#anti alicent hotd

[darklinaforever]

The Alicent Hightower from Fire and Blood is like those female antagonists of mother-in-law, mother, empress and or concubines from Asian or Turkish series.

We love to hate them. They're jerks but they're badass and know what they want and will do anything to get it. Somehow, despite our hatred, they inspire in us a form of respect.

That’s what Alicent Hightower was in the book.

A great villain.

A woman hungry for power who did everything to obtain it. A woman who shared her father's desires, but managed perfectly on her own to found her faction during the years when he was absent, therefore making her the leader, not Otto. A woman who has chosen the color of her faction. Who has actively sought to usurp Rhaenyra since she was named heir. A woman who led the Greens council.

In the series... she just a poor victim without complexity who always makes puppy eyes. A huge hypocrite and paranoid. Manipulated by his father, made paranoid by him. Took the color green simply because in this reality it's the color of his family. Complains that apparently no one is on his side during his father's absence at court. Was not the leader of the Green council, and was not even aware (apparently) of Rhaenyra's usurpation to put Aegon II on the throne.

She inspires no respect in us, and even less pity. She simply disgusts us...

Especially since the book version was 18 when she married Viserys and was very happy to be Queen, especially since she was in fact enormously loved and pampered by Viserys. Unlike the series where she is forced into marriage by her father, this time at the age of 15, and Viserys doesn't even like her.

I really have a hard time seeing the so-called more feminist aspect of HOTD for the character of Alicent... They made her a victim, a hypocrite and a paranoid. That's all. How is it better than the book version ?!

Throughout the pre-war period, Alicent in Fire and Blood was the villain, Rhaenyra's adversary. But once the war begins, things change and Aegon II becomes the main antagonist. No one can control it. So, what the hell are they going to invent to further include Alicent in the story of the series, knowing that they are only making her a perpetual victim ? I swear this series is tiring me out...

I love the Alicent in the book, and every time I see HOTD's version I want to pull my hair out. Especially since Olivia Cooke had the potential to make a truly great Alicent Hightower. (Also, damn the fact that she's a redhead like Sansa, help...)

In other words... Alicent, my beloved, you deserved better. You were the queen of bitches and now you are reduced to... almost nothing. It's sad.

[prideprejudce]

best hotd tweets so far

[adragonprinceswhore]

“He was fond of me”

“And I of him”

If the writers of House of The Dragon keep gaslighting the audience into thinking Viserys was anything better than a powerful man who stole a young girls future, dreams and physical body in the quest for a son he will never love, I will riot

[robynnnn311]

behind every art of modern rhaenyra where the artist draws her as masc or butch, theres always daemyras trying to prove that rhaenyra is this ultra feminine damsel because she wears pretty dresses and married a man whilst simultaneously ignoring all of rhaenyras established gender struggle at the same time, making their point so futile that they come across as repulsive people when it comes to the subject of lgbtq+ people specifically when it comes to women who don’t conform

rhaenyras story is based upon gender struggles already well set out in westeros i truly don’t understand unless you watched the show with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears, every time this happens it instills in me that most people who say they like rhaenyra do not actually like rhaenyra because of their unwillingness to accept that rhaenyra is within herself wishes to be different

how do you watch her scene with mysaria in its entirety and including when she says daemon is everything she wishes to be INCLUDING a man and come to any other conclusion

[medusas-daughter]

This entire season is just Alicent realizing the patriarchy won't protect you just because you're upholding it. Yes girl, even if you help the council usurp the woman because of her gender, they won't see you as more than your gender. Yes girl, the man that started calling his ex a whore and a cunt once he was done with her will not respect you when he's done with you. No the problem was never the ex, the problem was always the man. Yes girl, if you teach your sons that they're better than their sister because they're men, they will think they're better than you because they're men. Proximity to men of power will never make you a man of power.

[tessarionbestgirl]

I feel sick.

[aryas-faces]

Is this a fucking joke?!

ALICENT has never sacrificed anything?!

