Who's the worst parent on House Of The Dragon?

Alicent Hightower

I think Jarrod has made the objectively correct choice here—I love how the show depicts Viserys’ passivity as a flaw every bit as damning as Daemon’s hotheadness or Otto’s ambition—so I’ll use my answer to compliment one of the show’s other bold choices. It’s incredibly rare to see a female character we’re supposed to empathize with on some level depicted as a bad or indifferent mother. (Even Cersei Lannister loved her kids!) So it’s refreshing that House Of The Dragon has done that with Alicent. She was a teenage girl forced to marry an old man and bear as many children as he wanted her to and the result is that she has a fraught, ambivalent relationship with motherhood; one that’s probably way more historically accurate than most actual historical dramas want to admit. Even Alicent’s most conventionally caring relationship is rooted in a desire to prove to herself that she’s a good parent to Helaena. Otherwise, she’s clear-eyed to the point of murder about just how far gone Aegon and Aemond are. Culturally, we’ve been taught to see mothers as the ultimate self-sacrificers who would do anything for their children. Alicent challenges that in a fascinating way, adding a rare bad-but still-sympathetic mom to a fictional universe filled with those kinds of dads. [Caroline Siede]

Ormund Hightower

I’ll admit, Alicent’s actions in “The Dragon In Winter” were the inspiration for this discussion about all the terrible parents in Westeros. But Caroline makes a great point about how motherhood was thrust upon Alicent, noting the ambivalence she’s felt ever since. You would think then that leaving Daeron in the care of her cousin Ormund Hightower was an act of mercy (in any event, it was common practice in real-life medieval times), but her odor-sensitive relative only views the little prince as a pawn—a way to rule the Seven Kingdoms by proxy. That in and of itself doesn’t make Ormund the worst father figure; pushing your own agenda is baked into the Hightowers’ DNA. And virtually every parent listed here sees their children as extensions of themselves (a widely held belief now and in the eras House Of The Dragon takes inspiration from). But Ormund’s been tearing Daeron down while pretending to pamper him, teaching him to be ashamed of his Targaryen lineage and take pride in his Hightower heritage—though not so much that he starts to think he can rule on his own. That’s some Margaret White shit, and I can only hope Daeron develops telekinesis before the end. [Danette Chavez]

Daemon Targaryen

You could argue that Daemon’s recent actions on behalf of his younger daughter Rhaena should actually qualify him for the title of House Of The Dragon’s best parent: After all, he tried to put her mind at ease about what she and Sheepstealer did at The Gullet, and then he (well, Caraxes) roasted an innocent goatherd to stand in as Jace’s supposed killer. But it’s all too little, too late. When they’re first reunited in the Vale, Rhaena asks her father “Can you yourself say you gave me more than a passing thought?,” and the busiest, most-traveled, most-titled man in the realm can’t really offer up a legitimate rebuttal. And so he does what he usually does—act rashly and violently—and figures that a charred, unidentifiable head will be enough to shield Rhaena from the wrath of a grieving Rhaenyra. And yet, despite knowing dragons better than his own children, his deception had one, massive, fire-breathing, fatal flaw: A wild Sheepstealer was still out there, just waiting to be caught—and his inexperienced, traumatized rider along with him. And so, not only has Daemon failed in a parent’s most sacred duty (keep your children safe), he’s also cost Rhaena her freedom and the one thing she felt would legitimize her in the eyes of the wider Targaryen clan. Father of the year material right there. [Erik Adams]