#book!alicent

[erikb2]

𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐭.

“You have hostages,” the Queen Dowager replied. “Cut off one of the boy’s ears and send it to Lord Tully. Warn them he will lose another part for every mile they advance.”——Fire&Blood

[newts-gay]

where is my alicent “i shall have one of her son’s eyes in return” hightower?

where is my alicent “you may do as you wish husband, when i am cold in my grave” hightower?

where is my alicent “congratulations, stepdaughter. what a blessing this is for you” hightower?

where is my alicent “do keep trying ser laenor, sooner or late you'll get one that looks like you” hightower?

AND

don’t even get me started on alicent “bastard blood shed at war” hightower

she would have been way too powerful for anyone’s screen (especially with olivia’s brilliant performances) and tb stannies kept her from us

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

If the show hadn’t chosen to age down Alicent (and if the show runners were capable of making a decent adaptation), how differently would Alicent’s relationship with her children be? How would her parenting methods change? I know that this is something up for interpretation but I would love to hear your thoughts.

I'm sorry it took so long to answer this! It's a really good question, anon. I guess a non-aged down Alicent is for all intents and purposes book!Alicent? If she's not aged down then there's probably no friendship with Rhaenyra and Alicent as an 18 year old bride is not going to be as naive and trusting as 14 year old Alicent. This Alicent would be more aware of the precarious position she and her children are in from the jump. I do not think, for instance, there would be that scene after Aegon's second nameday hunt in which Alicent is telling Viserys that Rhaenyra will make a good queen. Book!Alicent, after all, is the one who suggested Aegon and Rhaenyra should be wed and said that the fact that they did not get along was all the more reason they should be married. This Alicent is more politically astute and has less sentimental attachment to Rhaenyra. She's more clear-eyed about the future on her own terms, and her desires are her own rather than a result of Otto's machinations.

I've always imagined book!Alicent to have a strict and no-nonsense parenting style. I think this version of Alicent loves her kids deeply, but she's not an indulgent parent and most of the time she's not overly demonstrative with her affection. Her focus is on keeping them alive, and that means she can't afford to coddle them. I think she's very "stiff upper lip," so to speak, and goal oriented. That said, I think she's somewhat out of her depth with her Targaryen children, who are more emotionally volatile than she is and more prone to acting out.

Alicent is also in a tricky position as a mother, seeing as her kids are clearly not favored by Viserys, who does nothing to provide a future for his sons (Even Alysanne tries to do right by Daemon in marrying him to an heiress, regardless of how Daemon himself felt about that match). Anything they do to make themselves stand out could be seen as a challenge to Rhaenyra's position, which means Alicent's hands are kind of tied as a mother. If she's actively preparing Aegon to be the next king, people will take note and Viserys could take it as treason (ROTE fans, think about how people started flocking to Fitz and seeing him as an alternative to Regal when he begins to distinguish himself in Royal Assassin, even though Fitz himself has no royal aspirations). As a parent to adolescent kids myself, I can only imagine how difficult it would be to raise teenagers who are directionless by design. Aegon's hedonism is hardly surprising when you consider he has been given literally nothing productive to do, and is in a marriage that is not only unwanted, but one that will make him and his children completely beholden to Rhaenyra, her guests in the Red Keep should she succeed her father as queen. His problems go so much farther than anything simple gentle parenting could fix (although I do think Alicent's parenting style clashes with his personality).

Anyway, @aifsaath and I more or less write a version of this Alicent in Our Fathers Clad in Red. Check it out if you're interested in our take on book!Alicent, and particularly her relationship with Aegon.

[thesunfyre4446]

wrt to book alicent and viserys's marriage :

did book alicent want to marry viserys? did she play an active role in becoming his queen? we don't know. all we have from F&B is :

"His Grace had his own notion, and no amount of argument would sway him from his course. He would marry again, yes…but not to a twelve-year-old girl, and not for reasons of state. Another woman had caught his eye. He announced his intention to wed Lady Alicent of House Hightower, the clever and lovely eighteen-year-old daughter of the King’s Hand"

that's it. that's all we know about their marriage.

alicent was 18 when they married, which is obviously better then 14 but still very young. the book does indicate otto's involvement in alicent and viserys's marriage :

