#team neutral

[touchofabite]

Alicent, do you ever fantasize rejecting the apologies that would never come?

[yearningfailchild]

This doesn't prove anything except that history is once again written by the victors it can be fabricated just as Henry VIII fabricated things about his wives after he killed or imprisoned them.

[unicoo]

The way we watch Alicent get pimped out by her dad, sworn to secrecy by the king, forced into a marriage with the same man (who isold enough to be her dad), maritally raped by said old ass husband & forced to carry his heirs in quick succession, all while still growing up herself and losing her only friend…….yet somehow, someway, there are people out there who………blame Alicent…the child? Book!Alicent is a different story, but to sit and WATCH show!Alicent go through all of this manipulation and grooming and abuse, and hate her?! Yeah some of y’all are sick 😭 I’m not even joking because like…..what?!

We are supposed to feel bad for Rhaenyra being forced to marry………but not Alicent? Why? Someone tell me why & quickly!! And don’t you dare say “sHE seDucEd vISerYs”, no, she was manipulated and then told to keep it secret by her king! He knew it was wrong yet didn’t gaf, so where is his hate? Are we being hypocrites guys?

We are supposed to feel bad for Rhaenyra & her kids, but not Alicent & hers who were ignored and treated like shit? Once again where is Viserys’ hate? QUICKLY, tell me!!! He’s neglecting his kids guys, we don’t support that do we?

We are supposed to hate Alicent for how she treated Rhaenyra, but not Rhaenyra for how she treated Alicent? (Especially when it was shown Alicent was trying and she didn’t become hateful until RHAENYRA LIED to her) Why, tell me, tell me, tell me. And don’t you dare say “sHE BEtRayEd hEr bY mARryInG ViSeRYs” SHE DIDNT HAVE A CHOICE!!! If we know Rhaenyra didn’t and we feel oh so bad for her, and we know most noble women don’t have a choice, then why are we mad at Alicent like she did? tell me please I BEG!

We scream girl boss for Rhaenyra wanted a son for a son, sorry make that sons for a son, yet Alicent is Beelzebub for wanting Justice for her son (WHO WAS A KID!!!! He hadn’t done shit yet, he was sweet and dragonless & got bullied, then maimed, YOU WOULD BE MAD TOO, lie & say you wouldn’t 😐) anyone who doesn’t understand Alicent’s motives behind the eye for an eye incident is either not a parent or is a heartless monster 🤷‍♀️

Y’all quite literally watched Alicent’s villain origin story and said why she so mad? Are you…..are you seriously dumb or just fucking with me? 😭

Y’all are pro Rhaenyra because she’s a “feminist” yet y’all hate every women who isn’t Rhaenyra……to me it sounds like…….✨hypocrisy✨

And how does one stand for a war against misogyny only to participate in the misogyny themselves? 🤔

The dance is a war against misogyny yet……….no one is stopping the misogyny, just dressing it up with cute excuses and throwing the blame onto the other side………..

(Also like it’s not far fetched to believe Rhaenyra would’ve had Alicent’s kids dealt with, especially since she’s hated Aegon since before he was a baby. My guy was 2 and she was beefing with bro like…. And you can’t say “AliCEnt & OtTo didN’T lEt tHeM hAVE a rElAtiOnsHIP” ummm SHOWwise that is untrue Rhaenyra just didn’t wanna fuck with them kids 😂)

[lucerysvelaryonslawyer]

i hate when people are like "oh, you just dont get complex characters" when in regards to hotd LIKE YOU DIDNT EVEN UNDERSTAND A SIX YEAR OLD

you legit was hating on six year old luke for defending his brother, AEMOND HAD A ROCK OMG, aemond could've killed jace, of course luke would react drastically. not saying that its fine he cut out aemonds eye but- he didnt intentionally do it, he wasnt all woopsie daisy being like "mwahaha im going to cut out my uncles eye" HE WAS A CHILD, CHILDREN ARE DUMB.

and then holding a grudge against him episodes later is just petty, he probably tried to apologize to aemond at one point. and at the whole thing with 'oh he was smirking at aemond and laughing at him in ep 8' HE PROBABLY WAS DRUNK, and it was the fact a pig was put infront of aemond, it was the IRONY of it all. and aemond shouldn't be holding a grudge for 5+ years, thats just pathetic. and not to mention aemond is a GRAPIST. but no, a child making a mistake is worse and should be condemned. yall suck.

[vivianwine]

It is so funny that so many people accusing some fans for being misogynistic. And meanwhile they say:

“Rhaenyra is the heir because her father made her!”

But normally heir shouldn’t be chosen because it is decided the moment they enter this world that they are the heir. Personally as someone who believes gender equality, first born (whether it is a girl or a boy) should be heir.

But these “feminists” will not say Rhaenyra should be heir because SHE IS FIRST BORN instead they will say Viserys made her so!

Love, you should be saying that she is the first born therefore she is the heir. But unfortunately I couldn’t came across these people as much I wanted to.

( I am talking about some Rhaenyra fans pls don’t come at me for this post.)

And there is this other thing I wanna talk about. I really wonder if Baelon were to survive, would Rhaenyra still fight for the throne?

I mean if she were to be this feminist icon, they wanna make us believe it, she should fight for it no matter who she is going against to cause she is the eldest, she should be on throne. Right?! Because this is how gender equality works.

But I don’t think she would. She probably would marry Harwin or Daemon and live her life at its fullest.

So according to this she is not some feminist icon and she will never be.

And also in this case can we all agree that for some fans, not fully supporting for Rhaenyra has nothing to do with being misogynistic?

