#Rhaenyra and Laena are my babies but all the characters had potential that was wasted

[berriesandcherry]

House of the Dragon needed villains

Hi! I don't want this to be a controversial take or to attack any actor, but there has been something about HOTD that has been bothering me, and I need to get it out. Also, I made a post for Team Black, too. Since everyone was a huge letdown compared to the book, I just don't like HOTD adaptation of events.

When I read the Dance of the Dragons, it felt clear that, unlike A Song of Ice and Fire, the Dance has a “right” side and a “wrong” side, at least legally. The question for lords and political figures wasn’t who was the better person or leader, but rather: Who is the rightful heir?

The lords who supported Team Black backed Rhaenyra because she was named heir by King Viserys I and held her title as Princess of Dragonstone until she was crowned queen. In a monarchy, the king’s word is law—going against it is treason. Just as Aegon IV’s legitimization of his bastards went unchallenged because it was the king’s will, Rhaenyra’s status as heir should have been final.

The lords supporting Team Green, however, chose Aegon II based on tradition and Andal law, which prioritized male heirs over females. Their claim becomes murkier with precedents like the Widow’s Law, but their main argument was that a son comes before a daughter.

No one cared if they were good people because the lords themselves were not good people (there are exceptions, obviously).

As viewers, with modern values, we’re encouraged to root for Rhaenyra. She’s the eldest, has more experience, and her main pre-Dance flaw—entitlement—is natural for a princess cherished by her father and the realm. Also, she was the only surviving child of a couple that had lost many children, so she was very loved and shielded. Picture Sansa pre-GOT or Myrcella.

Here we see it, everyone cherishes her! She never knew any hardships before her mother's death.

"At the center of the merriment, cherished and adored by all, was their only surviving child, Princess Rhaenyra, the little girl the court singers dubbed “the Realm’s Delight.” Though only six when her father came to the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra Targaryen was a precocious child, bright and bold and beautiful as only one of dragon’s blood can be beautiful. At seven, she became a dragonrider, taking to the sky on the young dragon she named Syrax, after a goddess of old Valyria. At eight, the princess was placed into service as a cupbearer…but for her own father, the king."

Obviously, she had flaws:

"She was very proud and stubborn, and there was a certain petulance to her small mouth."

"Though Rhaenyra could be charming, she was quick to anger and never forgot a slight."

Even her flaws—pride, stubbornness, and a tendency to hold grudges—are balanced by her charm and strength.

In contrast, Aegon II is portrayed in the books as a lazy, gluttonous, and abusive young man. For example:

"The groom was fifteen years of age; a lazy and somewhat sulky boy, Septon Eustace tells us, but possessed of more than healthy appetites, a glutton at table, given to swilling ale and strongwine and pinching and fondling any serving girl who strayed within his reach." (Septon Eustace, a Green supporter)

Mushroom (a very unreliable source but still not completely untrusting) says this:

"Prince Aegon was “at his revels,” Munkun says in his True Telling, vaguely. The Testimony of Mushroom claims Ser Criston found the young king-to-be drunk and naked in a Flea Bottom rat pit, where two guttersnipes with filed teeth were biting and tearing at each other for his amusement whilst a girl who could not have been more than twelve pleasured his member with her mouth."

And Munkun prefers another "more suitable" version where the girl is a wealthy merchant's daughter. Even more “respectable” accounts show him as unfaithful, neglectful, and unfit for leadership.

What HOTD Missed: Leaning Into Villainy

The issue I want to raise is this: House of the Dragon missed an opportunity to lean into the Greens’ flaws and make them true villains. Villains aren’t just hated—they’re fascinating. Look at Cersei, Tywin, Ramsay, and Roose Bolton. Their cruelty and ambition made them memorable, even loved by fans for their depth and complexity.

Instead of inventing new crimes for characters like Daemon or new storylines like Criston/Alicent, HOTD should have preserved the Greens’ darker traits from the books. I won't add all of them, it's not necessary to make my point, even though Criston Cole could easily be added here.

