#dyana hotd

[littlelord]

the minor characters lowkey took it this season.... gwayne, erryk & arryk, simon strong, oscar tully, tyland lannister, aegon's little frat friendgroup, maester orwyle, alys rivers, jasper wylde, larys, elinda massey, hugh hammer, rickard thorne, those 2 riverlands guys that had everyone fujoshing out i mean come ON.. let's hear it for the relatively normal people

[thomas-jefferson-miku-binder]

The Dyana-Alicent scene in EP7S1 of House of the Dragon lives rent free in my head, because the first time you watch it as someone who's never read A Song of Ice and Fire before, you are like "Is Alicent... is she gonna kill her?". Which no, it's not a thing the Alicent we know would do, but the first time-skip we get also left us with a completely different character than that which was previously estabilished.

It is so much worse when you realize she sees herself in the girl. That, yes, she is worried about the consequences Dyana talking about it might have on the already flimsy reputation Aegon has. She is thinking about political damage reduction but also about the girl in front of her. We see Alicent comfort Dyana more than we see her comfort any of her children by that point in the show. Alicent was a child bride married off to a much older man, and that in itself already constitutes it as conjugal rape, even if the society they live in doesn't considerate it as such.

Alicent has been a terrible parent to Aegon her entire life because he is the constant reminder she isn't perfect. That yes, she has upheld "law, family and kingdom", but that that isn't enough to raise children. It bothers me so much how people don't seem to... talk about the rape scene. Like, at all. Aegon is always a poor boy in fanfiction and fanart and fandom discussions. And yeah, but suffering has never excused anyone from also causing it.

Aegon is incredibly mysoginistic and doesn't view women as humans but rather objects for his use. We see that in the way he treats every single female character he interacts with... save for Alicent, and the way his mother treats him directly correlates to how much he hates women. He can never stand up to Alicent, so he does it to the cloest replacement he finds.

[asoiafpalestine]

Our 93rd art piece is...

Dyana poisoning Aegon, by @amoratearte here on tumblr! For inotcarly on twitter.

We’re currently not taking further commissions. Check out our page for our current information and to see how you can still help Palestinians in need!

[hopestrope]

Poll of the Dragon #26

[starogeorgina]

I hope in the end Dyana is the one that serves Aegon ii the poisonous wine

[lilycatttt]

A BESTIE MEET UP

[bee-unknown]

The same people who call themselves feminists for supporting Alicent are the same ones who claim that Rhaenyra isn't the rightful heir because she's a woman, or wish Daemon beats Rhaenyra

And the same people who call TB rape apologists for saying that Alicent isn't the martyr they think she is because she got maritally raped are the same people who say they wish Dyana gets raped again or justify Aegon actions because she's a "thing"

No surprise most Alicent apologists are Swifties, they already have practice in harassing anyone who dares say something bad about their wannabe-martyr

[nogoodsheepstealing-greatgrandma]

Dyana: Please believe me Your Grace!

Alicent: I believe you.

Alicent: No one else will though and I sure as hell won't back you up.

Alicent: In fact I'm about to plunge the realm into civil war to crown your rapist, I'm sure you'll consider the thousands of ensuing deaths worth it...

Alicent: But don't worry I'll be sure to tell him off for being a very naughty boy

Alicent: A true Queen counts the cost to her people 😊

[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

Helaena and Aemond beefing confirmed more Helaena in the next episode Baela motivation explained Rhaena scene Rhaenyra actually wanting to do something to fight for her throne more Dyana Alys just going :) as Daemon descends further and further I used to pray for times like these I am being fed so beautifully.

[elin-moon]

More on Alicent and her inconsistent character in season 2:

I feel like the writers and directors forgot what and who Alicent is as a character, what she represents. From watching season 1, I'd say Alicent is a representation of the women who not only live the way the Patriarchal society wants them to live, but also openly supports the Patriarchal system and shames women who don't live by the expectation, because for them it works so it should work for every woman.

