Ok i am so late to the party but I am actually going insane. I love to hate these characters. I really thought Alicent finally wanted to put her kids on the throne, but she was ready to give in to Rhaenyra. All of this is based off a mistake (a tragedy) and out of misguided loyalty to her husband. She toils in service to the men around her. Blood and loyalty to the house and family, that's everything to her.
And she lives by "counting the cost". A curious phrase; possibly an allusion to Luke 14:28, which came up in my google search. We see that she wants to avoid battle and war, she is selflessly devoted to the people. I found that curious because we see that faith to the seven gods is important to her. She dresses like a nun, rebuilt the castle in that seven pointed star she also wears around her neck. She says grace before the supper table.
That passage is a little weird. It talks about the cost of faith (renounce all---even your own life) as well as sending peace offerings when you are outmatched. (She doesn't want to fight, she just wants to follow orders.)
Alicent tries her hand at manipulation and diplomacy (You should've been queen, you can handle Driftmark), she knows that some people are awfully suited to the crown (Viserys the peaceful didn't further the good of the realm. He maintained the status quo.) She knows Aegon will make a terrible King but will follow through anyways. (Raping the handmaid, "You are no son of mine" "You imbecile")
Men are simultaneously to be obeyed and yet guided from their violent and destructive ways.
She reveals though, that she is lost without them (men). Your husband abandoned you for six years, she says, and yet Rhaenys seems to have done fine on her own. We see that she rules in her husband's absence, and originally wanted to petition her own claim. She doesn't really believe that woman can or should rule on their own. Really she resented her father for leaving her when he got fired as position of the hand. We see her venting to that crispy rat about how she has nobody "on her side" and that her father would've been. And we see that he doesn't care about her, he plots to put his grandson on the throne behind her back.
Rhaenys sees right through all of this. And the look on Alicent's face is so haunted and filled with both longing and revulsion at the idea of she herself ruling on the iron throne.
It is so clear that while Rhaenys has a lot to resent team black for, her desires and ambition more closely match team black. She could never be team green because she would never submit and toil in the service of men. She allies with Rhaenyra because she can relate to her, being in the same position all those years ago. All of that is the only reason she can tolerate being on the same team as Daemon.
I do think there is a bias against team green in the writers room, but it's not a turn off for me, because I love to hate Alicent. She is so uptight and repressed, a pawn in her father's game, her children become chess pieces, she's forced into a lonely life as queen with no friends, forced to bear four children as a child herself. She sees it as her duty to guide the king, but we can see that even after all these years she hasn't amassed the love of the people, or power in the courts. She has a place at the table but she is not in charge, she never has the final word. Being Queen, to her, is about duty, not power.
She's the fantasy puritan and I hate her for it. She represents the women that resent the patriarchy but still uphold it. She feels that she can never be free, so she will make the best of it all. She would've been much happier if she were a man. ("but...here we are" we must accept our place in the world) She is a good girl because she fulfills her role.
Her character is so compelling as a foil to Rhaenyra, who we see "does as she pleases." This is not to say that Rhaenyra is a feminist icon, she isn't. She's fiery and ambitious, but also a bit bland. If she wants firstborns to inherit regardless of gender, but would she feel the same if she were a man? In my opinion we haven't seen much personality or initiative, nothing that makes her stand out as a good ruler.
stormborns
dailybridgerton
yousharknotpass
