friendship. So much could have been avoided if she hadn't.
Nyra decided, after coming home early from her tour of potential suitors, to make pax. It was a short-lived reconciliation, however, as Otto, upon being (quite rightly) fired as Hand, decided to put into his daughter's head that she and her children were in danger from some pretend violent ambition of Nyra to maintain her claim to the throne. Alicent, who let's be honest, had not shown proper love for any of her children pretty much ever in the episodes up to and even after this, let this get under her skin for whatever reason.
She also made the choice to be indignantly pissy when she found out about Nyra and Ser Criston Cole, the Most Pathetic Incel in Westeros. She decided, as did a lot of people watching, that Nyra lied to her about what happened that night, but that wasn't the case. She came out rather accusatory against her old friend, then pointedly asked her about Daemon. Nyra did not sleep with Daemon (though it wasn't for a lack of trying, I'll give), so she did not lie when she told Alicent that he didn't touch her. I don't blame her for not just giving up all the details during Alicent's interrogation, though, especially after Alicent went the whole route of saying she and the king had worked hard to see about getting Nyra a good match. (Girl, you don't get to betray your more-than-a-best friend and then try and act like her mama when it suits you.)
So, before getting back to Alicent's odd worry over the children she doesn't love, let's touch on the issue of Nyra's boys being bastards, yes? The entire reasoning behind believing the boys are not Laenor's is that they, basically, are white and have brown hair (whereas Laenor is brown with white hair). This might make sense if genetics actually worked that way. There are plenty of multi-racial people in the world that don't look 'mixed' despite their parentage or grandparentage (and while I do get that genetics as a science may not be a concept in Westeros, people have been observing what Mendel proved long before his experiments on plants, so I feel it is still right to point out this particular thing).
As to their hair, one change I see some people decrying is the fact that Rhaenys Targaryen has white-blonde hair in the show, but in the book her hair is brown (apparently with a white streak in it, because, let's all admit, GRRM kinda sucks with his visuals). Rhaenys is a Baratheon on her mother's side, and if Game of Thrones taught us anything, it's that the Baratheon genes are pretty damn strong (Cersei's children having Lannister blond and not Baratheon brunet was pretty much Ned's only hint that the kids were bastards, after all). Targaryen blood is strong, but so is Baratheon. Even if it didn't come out in Rhaenys or either of her children doesn't mean that brown hair won't pop up anywhere else.
Yes, we know the kids aren't Laenor's by blood, but that's meta-gaming. Don't do that. It's illegal.
Besides. Laenor claimed the boys as his own. Viserys claimed the boys as Targaryens. Lord Corlys claimed them as Velaryons. There is literally no actual reason for Alicent or any of her peoples to keep pissing about the boys being bastards unless she's just being a cunt about other things.
So, back to Alicent's odd worries. Keep in mind, not once is Alicent Hightower shown to offer the olive branch across the aisle. Not one. Single. Time. It is always Nyra trying to make peace, and she did so again by offering to let her eldest, Jacaerys (Jace), to marry Alicent's daughter (her half-sister), Helaena, thus putting Alicent's worries about her children to rest. This should not have been necessary, as Nyra is basically offering her son to make a political alliance, but she's having to do so with her own former friend and current step-mother... And to this very gracious offer, Alicent turned up her nose and said, 'fuck, no'. Because reasons.
Apparently those reasons may have to do with bastards being considered evil by nature? Not sure if this is a book thing or not. Someone spouted it at me on Twitter. But, again, there is literally nothing but spite keeping Alicent believing those children are bastards (especially book-wise, from what I understand). (And they may be bastards by blood, but really all Nyra did was find a surrogate because her own husband was apparently sterile, so, again, they aren't bastards by lineage... And it is her lineage that gives them a claim to the throne in the first place, not Laenor's.)
But every ounce of Alicent's high road, based in her faith in the religion of the Seven, washes away when you take into account that her son, Aegon II, is a rapist (remember, the faith of the Seven is pretty prudish, which is why Alicent is so bent out of shape at Nyra having had sex in the first place). Not only is he a rapist, but she knows he's a rapist. And not only does she know he's a rapist, but she helps cover up his rapist actions. If the interactions surrounding the incident with Dyana are any indication, that was not Alicent's first time picking up the pieces after her son defiled a serving girl. She is complacent in and enabling of his actions because, were they to get out, it would cause a scandal (especially with her putting all those seven-pointed stars all over the castle because Viserys was too sick to tell her she couldn't) and possibly garner sympathy for Nyra's claim on the throne.
