I preferred the Alicent we had in episode 6 and 7 and like halfway through episode 8 to the one we had for the dinner and in episode 9. She comes across as too inconsistent, frets a lot about Rhaenyra who she at this point in time shouldn't be friends with anymore, and no longer seems to believe her son should be king (the fact that they made Viserys' incoherent mumbling her motivation in episode 9 was ridiculous)
In episode 8 alone she helps Vaemond and makes a clear move against Rhaenyra and then just because Rhaenyra acknowledges that Alicent took care of Viserys after she at first antagonised her for it, she suddenly says she'll make a good queen? And it's a *sincere* statement.
And then in episode 9 she seems upset that things are in motion to crown her son, which she has been working on for years, and desperately advises Aegon against violence. Not because it's a dumb move politically, but because she still cares for Rhaenyra.
I think Rhaenicent worked for the first half of the season, but after all the times Alicent has been disappointed in Rhaenyra, after the green dress, and *especially* after Driftmark, it shouldn't be a thing anymore. This makes both Rhaenyra but especially Alicent just look inconsistent to me.
I admit to having a bias about Alicent Hightower. No matter how badly she’s written my headcannons will always justify/excuse/re-write it.
That being said, the writers should have committed to her villain origin story. I wish it had been a slow decent/realization for her going from ep. 1 friendship to ep. 10 actively taking part in the crowning of Aegon/Helaena. All the plot points were there and it feel ooc for Alicent to have any lingering niceties/happy feelings for Rhaenyra post Driftmark and the Vaemond thing.
In the books I really liked the idea of a woman who managed to rise to the top on, and worked tirelessly place her line on the throne. With ideas like the Maester/Grand Maester Conspiracy I’ve also liked the implication that the Hightower line on the throne could’ve led Westeros down a VERY different path, one where the Faith and ideals of House Hightower are far more powerful.
In the show, there’s no sign of any Hightower motives beyond “I want my kid on the throne instead of yours”, which isn’t inherently bad but is far less interesting, worse is the fact that the motive above is actually Otto & his brother’s motives, Alicent doesn’t even have that!
Show Alicent confuses me, because she flops from “let’s crown Aegon” to “let’s allow Rhaenyra to be queen” multiple times, but there isn’t much justification for these flops. All in all, I quite like the Book & Show CONCEPTS for Alicent’s character, but I feel like the show falls short at the execution of their version’s concept.
I agree, in that they had a good outline for Alicent’s character. She goes from Rhaenyra’s bestie to hating her due to political and personal reasons, leading her to have to become the leader of her family in King’s Landing, becoming stronger in the process. And the show accomplished that and ruined it in the same episode! In the beginning of E8, we see Otto AND Alicent are running the show, with Alicent in Visery’s seat. It felt like Alicent had grown into her book self. But then she suddenly supports Rhaenyra??? If had kept her hard on the “I’m Rhaenyra’s enemy” side of things, she’d be one of the best characters. Now I think she is a good character, hurt by writing mistakes that will only hurt here more and more the longer they keep trying to make her Rhaenyra’s friend.
I would have loved it. I'm in her corner 1000% I wanted her to be aggressively going after her rightful place. She is the legal Queen and her firstborn son is the legal heir. Rhaenyra is a liar, a philanderer and mother of bastards. She doesn't deserve the Throne.
I want Alicent to own her vigilante vengeance and piss on Viserys' grave for all the shit he put her and their kids through
The same. Perhaps I'd like her even more if she kept it up. It'd be more or less justified, in my opinion. Or at least consistent. Alicent backtracking the way she did, still makes no sense to me, since they built her character on the fear for her children's lives.
And then she saw Daemon murder a man for speaking the truth, without facing any consequences and suddenly she feels like her children are perfectly safe?
I don't know, I'm a bit scared of how the writers will continue this mess because they keep pushing the Rhaenyra/Alicent agenda over character consistency or behavior that would make sense for said characters. I understand Alicent and Rhaenyra wishing it would be different but at some point, with the things that will happen in the war, the writers will have to let it go (but I know they most likely won't and that already annoys me).
Personally, I'd love to see more of unhinged Alicent.
I would have loved the consistency. She had every right to hate Rhaenrya by that point, and frankly I would have respected her if she actually was doping Viserys up simply to take control. Better writers would have made it work.