(Btw I decided that I am team neutral. For me neither Aegon or Rhaenyra deserves to throne. Aegon according to books is a rumored rapist, eww 🤢, and fully alcoholic and Rhaenyra is basically someone who is egoistical, self-centered and dumb. So I am not gonna support either of them.)

[lultimastrega]

#HOUSEOFTHEDRAGON #HOTD #GAMEOFTHRONES #GOT #MYOPINION || #Lultima_Strega #GameOfThrones #GOT #HouseOfTheDragon #HOTD #MyOpinion #TeamGreen #TeamBlack #TeamNeutral #ASOIAF

[susellesie]

my opinion on s2 Alicent is that house of the dragon needs to be different from game and thrones, and that most of the criticism of house of the dragon is a reactionary instinct to relive certain beloved characters and tropes from game of thrones.

let me be clear; house of the dragon as a show is already going into characterization with a lot of options for characters and tropes off the board because they've already been done in game of thrones. they're already going to have to work with the instinctual assumption from the audience to relate back to what they know. rhaenyra = daenerys, otto = tywin, and alicent = cersei.

now, obviously these aren't exact matches. i'm talking about sweeping personality and the tropes they march. cersei, specifically, is the trope of the feral mother. she kills for her kids (in the books at least - technically in the show too, but that was revenge and i'm talking about premeditated murder) she lives and dies by her kids. her ethical code, goals, all of it rests on her children.

and cersei is an amazing character. she's fascinating to read and watch, and lena headey's performance will live in my brain forever. but cersei is one of the main characters throughout game of thrones. and say what you want about season 8- god knows i won't defend it - but her arc ends there, for better or for worse, after all her children have died before her.

now, years after watching game of thrones slowly decline and eventually bomb in the final two seasons, the show writers are tasked to explore these new characters in a prequel. to be the first "new" asoiaf content to air on television since. the reality of house of the dragon is that it has to be different from game of thrones. it just does. hotd has to be its own show with its own characters.

so, here's what i'm getting at; alicent is the deconstruction of the trope of motherly devotion.

alicent in season one has the exact same ethical code as cersei; do whatever to protect my children. even if that means taking the throne from my childhood best friend, even if that means forcibly removing her from power. and in driftmark, this escalates, if only temporarily - alicent shows a willingness to harm a child to avenge the harm that has been done to hers.

asoiaf have always asked tough questions of the reader. what do you do if someone hurts someone you love? how do you act with honor if honor gets you killed? cersei's character asks an audience a question: what would you do to protect your children? and to the audience, that question is simple, it's easy. anything. it's the thing that redeems cersei when her actions are irredeemable; she does it out of love.

alicent's character asks a different question is season two, one that i think will be explored more in season three. what would it take for you to stop supporting your children?

no matter what joffrey does, cersei is a bystander to it, and often an accomplice. that is the devotion that makes up her character, and the trope she represents in the story. alicent is the deconstructed answer cersei's dilemma, and i think ultimately what cooke, condal & co. are trying to say is that there is a reality where "a mother's love" is a trope.

think about media today. think about the characters we think of when we think about mothers. cersei, cat, rhaenyra? all mothers so devoted they die for it. the concept of a mother's love is so idolized by the media that we don't think about the woman behind the mother. the woman becomes more mother than person, a shield for children both good and evil. (not talking about George's wrting - i'm talking about the way people view these characters commonly.)

and it's unrealistic. it just is. for every mother who is completely and utterly devoted to their good, well behaved child there is another who has raised a child who ended up committing sexual violence, or domestic abuse, or hurting others in general. and that's not to say children/people who grow up to do these things do not deserve to be loved by their mothers - that's to say the expectation that mothers should always be not only forgiving, but silently accepting and an accomplice to the actions of their children is not the feminist trope people might think it is.

cersei is already the example of the dedicated mother. we saw that arc play out on screen. Alicent is the deconstruction of the devoted mother who is tested beyond belief. who is challenged in the worldviews she has held her entire life. and the decision at the end of season 2 - the decision to choose rhaenyra over her son, half dead, who never took ruling seriously, who sought revenge by killing innocents, is something many dedicated mothers have had to do in their lives too.

it's not an easy thing to stomach, because we have been told through media our entire lives that a mother who does not choose or defend her children is the evilest of evil. but that is an antiquated trope for a reason.

we have to be able to move past the reactionary instinct to desire the things that make us comfortable, and one of the things that makes us comfortable are the tropes we rely on. alicent's s2 characterization is the deconstruction of that trope.

[ride-thedragon]

NETTLES ASOIAF POLL RESULTS BREAKDOWN.

So, as I suspected, team black does like her a little less. 0 votes from team green is crazy but accurate if you keep up with the discourse. 4.9% is roughly 11 people, though, so it's not a massive increase. It's just a lot of the time the people who don't want her narrative adaptation as it is in the books tend to lean towards team black. Thank you all for your contributions and votes. I'll leave you with pie charts and calculations. I do think this was a large enough sample to apply to the general fandom, but outside of that, it is my moral responsibility to say that you shouldn't and that this was not research conducted. It was just me and my love of percentages.

These are all rough estimates from 224 votes within 24 hours:

Final overall Pie Chart

Like:

Team Black: 55 votes

Team Green: 48 votes

Team Neutral: 44 votes

Dislike:

Team Black: 11 votes

Team Green: 0 votes

Team Neutral: 5 votes

Neutral Towards Her :

Team Black: 36 votes

Team Green: 9 votes

Team Neutral: 15 votes

It's complicated:

Team complicated: 1 vote