Is Alicent a Villain? House of the Dragon

Alicent was villified by Rhaenyra and by fans for marrying Viserys. But she was pimped out as a child bride by her father into a life she didn't want, then used as breeding stock. Yet people act like she wanted it or was asking for it. They hardly ever think to Villify Viserys for marrying a 16-year-old, following personal desire against the good of the realm, or killing his wife because he wanted a male heir. She was recoiling in terror during the scene of s*x with Viserys and developed a skin picking disorder from stress. Both Rhaenyra and Allicent are flawed, victimized by and pitted against each other by the patriarchal society they live in. There are no good guys and no villains in this show, honestly. Just a bunch of spoiled rich people seeking after ambition, glory, or their supposed "birthright" at the expense of the peasants who they literally step on with their dragons thoughtlessly.

Honestly, it's VERY plausible that both Alicent and Rhaenera are more complex and sympathetic than they are portrayed in Fire and Blood. Alicent may be a Hightower but not only do the maesters hate the Targaryens, they are notoriously misogynistic.

I see Alicent as a "pawn to player" character like Sansa. She begins her arc as her father's pawn to gaining influence over first Jaehaerys and then Viserys. Later, I think she honestly believes that she and her children will be at risk if Rhaenyra and Daemon take power, and court plotting is the only way she knows how to fight. Ultimately I think you're correct that GRRM wants the reader to root against her at first, but come to realize that she's another gray character by the end.

I think people (from the fandom) tend to gravitate more towards Rhaenyra for two reasons: (1) She's a member of a very famous, very powerful house, and (2) at this point of the story, she has the potential to succeed as a queen of the realm. And with the odds stacked against her, not to mention her gender, she's some sort of an underdog. And people love to root for the underdog. As a result, people are predisposed to dislike Alicent. She's the other party and potential foil to Rhaenyra's ascension to the throne. Being an outsider/non-Targaryen works to her disadvantage too in the popularity contest. And let's not forget who her father is. For most people, scheming father = scheming daughter.

I'm pretty sure everyone is a villain in the Dance of Dragons. Nice people don't tend to do these kinds of things. Gods, I miss Ned.

I don’t think she’s a Margery or a Cersei. I think she’s a Sansa who achieved her dream of being queen, only to slowly be disillusioned with the true ways of the world.

I had a lot of sympathy for Alicient because she was used her whole life. I think she was only happy when she was still young and taking care of the old king and at the last stages of her life that's what she remembered fondly.

Not only is Alicent similar to Margaery Tyrell, but she also has parallels with Anne Boleyn, no surprise since Margaery was partially based on Anne Boleyn. Natalie Dormer even played both of them. 🤣

The old king mistaking Alicent for Sarah is so wholesome, he forced himself to hate her for the majority of his life, and in the end he believed she forgave him and came back to take care of him. (Or came back to seize power)

In my opinion, I prefer to view the world of Westeros as grey, the GOT experience is far more fascinating that way

I am leaning towards her being a manipulated pawn of her father's in the beginning. Once she becomes a mother, she will be motivated by her children's safety and well being. Thank you for another excellent video.

Although I don't like her, I agree that Alicent probably didn't start out as this villainous character. Looking at what we know of her story, she was almost certainly caught up between her father's schemes and King Viserys, those two powerfull men, and was in turn used and let down by both time and time again. Otto's excessive ambition and Viserys' incompetence put her and her children in a very difficult and dangerous position, which would cause anyone to become jaded. She most certainly married Viserys with the expectation that her future son would be king, and I doubt Viserys explained to her that he had no such intention beforehand. She probably felt cheated out of a prize she believed was already in her hands, and that she believed was rightfully hers (westeros is a highly patriarchal society afterall). This is probably part of the reason why her relationship with Rhaenyra soured; she was kind to Rhaenyra at first because she believed she was only the heir temporarily, when she found out it wasn't the case, she probably started to see Rhaenyra as a threat to herself and her children (I do believe she was the first to allienate Rhaenyra, if only because of Rhaenyra's age). It's also natural for someone in that kind of position to seek to have some power of their own. And I'm inclined to think that growing up as Otto's daughter would have shaped Alicent into a person with ambition, if not necessarily a malicious person (more like someone who grew up believing she was meant for greatness, as I think she was probably told something like that growing up, like how Tywin promised young Cersei she'd marry Rhaegar and Cersei grew up with all those fantasies about her future in her head). She probably grew bitter and twisted along the way due to the difficult position she found herself in after birthing Aegon and him not becoming heir.

I don't think Otto had sent Alicent to seduce King Viserys in order to have sex with him. Not while she is both a virgin and unmarried. That would end in nothing but disaster for Alicent. I believe Hightower wanted Alicent to establish some kind of emotional connection with the king, while the latter was grieving, setting up the possibility of a future marriage.

Honestly I read a lot of comments saying they couldn't sympathize with Alicent anymore but honestly after watching the latest episode I found it easier to sympathize with her than Rhaenyra. Like not only is she in a sham marriage she just has 3 kids with some random knight that is just Walmart Cerston and from the looks of things hasn't even managed to patch things up with either Certson mor Alicent... like she is heir to the throne but it seems like she's done nothing to really help her own cause since her wedding... just basically a mess in general...

Alicent convinced her son to take the crown with the argument that Rhaenera would kill them once she got the chance, but when Alicent and her children and grandchildren were captives nothing happened to them, even Aegon was like naw that’s my sisters throne at first, blood and cheese only happened in response to Rhae losing her son, which was Daemons plan not hers, she even calls her sister, sister, instead of half like she does her brothers so I’m betting that she had a good relationship with her sister which was strained by the hightower influence

Personally, I think every character is an ahole at some point in this story. To me , though, the real villain is Otto Hightower. I think it was his ambition to elevate his daughter to queen after Queen Aemma died.

The impending drama in HOT D between Allicent and Rhaenera is giving me historical parallels to Elizabeth the 1st and Mary Queen of Scotts. Not to mention the obvious parallels of Viserys and Henry the 8th in their ruinous quest for male heirs, and the Targaryen predilection for incest mirroring that of the ancient Egyptians.

I'm sure the show will paint her in a more positive light- at least at first- like Lena Heady's Cersei. A fan favorite in the making. Also she should have a good arc. By the end shees talking about when the cats (Vhagar) away the mice will play and trying to convince a little girl to do just awful things. She becomes so nasty that the brothel queens ending is put forth. The whole time reading f&b I wanted Rhaenerya to snatch her up by the hair.

I think her scheming starts as soon as she gives birth to Aegon, regardless of her fathers plans. When she sees that Viserys has no mind to change the succession, she suggests marrying Aegon to Rhaenyra. Viserys outright rejects the match because he knows that Alicent wants her son on the iron throne. She slides right into the typical role of stepmother who antagonizes the daughter simply for the sake of power. IMO, no matter how you look at it, she’s a traitor who rebelled against the King’s chosen successor. And if Viserys was a good king that Alicent supposedly married for love, that betrayal makes her a villain in my eyes.

In regard to it seeming odd for Alicent (a noble) to be Jaeherys's chief carer when there were servants available, it's not actually far removed from reality. High ranking nobles in real life monarchic systems would commonly take apparently demeaning jobs just to have access to the king. With the English throne for instance there was a formal position: "Groom of the King's stool", a high ranking courtier would literally be there to wipe his ass.