This is most evident in Alicent's treatment of Rhaenyra, constantly going out of her way to put down Rhaenyra's authority amongst the men at court and in the council. Of course, it is all for her own gain, as Rhaenyra having less power means more power for her, which comes in the form of respect from the men around her. In everything Alicent does, she's looking to make herself look more endearing to the men around her by putting down another woman who is not behaving in the typical way that a woman is expected to be.

Such as with the really strong focus on Rhaenyra having bastards, not because she's sleeping around with a lot of men, but because the man she's married with can't have children with her; Rhaenyra is having bastard children out of a necessity to have heirs, but also because it is expected of her as a woman. If she were a man, no one would've cared, which is even said in the show:

"If I were born a man, I could father a dozen bastards." - Rhaenyra Targaryen

A man can have sex with as many women as he wants and have as many illegitimate children as he'd like, but a woman can't. If she does, she's considered a whore, which is exactly what happens to Rhaenyra, and Alicent perpetuates this by further spreading the rumours of Rhaenyra's infidelity and her children's legitimacy, all for the betterment of her own cause, to make Aegon appear as a better candidate for the throne. Alicent uses the Patriarchal system to her advantage to get what she wants, to put her son on the throne.

The most important thing is that Alicent doesn't necessarily see this as wrong. I mean, look at her father, Otto Hightower, who constantly tells her that a woman could never rule, that it must be Aegon that is king, becuase he's the first born son.

"It wouldn't matter if she were Jaehaerys himself come again; she is a woman."

In his eyes, Rhaenyra could never rule on her own as a woman, and he sends this message down to his daughter. Society itself also supports him in his belief, as is evident by the Great Council of 101, where Viserys was chosen over Rhaenys to rule, the very first scene in the first episode. As every woman in the show, Alicent suffers under the Patriarchy, but she's been raised to believe that that is what's right, and any other woman who refuses to suffer the same and tries to push back against the system in anyway is wrong and should be taught better.

Alicent's loyalty to the Patriarchy is also presented through her piousness to the Faith of the Seven, a fictional religion that takes inspiration from real life Christianity. Now, we all know very well that Christianity is being used as a tool to keep women down and subservient to their husbands, encouraging them to be obedient to the men in their lives. Christianity is alos the root of purity culture, telling young girls they must remain pure and chaste maidens for their future husbands, and if they don't do so, they are harlots and whores and sinners and they will surely go to hell. Since the Faith of the Seven is so similar to Christianity, it supports a similar concept of women needing to remain pure before marriage, and Alicent would've been raised with this belief, so evidently believes it so herself. This would not only further tie into her treatment of Rhaenyra, who she believes has sullied herself by having sex outside of marriage, but also her treatment of other girls and women.

For example, Dyana, the maid that Aegon raped. While, by all means, Alicent does help her, giving her contraceptive Moon tea and money so she can get away without trouble, Alicent still helps the maid hide. It is suggested by the show that this isn't the first time Aegon's done this, yet he hasn't really been punished by the law in anyway, because he's a man, and Alicent knows this. So, the best she can do is offer Dyana (and possibly other maids that have suffered similarly) an escape from further suffering. But she also has to keep her son's actions a secret, because they are considered bad, and while Aegon won't get punished for it, it may give him a slightly bad look to the public and give Team Black something to use as proof that Aegon isn't a capable ruler, and Alicent can't have that. So, she makes sure the maids, like Dyana, don't talk of what's happened to them, paying them to get out as soon as possible. She knows she can silence them easily since their voices don't matter as mere maids, so her privilege as queen is used as well, making sure women beneath her struggle in silence.

Her perpetuating Patriarchal values is also evident with her daughter, Helaena. While she doesn't mistreat her in any matter and cares for her dearly, Alicent obviously thinks that what is bets for Helaena is for her to live by the expectations set out for women. She has her daughter married to Aegon at 13, and forces her to have children with him as a teenager. In the book, she's 14 giving birth to the twins, and in the show, assuming she's around 19 and the twins are 4, she gives birth at 15. Either way, she's far too young to be getting married and having children, but this is what society expects of her, and what Alicent pushes for, since she believes it is for the best. Alicent herself was a teenager getting married and having children young, both in the show and the book. Sure, in the book she's 18, but that is still quite young (as an 18 year old myself, I couldn't image getting married and having children), and in the show, she's about 14 getting married and 15/16 having her first child. Alicent lived by society's expectations, and it is evident in the show she doesn't enjoy it, but she believes she must, so she thinks Helaena must as well. In fact, she believes every woman must as well. She sees Rhaenyra doesn't live a life of servitude to her husband, and Alicent hates her for it, most likely being jealous of her freedom, seen most evidently first when Alicent is still young and Rhaenyra is still unmarried and refuses to marry even though she's given plenty of men to choose from while Alicent had been given no choice.