Alicent has sacrificed EVERYTHING

She sacrificed her choices and happiness for Otto by marrying the King. She sacrificed her friendship with Rhaenyra. She sacrificed her bodily autonomy to give the king a male heir. She sacrificed her own safety for the safety of her children. She was prepared to die by dragonfire for Aegon, sacrificing her own life for his

But no. She has never sacrificed anything. Everything has been handed to her on a silver platter according to these writers

Meanwhile wtf has Rhaenyra sacrificed? A random knight so she could marry Daemon? A ton of innocent people for more dragons? Those aren’t personal sacrifices the way Alicent’s are. She’s sacrificing other people for herself

Not the same at all

And everything she has, she has been handed on a silver platter. Daddy named her heir, despite her treason in passing off bastards as heirs to Driftmark. She fucked off to Dragonstone and still was heir. She got the Riverlands because of Daemon, not anything she did. She got the dragons through evil means. Alicent offers her everything she wants

It it’s Alicent who has never sacrificed anything?

And now she’s being forced by the writers to sacrifice her son; the person she did all this to protect. Now she’s choosing Rhaenyra because this is redemption to the writers instead of the character assassination that it is

At least Olivia tries to save what she can by making Alicent have a panic attack

[very-straight-blog]

Why is everyone pretending that Aegon stole the throne almost behind Alicent's back? Have you already forgotten that he wanted to escape? That he was crying during the coronation? Alicent, you put him on the throne, and now you're sacrificing him like he's a lamb for the slaughter? A son for a son? What about Jaehaerys? Exactly how many sons must die to repay Luke's death? That's just...argh...

[franzkafkagf]

[ophelieverse]

the green kids visiting their daddy death bed🥰

[greenqueenhightower]

Alicole was underwhelming, but B&C takes the cake as the worst adaptation of a single asoiaf/f&b event so far:

It was so rushed and whitewashed and did not focus on Helaena at all. Where is Helaena pleading for her son's life and offering up her own life instead? Where is Maelor whom Helaena was coerced to offer up as a sacrifice and does not bear to look at? Where is Heleana being forced to make a decision that haunts her entire life? She is obviously traumatized by what happened, but having her just say "they killed the boy" does not do her character and her grief justice. I really hope we get to see more of Helaena in episode 2 because it would be really upsetting if the show just brushes her off.

Not to mention Alicent's absence from the events of B&C. Alicent was really there, worried for her daughter's and grandchildren's lives, and was the first person to offer Helaena some comfort and consolation. The more I think about it the more mad I get because we got robbed of what could have been a truly harrowing and distressing scene that would do the events and the characters justice. Book!B&C was about two mothers and their shared agony, pain, and grief. It could have been powerful and shocking from an acting perspective alone if they had followed the events of the book.

[darklinaforever]

And yes, Daemon's daughters (Baela & Rhaena) and Daemyra's sons (Aegon III & Viserys II) survived the dance. Not Alicent. Sad. Nah, I'm joking. It's just as well that this bitch is dead. The Greens stans make me laugh trying to make believe that Alicent survived everyone in the end. No way. She will be locked up, hating the color green for the rest of her days before dying of fever. Not very glorious. (On the other hand, those in the comments who try to say that Daemon may have survived... No. He's fucking dead. Stop having weird fantasies about him fucking surviving !)

[kass-of-the-midlands]

In an attempt to make a feminist show, Hotd has Rhaenys be totally cool with her man cheating on her, has Baela refusing her mother’s claim, has Rhaena reduced to a nursemaid with little to no scenes with her twin sister, has Rhaenyra start a war for a throne because daddy said she could have it, has Alicent dithering around with no influence over the court that she’s ruled for over a decade, has Helaena offer up a necklace instead of her own life to try and save her children, also completely removes the fact that Helaena fell into complete despair and insanity due to this immense trauma, has Nettles–a commoner who learnt how to ride a dragon-erased, has Saera Snow-a major proponent of the Pact of Ice and Fire and an RLJ foreshadowing, not to mention an enriching factor to Cregan and Jace-removed, has Jeyne Arryn be totally cool siding with the man who murderered a fellow female liege, has—

