Jul 27
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They're using Helaena's neurodivergence as a reason to render her a politicaly insignificant oracle. Don't let them fool you.
At Aegons coronation, they erased Dowager Queen Alicent placing her crown on her daughter's head and calling Helaena her queen.
We know that Helaena was happier before she became queen, but that's after Jaehaerys died. Before that, Helaena doesn't express her opinions and feelings on her ascension or the political scenario.
During Blood and Cheese, Helaena offers her necklace for Jaehaerys' life. Her NECKLACE. In the book, she offers her LIFE. They changed so much of the scene, whole characters aren't where they're supposed to be, but they couldn't leave in a line that shows Helaena is willing to die for her LITTLE CHILDREN, like many mothers would, including neurodivergent ones.
In the book, when forced to choose a son to be murdered under horrible threats made to her daughter, Helaena chooses Maelor to die instead of Jaehaerys. It could be because Maelor was younger and didn't have the awareness that Jaehaerys had, but Helaena's choice ultimately prioritises the life of her firstborn, Aegon's heir. It's a political move. In the show, she's so far removed from politics, the only thing she does that remotely comes close is being forced to parade her son's body around the city.
Then, they refuse to let her call Jaehaerys by his name, instead she calls him "the boy", and people argue that it's because she's in shock, but no other character calls Jaehaerys by his name UNTIL Helaena herself says "I'm sad for Jaehaerys but I ought not to. Children die all the time" in the most dismissive way possible. She doesn't ugly cry. She doesn't sob or scream or express her pain. Her devastating grief is conveniently opted out, and episodes later she is ready to be the cryptical catch-you-in-a-lie targaryen oracle. She doesn't ride her dragon to assist the war efforts, not because she's spiralled into depression and what is crudely called madness, but because she doesn't like to ride, as per Rhaenyra, and if she's ought not to be sad, she can't be enraged or vengeful either, because it would be just as inconvenient and wrong, and she's a pacifist with a sensitive soul that shouldn't be corrupted by her evil brother.
An angry mob of smallfolk throws fish at her and Alicent, when she was notoriously beloved by them in the book.
Her authority as Queen Consort is constantly ignored, bypassed and disrespected by her own mother, when Helaena outranks her.
Why is no one campaigning for Helaena to use the power her position gives her?
They made her a vessel for the prophecy, a plot with so many holes it's become swiss cheese.
Not interested in politics? She's neurodivergent. Doesn't offer her life for her children? She's neurodivergent. Is not consumed by grief? Neurodivergent. Doesn't like to fly on her dragon that she claimed at what, eleven years old?
Who knows why.
They kinda forgot about Laena's funeral scene where the Strong Boys took Aemond's eye.
They kinda forgot the Strong boys were making fun of Aemond.
They kinda forgot about Blood and Cheese.
Lmao imagine getting to adapt Fire and Blood a book with the canon character that exists to challenge Targaryen exceptionalism bc she casually domesticated a dragon like it was any feral animal while having physical features that are blatantly not valyrian(tm) and just erasing her and giving her story to a...Targaryen.
Ryan Condal and his hatred of Alicent: constantly punishing her sexually.
Ryan Condal only does this specifically with Alicent. He doesn’t subject the other female characters to the same kind of repeated sexual violence and humiliation - only Alicent.
Aliceny is SA’d by everyone, got incest SA’d by her own son and was sexually humiliated just to blame her for B&C (even Ryan Condal doesn’t hide his bias toward the Blacks, saying that in the books Blood and Cheese is TG propaganda against Rhaenyra, which is why that scene was adapted the way it was.) Olivia Cooke talked in interviews about how heavy and uncomfortable some of Alicent’s sexual content has been to film. It really raises questions about how sexual violence is used in HotD, especially when it keeps happening to the same character in ways that can start to feel repetitive rather than narratively necessary.
Condal just hates Alicent because she’s prudish. And I think that speaks the misogyny disguised as “criticism” of prudishness, religiousness, or traditional behavior in women by using their sexuality to punish them. So you hate Alicent because she’s… religious? Because she’s prudish? I know modern audiences, with 21st-century lenses and zero knowledge of history dislike women who don’t express sexuality or power in a “liberated” way, but that doesn’t justify sexually humiliating them this is very disturbing and disgusting.