"I think it's rather romantic" - Alicent Hightower

"What's so romantic about being locked up in a castle and made to squeeze out heirs." - Rhaenyra Targaryen

Alicent is jealous of Rhaenyra's percieved freedom, of her ability to choose who to marry, who to have children with. Alicent doesn't see that Rhaneyra is still being forced to marry when she doesn't want to, she just sees the privilege of choice on who that Rhaenyra has, and she wishes she could have that, and feels that Rhaenyra is being ungrateful. As time passes, and Rhaenyra gets away with stuff women wouldn't normally get away with, such as having illegitimate children as her heirs and having an affair with the man she loves, Alicent becomes more and more jealous, and it turns into cruelty, trying constantly to put Rhaenyra down to make herself feel better; she's the one being a good woman here, she's the one following the rules that society set out for her, she she believes she is righteous in what she does. She believes women must live like her, living for the men around them and offering everything they have to men, even their ambition, or else they are wrong.

"You've gone too far!" - Rhaenyra Targaryen

"I!? What have I done but what was expected of me? Forever upholding the kingdom, the family, the law, while you flout all to do as you please! ... Where's duty? Where's sacrifice? It's trampled under your pretty foot again!" - Alicent Hightower

Alicent believes sacrifice is necessary, something women must do, and when Rhaenyra doesn't sacrifice her owns self for the men around her, Alicent believes she's not being a woman correctly, that she's behaving incorrectly because she doesn't live exactly as the Patriarchal society expects her to.

The Patriarchy requires women to sacrifice everything: their very freedom, their very rights, their very desires, all to be desirable to men, and religion is used to make women believed that these sacrifices make them righteous, that it makes them better then other women, which only strengthens the system as the women who are being oppressed support their own oppression.

This is who Alicent was in season 1, and season 2 fails to deliver this. She has sex outside of wedlock even though her religion would forbid it, and she tries to break away from what she started and tries to go back to Rhaenyra even though she hasn't been given a good reason to other than a desire for freedom from the system. While I don't believe her character arc of breaking away rom the system is bad, I feel it was badly written; it all happens far too quickly. In just a few short weeks (at best), she's gone from fully supprting her son taking the throne and being willing to make sacrifices to achieve this, to abandoning her son entirely while he's injured and longing to break away from the cage she's been trapped in for years. It's unrealistic, no one can change that quickly in a few weeks. This arc would make sense if it was more drawn out and build upon slowly. Perhaps Alicent's desire for freedom could be foreshadowed at best in season 2, and in season 3 have it fully manifest, but it being far too late for Alicent to escape and now she has to suffer with her guilt and regrets as she watches everything fall apart around her, driving her mad as she can no longer change anything, no matter how much she wants. She has build her own cage and chains, and now has no choice but to keep to them, no matter how much she hates it now.

But whatever, we shall see what season 3 will do with her character. Perhaps they'll fix up on the inconsistencies and find a way to make her character make sense in a satisfying way that somehow aligns with season 1 and 2, but we'll have to wait.

For now, I'm done.

[comradekarin]

the way alicent lowkey implied that dyana isn’t aegon’s only victim? i’m sorry but the way dyana was shaking, crying and stuttering is absolutely heartbreaking, and to know it’s being covered up? realistically, it wouldn’t ever go public, but it’s more so the fact that this was a recurring pattern with aegon. we even see this when aegon is younger, too, how the servant girls would always look so uncomfortable around him and try to distance themselves. mind you, yet again, alicent was enabling her son’s behavior and even when she goes to confront aegon about it, it was less about “what you did was wrong” and more about “stop embarrassing the family name (i.e me/the crown) by being useless and reckless about potential bastards”. this also being followed with aegon’s “i never asked for this” and not knowing what to do to finally gain alicent’s approval. interested in seeing aemond and alicent’s dynamic in contrast to hers and aegon. rlly need to study the seed otto planted and allowed to rot within the hightowers line i think…

[peanutxparker]

okay before i get into this rant let me state I haven't watched hotd in a bit and I also haven't been caught up so if I'm missing anything just lemme know.