“I can’t judge them. I have to write them as if they’re making their case to God why they would be allowed into Heaven….There are a lot of people who get inspriation from [Colonel Jessup’s] speech because when they hear [it] they think, ‘you know what? He’s absolutely right. He has a point.’ I’ve gotta believe in that argument when I’m writing it. If [I] don’t, [I] really run the risk of having someone twirling their moustache”. (Aaron Sorkin, Masterclass)

Alicent should have been older and the "evil stepmother" trope that they hate is actually something interesting to explore! It's like saying you want to avoid an "evil queen" trope with Cersei, no! That's her appeal! A complicated villain could emerge from a woman torn between pity for a motherless child (Rhaenyra) and her own ambitions. You can make her religion weight on her decisions. You can make her a mother who refuses to see the faults of her children in favor of what she will gain once they have power. You can make a woman bitter about seeing a child have the power she had to marry a man to be able to grasp. A complicated relationship with her father can be drawn with manipulation and issues and make it interesting!

Aegon could be an abuser, a bad man, and an absolutely unworthy heir and still be interesting. You see characters like Tyrion be genuine monsters and still have people root for him. You can show a little brother who knows what's coming, who hates his position, his marriage and his sister, who once he gets power grows to patch up his issues with the expectant eyes of the small folk and supporters. You can show him being a bad father while thinking he is good. You could've had a man whose crown changes his character as he tries to heal himself with power.

With Heleana — while not a villain— she is surrounded by them. Her character in the books is forgettable, sure, but shows her having a genuine love for her father, for her mother. She knows she is just Aegon's wife in her mother's eyes, but she loves her. She is a bad person, but she is her mother. Imagine a sweet, naïve princess whose love for her mother blinds her to Alicent’s flaws. When crowned queen, she betrays her sister, a choice that haunts her after her children are murdered due to the people she loved and took risks for. When her children are murdered, she could have the dragondreams the showrunners gave her. Not everyone have them since childhood. Her descent into madness, fueled by guilt, dragondreams, and grief, could have been one of the show’s most tragic arcs.

Aemond was a wasted potential. Aemond didn’t need bullying to justify his self-esteem issues. He’s Baelon “the Brave” gone wrong—a second son destined to serve his brother, who claims Vhagar and becomes a fearsome swordsman. His lost eye shaped his personality: paranoia, resentment, and a thirst for power. Take Euron, for example. He is horrible, and yet people are fascinated by him. Alys Rivers was his slave as she was his wife, she could be a witch, let's give her that, show her struggle to tame him enough to send him to his death in order to avenge her family— Show him having power over someone completely, like they did with Joffrey and Sansa. Show how losing his eye affected him, maybe people giving him dirty glances, including Maris Baratheon and her comment that drove him to kill Lucerys! Include Floris/Ellyn/Cassandra's attempt to hide their disgust when either is chosen to be his bride, how people's perception of him changed because of what happened at Driftmark. Show how deep him losing his eye changed him. Because it was the core of his character.

And Daeron is THE forgotten child™️, the Addam/Daeron ship was actually an interesting twist to his character, but I won't include ships for the sake of the post. However, show how he is different as he was raised by the Hightowers. Highlight his bond with Heleana’s children, his love for Tessarion, and his shift from an idealistic boy to a man consumed by revenge. This would make his later actions both understandable and heartbreaking.

“The relationship between the hero and the opponent is the single most important relationship in the story. In working out the struggle between these two characters, the larger issues and themes of the story unfold.” (John Truby, The Anatomy of Story)

Villains matter

“The more powerful and complex the forces of antagonism opposing the character, the more completely realized character and story must become.” (Robert McKee, Story)

Well-written villains are a highlight of ASOIAF. The Dance of the Dragons is a tragedy, but the Greens’ flaws could have added layers to that tragedy because of how avoidable it was. Instead, HOTD made them more sympathetic, sometimes at the cost of depth. Alicent became a pawn; Aegon, a "pitiable" drunk; Heleana a dreamy woman who spoils the show; Daeron is not even there; and Aemond, a bullied boy. While these changes humanize the Greens, they also strip away the darkness that made them fascinating in the books. Imagine HOTD with Alicent as the ambitious stepmother, Aegon as a tyrannical yet broken king, and Aemond as a power-hungry second son. The Greens wouldn’t just be the opposition—they’d be villains we love to hate, like Tywin or Cersei. That complexity is what HOTD needed to make the Dance of the Dragons truly unforgettable.