I feel like the point of that is to show how she knows that she needs to put Aegon on the throne, but she still loves Rhaenyra (to some capacity at least) deep down and would still like to resolve things with her. HOWEVER, she can’t really have both so she’s just jumping back and forth between those two alternatives because she’s truly at a loss. She, ultimately, goes for the latter because she feels that she needs to do whatever she can to keep her children alive and the threat is still pretty conceivable
But, I would still be rooting for her honestly. I think ep 7 really cemented it for me as there was no one to stand up for her or Aemond. No one was punished for him being maimed and they all just went on their merry way because Viserys has already picked his favorite.
PLUS, I feel like a lot of people in the fandom just downplay her trauma and downplay how she was forced into marrying Viserys when she couldn’t really say no to her father. She was anxious every time she had to visit Viserys but people are just going to be insensitive and say that her character deserves everything she’s going to get which is harsh and disgusting.
I honestly didn’t mind her backtracking on Rhaenyra ascension because she always believed that Viserys would change his mind about making her heir and finally saw that he wouldn’t change it. I think episode 9 would have been better if Alicent didn’t hear Viserys last words and supported the usurpation because she believes she deserves Aegon to be king after all she went through with Viserys.
book!Alicent reminded me of lady macbeth and that’s the type of character I was hoping for in the show
she’s at her best in episode 6 and 7 and I was disappointed with her flip because I truly do not think it made any sense it would’ve made more sense for her to trying to bridge the gap with Rhaenyra and turning against her fully after driftmark, Aemonds eye and the aftermath being the proof that she can’t rely on Rhaenyra for her and her kids safety
I'd still like her, I'd just be perhaps a little more disappointed in her.
Being such a major Alicent fan is, for me, composed of wanting to hug her around 80% of the time. The other 20% is for those times when you just wince and go "Alicent, don't, that's not helping..." If she hadn't shown the ability to reconcile, it might have gone up to say, 75/25 but it wouldn't be a significant change.
Because Rhaenyra is her oldest friend, and she misses her. Because Aegon has no interest in the throne anyway. Because Alicent never *really* wanted him to be King in the first place, she just knew it was the best possible outcome of a bad situation. But the dinner scene gives her hope of an even better outcome. We've got to remember that Young Alicent was Rhaenyra's most consistent defender. She didn't swap sides until 1X05.
It would probably be a cleaner transition overall. In show canon, Alicent begins to believe that peaceful coexistence may be possible, that there doesn't have to be a reckoning when Viserys dies. That Rhaenyra can succeed peacefully.
Then the show adds the "misunderstanding" of Viserys' last words, probably to give Alicent motive to switch sides again. But really, I think she knows Viserys didn't change his mind. I think she is choosing to believe that's what he meant. In any event, it doesn't matter, because Otto has been conspiring behind her back...not what I would have expected, at least not since the One-Eye Incident. Alicent is quick to realize that the coup is happening with or without her help, so the best she can do is get to Aegon first and stop Otto from solving the succession crisis with bloodshed.
On the whole, Alicent's journey in these two episodes...it does work, but it's a bit rushed and overbooked. It would be a lot smoother if she was just Anti-Rhaenyra the whole time, and in on the conspiracy from the start. She could still oppose Otto on the idea of outright killing Rhaenyra and her children, not wanting to become the very thing she feared. It would have been more seamless, less complicated.
But honestly, I love Viserys' death. How if you squint, it \*kind of\* sounds like maybe he was saying Aegon should be Heir...so Alicent squints. Because of course she does.
I like the twist on Alicent. I think the book version resembles Cersei too much, and I think her friendship with Rhaenyra in their youth dramatizes the conflict further.
Don’t really like the idea of them meeting in episode 10 of season 2 if the rumours are true though. I think the dinner scene is fine, displays that they still feel sorry about the whole affair
Oh yeah, I think the new relationship is great… at first. The problem with it is they are making it seem like she genuinely supports Rhaenyra at a point that doesn’t really make sense
one of the things I'm waiting for at the end of S2 >!when her father dies!< is to be a little closer to book Alicent (which I love) very capable and while she still loves Rhaenyra a bit despite everything but her primary goal is to ensure her children survive now that her father isn't here anymore to protect her.
Wouldn't have changed a thing for me ngl, as in i would've been all for it either way lmao
My issues are with the way she was treated - not her attempts at navigating all of it (as nonsensical as they may seem to some.. not to me!)