" there were those who murmured that the Hand had risen above himself, that he had brought his daughter to court with this in mind "

we also have one more very important and interesting detail about book alicent that people tend to overlook

"As the Old King’s strength and wits began to fail, he was oft confined to his bed .Ser Otto’s precocious fifteen-year-old daughter, Alicent, became his constant companion, fetching His Grace his meals, reading to him, helping him to bathe and dress himself"

i find it very hard to believe that a 15yo girl would willingly become an old man's "constant companion". it's very obvious that otto put her in that position. but why? to get close to viserys? but why would he do that? aemma was young, healthy and fertile. otto would gain nothing from alicent getting close to viserys and becoming his mistress. on the contrary, the hightowers are associated with the faith - alicent becoming the king's mistress would bring shame and dishonor on them.

my guess is that he made alicent jaehaerys companion because it was an honorable position for her to have, and could potentially advance her & his daughter being around the king all the time gives him more control over him. i don't think it had anything to do with viserys. but i do think it shows how otto wants to advance his family & is very comfortable using his daughter . (because who wants to bathe and dress an old dying man? 15yo alicent must have hated being jaehaerys companion)

but it is important to mention that by having alicent so close to the old king, viserys must gotten to know her pretty well. alicent is 18 when they get married. still a very young girl. the idea that she's some sort of evil mastermind maliciously planning to marry viserys is ridicules. book ! alicent is not show!alicent. she's ambitious. she loves the power. she loves being a queen. (you go gurl). but i do believe that otto played a big part in her marriage to viserys & pushed her to become queen. the narrative of teenager alicent being an evil mastermind having an evil masterplan to marry viserys at 17-18 is just ridicules.

her ambitions , her rivalry with rhaenyra, wanting power for herself. all of these things developed over the years. alicent and rhaenyra had a good relationship when alicent and viserys got married. she was still just a girl.

so did alicent want to marry viserys? i don't know. maybe she did. maybe she wanted to be the queen. but she was obviously being influenced and used by her father.

[amaltheas-garden]

rewatching The Empress on netflix for book!Alicent Hightower

...and her bonus blonde failson

[hargitays]

Currently reading fire & blood and i'm really wondering what exactly Alicent has done to even be called an "evil stepmother" in the first place? She is literally the average rich traditional Westerosi noblewoman. The worst things she has done are just calling rhaenyra a whore (which should be noted was said by Mushroom who was not even present at that time) and calling rhaenyra's sons bastards (which, well, is true) 😭

Book!Alicent's crimes:

- wanting her own blood on the throne (which she herself did not admit, but viserys said that when she proposed that rhaenyra & aegon I should be married)

- occasional snark about the blacks

[sarcasticsweetlara]

I can't help but have another image vibe of Alicent's book depiction.

All my respect to Olivia Cooke, but Book! Alicent is slender and graceful to Show! Alicent who seems to try to hide herself, and Book! Alicent is so witty, sassy (a trait she passed down to all her children) and unafraid to use the power she has as queen consort and then queen mother in a manner that Show! Alicent could never be.

Whether you prefer her book version or show version is up to you, but you can not deny Book! Alicent is indeed more powerful and less maleable than Show! Alicent, the show runners wanted to make her more sympathetic but they didn't have to strip her of her agency.

Book! Alicent would have never showed Larys her feet, she would have made him give her information whether he wanted or not as Book! Alicent was in more control of her power, and the thing with the Green Council is that she initiated it! Alicent wanted to protect her children, yes, but that scene should have portrayed her power and control of the Council not this meek woman who everyone kept in the dark about their plans for her son that she believed in.

Also, Book! Corlys is far more proud than his suck it up version in the show - again my respect to Steve Touissant, but I feel like they failed in portraying that Corlys was not only ambitious but highly cunning, proud and clever that Show! Rhaenyra would have to do more than offer a random proposal (that actually was made by Laena when the children were toddlers) to get him back to her side, she made him her hand in the end.

In both the show and book versions House Velaryon fought for everything they have and Book! Corlys would not let himself and his family be humiliated.

And Book! Rhaenys is brave, witty and with a no-nonsense attitude that she would never let Corlys go over her like Show! Rhaenys.

I know all of them are complex and flawed but it's like the show is refusing to really portray that.