I think people tend to struggle with black and white thinking with characters (and people irl of course) where they'll see "good" traits and then be like "well xyz CAN'T be in the wrong EVER" orrrr they'll only see bad traits and be like "well xyz is evil and nothing they do is right" and that's just not the way people work.

and I think that this applies to team green so strongly because I see so many people calling Alicent either a saint or evil and like....the point is that there is nuance. Like she (and her children) are complicated multidimensional people and that's what makes the writing so good. I LOVE the hightowers because of this and I am still firmly team Black. I think people forget with media that you can enjoy characters without them being perfect angels who did nothing wrong and vice versa you can hate characters without them being the devil.

I think a good example of this complicated writing is the situation with Dyana the servant. Again, I haven't watched the show in a sec so give me a break if I get some things wrong or forget something. But when Alicent learns of what Aegon did to Dyana, she is obviously distraught. She isn't heartless at all. You can tell she feels bad for this poor girl and heartbroken that her son could do such a thing. (tangent: speaking of nuance, Aegon has a lot of it. He is charismatic and fun to watch and you feel bad because he didn't want to be king but then you see how he treats women and those around him and you realize he isn't a good guy but you still feel sympathetic towards him. That's good writing)

But despite her sympathies, Alicent KNOWS that this could ruin them. So she helps her son cover up his crime. She pays Dyana so she won't tell anyone and gives her moon tea as a precaution. (side note: I know the intended reason for the moon tea was so that there would be no proof of what Aegon did but I also like to see it as Alicent not wanting motherhood to be forced unto Dyana so young like it was Alicent).

This shows how far Alicent will go to have her son on the throne as she pushes away her morals in order to clean up Aegon's mess. But then when Helaena asks where Dyana went and Alicent hugs her, you begin to feel sympathy again. There are a lot of different explanations to this scene but I saw it as Alicent seeing what a monster her son was and realizing how he probably mistreated Helaena. Helaena who had no choice in her loveless marriage. I think she saw Helaena in that moment as herself, young and wed to Viserys. And I think in that hug she was expressing how she was sorry.

This was incoherent and a huge ramble I'm not even gonna proof read this or anything...the point is that characters such as Alicent Hightower are not just Good or Bad. They are complex. I Love Alicent dearly and yet I root against her. The way she is written is so Human and we need to stop acting like multifaceted characters don't exist.

[crazycoke-addict]

I'm not Team Green, nor Am I team Black. I'm Team Women!!

I'm Team. Everybody should be listening to Helaena when she speaks her riddles. I'm Team. Yes, Rhaenyra mothered bastards but she is still the rightful heir, and it is no different to what a king does. I'm Team Rhaenys should've been on the iron throne and also deserves a husband who listens to her. I'm team Laena Velaryon deserved better. I'm Aemma Arryn deserved better and should've had her own dragon. I'm Team, Alys Rivers, and her witchcraft. I'm Team Alicent deserves her freedom after being chained to a game that she was forced to play by her father. I'm Team Dyana deserves justice. I'm Team Mysaria, and her scheming plans are.

[rhaenyrathecruell]

People on TikTok will do anything to defend aegon,daemon and aemond

[exquisitelipstickkiss]

okay but my main takeaway from ep3 was how good emma d'arcy looks as a septa the horror of dyana's character. even though she got free of the red keep she couldn't get free of the harassment and abuse from entitled men. and then thinking she had atleast gotten free of aegon- he came into the inn. and she had to serve him. the man who raped her.

she's just one example of what life is like for a woman in westeros.

i think every woman in this show should be allowed to murder a few men as they see fit.

[flashrod4]

“Karma.”

“Yes sir, it is.”