Then, again, Nyra offers yet another pax during that last dinner with Viserys. She made that heartfelt toast and tried to remind Alicent once more of what they had in more innocent times, and for the briefest of moments, I had a small smidge of hope that Alicent was going to leave her cunting behind. But, no. I've seen a lot of people placing blame on Viserys for not dying quietly, but again, this all comes back on Alicent. It should have been blatantly obvious that Viserys wasn't talking to her. Her son being named Aegon aside, nothing her husband said made sense in relation to that little drunkard. He also referenced a previous conversation that Alicent had no knoweldge of. She knew he wasn't talking to her, she had to have known, but she decided to grasp at straws because, apparently, the inside of her green little self is rotted to the core.
Rhaenyra Targaryen, the Black Queen and true heir to the Iron Throne, is not perfect. From what I have gathered, she's about to get quite vicious (though unless someone can point me to Westeros' version of the Geneva Convention, I'd so love if people would stop calling shit war crimes). But she didn't start this, and while Alicent didn't technically start it either (Otto did by alienating Viserys and Daemon), Lady Hightower did perpetuate all of this. She could have stood down. She could have reconciled. She could have accepted any of the moves towards peace offered to her. She was the catalyst, and she could have chosen not to be!
But that isn't what's happening, and now we have to watch all the pretty dragons die, apparently...
Bonus Commentary: Apparently one of the producers, Sara Hess (who also wrote episodes 6 and 9), doesn't like Daemon Targaryen, does not understand why anyone might like his character, and she has decided to spread lies that he doesn't care about his family. I have also seen people online say that all he wanted was the Iron Throne.
Fam, this is wrong.
In the very first episode (if I recall correctly), during the Small Council where Otto is pissing basically just because Daemon exists, Viserys vehemently insists his bother is not after his throne. Daemon, for his part, is actually just outside the room eavesdropping, as one does, and when Viserys says that, he gives a small chuckle. One could take it that he's laughing at his brother's naivete, but it seems to me that it's more because his brother knows him so well.
Later, while Viserys is angry at Daemon for allegedly toasting the death of the child lost (which I'm doubting Daemon actually did, mind), Daemon brings up that what he wants is for Viserys to make him Hand. That he could protect Viserys from himself (and the snakes around him).
And when the rumour comes that Daemon had sex with Nyra (which he didn't deny despite it not happening, which is why I question whether he toasted Baelon's death or not), he requests her hand in marriage. At this point Viserys does accuse him of wanting his throne, but, no. No, no, no.
We know what type of person Daemon Targaryen, the Rogue Prince, is. If he wanted his brother's throne, he'd just fucking take it. But, no. He wants to take care of his family, even if it is at the expense of his own reputation. We see this again with the plot to 'kill' Laenor. He doesn't care if he's seen as the bad guy here. His niece needs his help, his cousin will benefit from it, and so will the realm as a whole (or should have). So he goes with it.
As for him being a bad brother, I'll get that he was absolutely a headache for Viserys' more passive tactics, but he never did anything that would have actually harmed the realm nor his brother. And both the scene where he turned over his crown from the Stepstones and the scene where he placed Viserys' crown back upon his head after it fell speak volumes of the love and respect he has for him.
Him being a bad father was written that way by, whodathunk, the lady who thinks he's a shit dad. She's the one who wrote him neglecting Rhaena, and she's the one who cut the scenes that were shot of him comforting his girls after the death of their mother.
I also sad someone on Twitter accusing Daemon of not caring about Nyra, saying that he was trying to set her up when he took her to that brothel. Thing is, if he was trying to actually set her up, he would have gone through with having sex with her. It wasn't like he didn't want to, but he kept himself together and stopped before he did anything that would actually damage Nyra's reputation or cause issues with her claim to the throne.
Daemon Targaryen is a lot of things, most of which are absolutely questionable and possibly deranged, but the fact of the matter is that Daemon is a family man. Granted, they're probably the only people he cares about, but it is what it is.
If you like the things that I write and are able, please consider supporting my work by maybe buying me a coffee on ko-fi? Thanks so much!
Comments