Let's unpack the parallel paths of Rhaenyra and Alicent
Power dynamics may have shifted on House Of The Dragon, but the arcs of these women couldn't be more similar
Photos: Ollie Upton/HBO, Theo Whiteman/HBO
- Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) takes a break from political chess in House Of The Dragon’s latest episode. What choice does she have after getting pushed out of the Small Council by her rancorous son, Aemond, an act shocking to no one except perhaps Alicent herself? She doesn’t witness Silverwing’s joyride over King’s Landing or Aemond’s unsuccessful retaliation attempt with Vhagar. Instead, she goes on a solo camping trip to touch grass and avoid lying in a bed of her own making. Alcient has become the embodiment of the phrase “fuck around and find out” after, in a delicious bit of hypocrisy, she is treated pretty much how she treated her best-friend-turned-foe, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), deeply internalized misogyny and all.
It’s possible some viewers might find her swimming excursion to be a (splendidly filmed) waste of time that slows the story during a crucial hour. After all, in the Game Of Thrones, the penultimate installments were intensely action-packed. However, season two’s “An Army Of Bastards” offers some necessary insight into Alicent reckoning with the consequences of her actions. Rife with symbolism, including stripping herself out of the green clothes she’s synonymous with, each shot unpacks her state of mind as someone losing a war she helped start. Adrift and alone, an overtly religious Alicent might think she’s washing off her sins in the lake. (“Nothing is clean here,” she says while leaving the Red Keep. Scrubbing herself aggressively in the bathtub in an earlier episode didn’t do the trick.)
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra undergoes a doctrinal event of her own in the same hour. Her motivational speech helps the lowborn Targaryen bastards dive headfirst into the dragon pit (and to their fiery deaths). She gets a first-class view of the mass murder she inevitably orchestrated, and ultimately smiles when a dragon rider finally emerges at a perilous cost. After spending time at least attempting to be honorable, including reaching out to Alicent in—where else?—a place of worship, Rhaenyra has morphed into a fanatic driven by her vision to hold power. And with the new backing of multiple flying beasts, her ferocity will only grow. This is quite similar to what happened to her former BFF when she nabbed the throne and held more control via Aegon. Things might’ve seemed dire, but Alicent’s spirit reawakens when she spots a bird soaring through the sky from the lake, just as Rhaenyra’s eyes light up when Vermithor accepts a new rider. It seems to represent a clean slate. Yet the power dynamics shifting might not affect Alicent and Rhaenyra’s kindred connection in the future.