[beetlejuicyy]

criston cole is such a female-experience coded character and it is exactly why he is hated so much hear me out

his whole character is built around the idea that rhaenyra seduced him, had taken his dignity and made him feel like her whore. his vow and his duty are close enough to the idea of women's purity and value. you were sullied, you have to marry the man that devalued you, otherwise you are spoiled and unworthy.

on top of that, his identity as a knight, as kingsguard means he is submissive. he is not seen having a lot of opinions or plans to how things are done, the big guys in the council decide and he has to obey to their orders.

on top of that, when he does act at last, it's portrayed in the form of scheming, behind the backs of people, and it's mostly attributed to his sentimental nature, to his inability to think straight, be logical because of his personal feelings. that's how women have been portrayed for centuries.

another thing that makes his character harder to grasp is the choice to have the same actor play the pre-timeskip and past-timeskip criston. 20 years have passed and yet people see him as the same person who refused to be rhaenyra's whore but now he is hypocritical because he is alicent's whore. 20 years have passed and, even if you can't see it on his face, he's bound to have changed too.

in his relationship with alicent he doesn't talk as much. he is obedient, she's the one in charge. she gets to say when and how things happen, he is just at her service.

his entire character is build up to revolve around rhenyra, like women's lives are supposed to revolve around men. if he refuses to acknowledge his status in his youth he is no longer allowed to later (after 20 years mind you) find some sort of comfort in another master. it's like saying "if you say you hate the system why take part in it"?

his pent up rage and hatred is evil, because what happened to him was behind closed doors where no one saw or heard of it. because if they knew of it he would lose everything, exactly the way women have often refrained from talking about their condition in fear of being villainized themselves. in the meantime, the one in power will keep their dignity and spotless reputation like rhaenyra is not even held accountable for having bastards pushed forward as heirs, not to mention the fling she had with criston.

this rant is in no way trying to portray criston cole as a saint or a good guy or trying to justify his behaviour. this is actually the problem with hotd, the effort to draw a line between the good guys and bad guys. have it be either balck or white. it's not, it can't be. you either have complex, morally grey characters with flaws and mistakes or you go watch marvel or something. even there villains are more humanized than in this petty effort of righteousness.

LE: thank you everyone who mentioned the aspect of criston being a man of colour from dorne and the power dynamic between a royal and a lower born who fought his way into the world! this rant was written in a rush and while i couldn't express the latter as eloquently as most of you in the tags/comments, i completely overlooked the former. i love looking through everyone's tags and comments and seeing your takes. as @jazzyclarinet pointed out in the comments, seeing criston's character in this light does not erase or diminish the injustice other women in the story experience.

on another note, i feel like part of the blame is on the way hbo marketed the season with the pressure to pick a side. however, i think what we've been lacking as a society in the post covid years is actual unbiased analysis of art. swallowing up content without any question and making said content a personality trait is harmful. as i said, i don't like criston as a character, but i can make these points about him simply because i watch the show critically and i don't blindly defend a character while trashing another.

[alicent-archive]

Her horrible night hasn't even begun yet, and she's already picking at her fingers ☹️

It just makes you wonder how many countless nights she had to endure this. How many times she was woken up because Viserys desired her, and her being able to do NOTHING about it.

She can't refuse the King; he's her husband. She can't refuse her husband; he's the King.

Alicent has to do her duty, and pleasing the King IS her duty.

Even though he mocked her in the Godswood in front of Daemon and Rhaenyra. Even though he laughed in her face. Even though he consistently demonstrates that he thinks less and less of her with each passing day.

Alicent Hightower—despite the late hour, despite the mockery, and despite her dissociating during the act—goes to the King and does her duty.

[urdeftonesgrrrl]

me when people call Aemond a coward for fleeing a 3v1 when Rhaenyra was too scared to go against Aemond in a 1v1: