Here I go complaining again, but I honestly couldn't care less when people complain about House of the Dragon centering Rhaenyra and Alicent.
I dislike the show's take on Rhaenyra, and I don't love the turn it took with Alicent either. But I wish people understood how incredibly rare it is for a major blockbuster series to have two female leads.
Most major tv shows do not center women's stories, let alone attempt to shine a light on the systemic misogyny they face. Game of Thrones did a garbage job of it, and while House of the Dragon is far from perfect, there has still been a constant, prevalent theme of women's autonomy and struggles. In fact, I think those themes could have been explored even more, because I literally don't know any big historical fantasy shows that have tried to center women's experiences to this degree.
And the fact that people think the male characters have been "simplified" or "ruined" for the sake of "Rhaenicent"? You can't be serious.
We had a whole season dedicated to humanising Daemon, a rapist pedo groomer.
Viserys, another rapist pedo groomer, was given a sympathetic death.
Aemond, who is one of the cruelest, most one-dimensional men in the book, was given a tragic backstory of childhood bullying and mommy issues.
Even Aegon is apparently now going through some sort of redemption arc as he travels through the crownlands with Larys.
And Corlys is framed as a sympathetic father despite being a pedo and a cheater.
This is still a very male-centered show! The men are given depth, nuance, and complex backstories just like they always have been — and the fandom sympathises with them way more than they do with the women. We have grown adults on this site calling rapist male characters "misunderstood babies who can do no wrong" because they were bullied as kids or didn't have loving parents or or or...
Like calm down. I promise your male characters aren't being threatened by Rhaenyra and Alicent. The world remains as male-centered as ever.
And just to be clear, my issue isn't with people calling out the actual poor writing of HotD's female characters. Rhaenicent could have been handled more tactfully, and many of the women deserved better scripts. But watching people lose their minds over this one singular show's attempt to bring in female voices and tease a lesbian romance is just baffling. Go watch any of the billion tv shows that have almost no female characters. I beg of you.
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