At the same time, you have Rhaenyra, who is written with a much more openly “sexually liberated” energy and is written in a way where her sexuality is not used against her in the same punitive way. That contrast is what makes the treatment of Alicent stand out more.
And what makes Rhaenyra sexually liberated? Because her so called sexual freedom or extramarital affairs were literally the fallout of Daemon’s grooming? Isn’t it true that he groomed her for his own ends, “liberating” her to sleep with him and others, and in doing so destroyed her own reputation & claim to the throne? And because it looks “exotic” or “liberated” next to the fantasy Catholics coded Alicent?
Bk!Alicent is certainly written within a world that is hostile to women, especially women at court, but her arc is not around sexualized punishment or humiliation as a thematic goal. She’s actually one of the more politically respected women of her position.
Condal need to understand that for a noblewoman living in a quasi-medieval world chastity wasn’t just a matter of personal morality it was political. Her reputation affected her family’s standing, her husband’s authority, and her children’s legitimacy. A scandal could damage her entire house, and even a rumor could cost her safety, influence, and dignity. Modesty wasn’t simply “prudishness” in that world, it was a strategy for survival. So why punish that kind of character through sexual humiliation in the narrative?
When a character is repeatedly written through sexual punishment or humiliation while another is written through sexual empowerment, it just shows the biased written of who gets to be “liberated” and who gets to be degraded and humiliated.
Condal could easily make Alicent more sympathetic by showing how her religion functions as one of her few sources of identity and stability. As queen, her piety could also be shown through genuinely compassionate actions - like giving alms, supporting motherhouses, and helping women and children under the Faith - rather than relying so heavily on sexual humiliation to define her arc.
ryan comparing ormund to the nazis was..... interesting at best.
he is trying to bring down the ruling house, who have practiced incest for generations 'to keep their valyrian blood pure'. they have said that they are closer to gods than to men. they have said that they were given the divine right to rule by the seven (ignoring the targaryen massacres against the faith).
yes, ormund has many, MANY, flaws. but if we're going to make nazi comparisons then maybe let's go with the people who clearly and vocally believe in eugenics.
Hotd writers workbook each season:
-Sexually humiliate team green for shock value by inventing non-f&b scenes.
-Turn a civil war into a psychosexual lesbian story between one bad (victim) woman who needs to be constantly punished and one good (victim) woman who is constantly restrained by her gender.
-Glaze girlbossified victim rhaenyra, her feminist sex-trafficker advisor and to an extent her pdf daddy husband (ironically even GRRM was not up their bottoms as much as ryan condal and his writers are).
-Humble alicent through SA by framing her as constant victim of her own side to 1) justify her supporting rhaenyra over her kids 2) for #them to go > she deserves it for daring to support her son against queen rhaenyra, the greens are SO horrible, this is what inventing patriarchy does!
-For the gazillionth time, show how immoral criston cole is.
-Repeatedly depict all of tg as deviant evil misogynists and all tb as goody two shoes feminists by adding more non-book scenes, nuance be damned.
-Milk daenerys and asoiaf prophecy as reserved quota.
-Give most tg screentime to alicent who isnt even tg anymore but another rhaenyra stan.
-Add plagiarized dialogues to show how simultaneously girlbossy and victimised all hotd women are, particularly rhaenyra.
-Allude how every medieval woman against rhaenyra MUST be a pick-me hypocrite woman for trump and every woman for rhaenyra is the most perfect badass feminist ever lived, there is no inbetween.
-Only and only rhaenyra is allowed to love, cry, feel for her children in this show.
-Bare minimum characterization for the velaryons. Their portion of tb screentime is given to rhaenyra, daemon and mysaria.
-Make the greens weaker, more divided and pitiful for #their gratuitous gooning.
-Remove all f&b nuance that GRRM wrote and reiterated in his blog to turn the story of the entire dance into tb best, tg worst propaganda for fave self-inserts.
*Best Show Ever!*
Condal is such a performative feminist. There's not a single well-written female character in the entire HOTD. One is ready to kill her children in order to stand next to her childhood friend for even a minute. The second one is whining, tearing her dress, and for 3 consecutive seasons, she has not been able to figure out what she wants. And the rest instead of background noise. Feminism is just off the charts