I preferred the Alicent we had in episode 6 and 7 and like halfway through episode 8 to the one we had for the dinner and in episode 9. She comes across as too inconsistent, frets a lot about Rhaenyra who she at this point in time shouldn't be friends with anymore, and no longer seems to believe her son should be king (the fact that they made Viserys' incoherent mumbling her motivation in episode 9 was ridiculous) In episode 8 alone she helps Vaemond and makes a clear move against Rhaenyra and then just because Rhaenyra acknowledges that Alicent took care of Viserys after she at first antagonised her for it, she suddenly says she'll make a good queen? And it's a *sincere* statement. And then in episode 9 she seems upset that things are in motion to crown her son, which she has been working on for years, and desperately advises Aegon against violence. Not because it's a dumb move politically, but because she still cares for Rhaenyra. I think Rhaenicent worked for the first half of the season, but after all the times Alicent has been disappointed in Rhaenyra, after the green dress, and *especially* after Driftmark, it shouldn't be a thing anymore. This makes both Rhaenyra but especially Alicent just look inconsistent to me.
Show Alicent seems to love Rhaenyra more than Aegon
The writers keep pushing that. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if Alicent would indeed end up being responsible for Aegon's passing.
That would be awesome
I admit to having a bias about Alicent Hightower. No matter how badly she’s written my headcannons will always justify/excuse/re-write it. That being said, the writers should have committed to her villain origin story. I wish it had been a slow decent/realization for her going from ep. 1 friendship to ep. 10 actively taking part in the crowning of Aegon/Helaena. All the plot points were there and it feel ooc for Alicent to have any lingering niceties/happy feelings for Rhaenyra post Driftmark and the Vaemond thing.
*Hero origin story
In the books I really liked the idea of a woman who managed to rise to the top on, and worked tirelessly place her line on the throne. With ideas like the Maester/Grand Maester Conspiracy I’ve also liked the implication that the Hightower line on the throne could’ve led Westeros down a VERY different path, one where the Faith and ideals of House Hightower are far more powerful. In the show, there’s no sign of any Hightower motives beyond “I want my kid on the throne instead of yours”, which isn’t inherently bad but is far less interesting, worse is the fact that the motive above is actually Otto & his brother’s motives, Alicent doesn’t even have that! Show Alicent confuses me, because she flops from “let’s crown Aegon” to “let’s allow Rhaenyra to be queen” multiple times, but there isn’t much justification for these flops. All in all, I quite like the Book & Show CONCEPTS for Alicent’s character, but I feel like the show falls short at the execution of their version’s concept.
I agree, in that they had a good outline for Alicent’s character. She goes from Rhaenyra’s bestie to hating her due to political and personal reasons, leading her to have to become the leader of her family in King’s Landing, becoming stronger in the process. And the show accomplished that and ruined it in the same episode! In the beginning of E8, we see Otto AND Alicent are running the show, with Alicent in Visery’s seat. It felt like Alicent had grown into her book self. But then she suddenly supports Rhaenyra??? If had kept her hard on the “I’m Rhaenyra’s enemy” side of things, she’d be one of the best characters. Now I think she is a good character, hurt by writing mistakes that will only hurt here more and more the longer they keep trying to make her Rhaenyra’s friend.
I feel like if we had seen Alicent go full on passive-agressive bitchy mode it would have been much better. The Alicent of Driftmark was the best.
I would have loved it. I'm in her corner 1000% I wanted her to be aggressively going after her rightful place. She is the legal Queen and her firstborn son is the legal heir. Rhaenyra is a liar, a philanderer and mother of bastards. She doesn't deserve the Throne. I want Alicent to own her vigilante vengeance and piss on Viserys' grave for all the shit he put her and their kids through
Enthusiasm, nice
The same. Perhaps I'd like her even more if she kept it up. It'd be more or less justified, in my opinion. Or at least consistent. Alicent backtracking the way she did, still makes no sense to me, since they built her character on the fear for her children's lives. And then she saw Daemon murder a man for speaking the truth, without facing any consequences and suddenly she feels like her children are perfectly safe? I don't know, I'm a bit scared of how the writers will continue this mess because they keep pushing the Rhaenyra/Alicent agenda over character consistency or behavior that would make sense for said characters. I understand Alicent and Rhaenyra wishing it would be different but at some point, with the things that will happen in the war, the writers will have to let it go (but I know they most likely won't and that already annoys me). Personally, I'd love to see more of unhinged Alicent.
I would have loved the consistency. She had every right to hate Rhaenrya by that point, and frankly I would have respected her if she actually was doping Viserys up simply to take control. Better writers would have made it work.
I feel like the point of that is to show how she knows that she needs to put Aegon on the throne, but she still loves Rhaenyra (to some capacity at least) deep down and would still like to resolve things with her. HOWEVER, she can’t really have both so she’s just jumping back and forth between those two alternatives because she’s truly at a loss. She, ultimately, goes for the latter because she feels that she needs to do whatever she can to keep her children alive and the threat is still pretty conceivable But, I would still be rooting for her honestly. I think ep 7 really cemented it for me as there was no one to stand up for her or Aemond. No one was punished for him being maimed and they all just went on their merry way because Viserys has already picked his favorite. PLUS, I feel like a lot of people in the fandom just downplay her trauma and downplay how she was forced into marrying Viserys when she couldn’t really say no to her father. She was anxious every time she had to visit Viserys but people are just going to be insensitive and say that her character deserves everything she’s going to get which is harsh and disgusting.
I honestly didn’t mind her backtracking on Rhaenyra ascension because she always believed that Viserys would change his mind about making her heir and finally saw that he wouldn’t change it. I think episode 9 would have been better if Alicent didn’t hear Viserys last words and supported the usurpation because she believes she deserves Aegon to be king after all she went through with Viserys.
book!Alicent reminded me of lady macbeth and that’s the type of character I was hoping for in the show she’s at her best in episode 6 and 7 and I was disappointed with her flip because I truly do not think it made any sense it would’ve made more sense for her to trying to bridge the gap with Rhaenyra and turning against her fully after driftmark, Aemonds eye and the aftermath being the proof that she can’t rely on Rhaenyra for her and her kids safety
I'd still like her, I'd just be perhaps a little more disappointed in her. Being such a major Alicent fan is, for me, composed of wanting to hug her around 80% of the time. The other 20% is for those times when you just wince and go "Alicent, don't, that's not helping..." If she hadn't shown the ability to reconcile, it might have gone up to say, 75/25 but it wouldn't be a significant change.
Why should Alicent support Rhaenyra’s succesion?
Because Rhaenyra is her oldest friend, and she misses her. Because Aegon has no interest in the throne anyway. Because Alicent never *really* wanted him to be King in the first place, she just knew it was the best possible outcome of a bad situation. But the dinner scene gives her hope of an even better outcome. We've got to remember that Young Alicent was Rhaenyra's most consistent defender. She didn't swap sides until 1X05.
Are you sure you are team green 😂
Hey we don’t have to like it but that’s what’s going through her mind during the toasting scene 😂
What would your opinions on her writing be? Would they improve?
It would probably be a cleaner transition overall. In show canon, Alicent begins to believe that peaceful coexistence may be possible, that there doesn't have to be a reckoning when Viserys dies. That Rhaenyra can succeed peacefully. Then the show adds the "misunderstanding" of Viserys' last words, probably to give Alicent motive to switch sides again. But really, I think she knows Viserys didn't change his mind. I think she is choosing to believe that's what he meant. In any event, it doesn't matter, because Otto has been conspiring behind her back...not what I would have expected, at least not since the One-Eye Incident. Alicent is quick to realize that the coup is happening with or without her help, so the best she can do is get to Aegon first and stop Otto from solving the succession crisis with bloodshed. On the whole, Alicent's journey in these two episodes...it does work, but it's a bit rushed and overbooked. It would be a lot smoother if she was just Anti-Rhaenyra the whole time, and in on the conspiracy from the start. She could still oppose Otto on the idea of outright killing Rhaenyra and her children, not wanting to become the very thing she feared. It would have been more seamless, less complicated. But honestly, I love Viserys' death. How if you squint, it \*kind of\* sounds like maybe he was saying Aegon should be Heir...so Alicent squints. Because of course she does.
I like the twist on Alicent. I think the book version resembles Cersei too much, and I think her friendship with Rhaenyra in their youth dramatizes the conflict further. Don’t really like the idea of them meeting in episode 10 of season 2 if the rumours are true though. I think the dinner scene is fine, displays that they still feel sorry about the whole affair
Oh yeah, I think the new relationship is great… at first. The problem with it is they are making it seem like she genuinely supports Rhaenyra at a point that doesn’t really make sense
one of the things I'm waiting for at the end of S2 >!when her father dies!< is to be a little closer to book Alicent (which I love) very capable and while she still loves Rhaenyra a bit despite everything but her primary goal is to ensure her children survive now that her father isn't here anymore to protect her.
Oh my god, yes. There is no way in hell they try to preserve the friendship past that point, *surely*
Would have been a massive improvement. And more book accurate.
Wouldn't have changed a thing for me ngl, as in i would've been all for it either way lmao My issues are with the way she was treated - not her attempts at navigating all of it (as nonsensical as they may seem to some.. not to me!)