let the darkness set us free

✧☾ 20s || they/she || lesbian ☽✧ ☾ hotd era || rhaenyra and alicent defender ☽

[marysblo0d]

People acting surprised that Rhaenyra doesn’t wish to kill Alicent like this isn’t how she looked at her the last time they saw each other

[wandas-darling]

rhaenyra: i am the blood of old valyria. i have six dragons at my heel. they bow down to me because they must. i am their god, the chosen one, the only one that can save them

alicent: a god? rhaenyra what are you talking about. you still come in here every day begging me to tell you how good you're doing. stop pretending you're untouchable

rhaenyra:

[scvllysglasses]

Thinking about bottom Nyra and Top Ali

[eylih05]

No matters what comes next, Rhaenyra and Alicent have matching scars with and because of each other, no wedding band or amount of intimacy can ever surpass that

[wandas-darling]

sunday of missing them 😔

[borgialucrezia]

#dragon!nyra

[dozosugoi]

Goodbye 🦋

[wandas-darling]

i'm still thinking about "to my court you are the enemy" and alicent saying "and to you?"

because alicent was in the exact same situation. rhaenyra was the enemy to her court and yet she threatened her court for rhaenyra's sake, she had aegon dragged from the streets so that he would be brought to her instead of otto only so she could be there to advise aegon not to kill rhaenyra, she stood up to otto for her

being turned down at dragonstone must've made alicent second guess herself a lot. she knows what she's done for rhaenyra and she fears rhaenyra will never do the same for her. the last thing they had spoken about was helaena. rhaenyra promised to look after her and alicent will come back to see that she failed. is she going to be riddled with guilt or anger for trusting her?

[alicentdeservesbetter]

[wandas-darling]

i love how the seaosn 2 ending almost haunts the season 3 one. they're similiar in a lot of ways but their circumstances have been amplified and have only gotten worse

rhaenyra is in a state of entrapment in both scenarios but before, she was mostly where she wanted to be. she was going to take back her birthright and take the enemy out at the head. it was a stable plan that wasn't full of corruption. now she has been pushed by her limit and is choosing to shut the world out and become a tyrannical leader when she has wanted to remain merciful

alicent is, in her own way, free now. she's surrounded by nature in both instances, wearing the blue that represents her freedom and true identity. she has been unburdened by the weight of the crown. but unlike before, she is now lacking purpose. she entered the season with the goal to save helaena, she ended it alone

i find it symbolic that they've both found themselves alone in the end. i think it'll be very important that for the first time, they'll be entering a new season in a similar place in terms of the loss and anger they'll be feeling

[wandas-darling]

it's the way rhaenyra and alicent are each others yin and yang. alicent doesn't have freedom without rhaenyra. rhaenyra wants to be a good ruler but the moment alicent leaves the city, it all goes downhill for her

now that duty is swallowing rhaenyra whole. it's turning into a desperation for power and to be seen as legitimate and worthy. she's left putting on her armour literally and metaphorically while shutting the rest of the world out

they need each other to balance each other out. alicent wants freedom but she also wants purpose, she's been left without it. she'd be good to rule if it were under the right circumstances, we've seen how competent she is, rhaenyra knows it herself and put her advice to good use. she's one of the only people who have acknowledged alicents worth

rhaenyra wants to be seen as a competent but her god complex is getting in the way. but you know who isn't afraid to tell the truth to her to bring her back down again? alicent.

[nonbinarylesbianherb]

Can’t wait for Alicent to return to kings landing and see that two people she loved have died ❤️ That one may still be walking and talking, but both are now lifeless husks of girls she once loved ❤️❤️ yayy

[wandas-darling]

if season 4 promo doesn't look anything like this then i don't want it

[incorrect-targaryens]

i love the direction this episode took, because it wasn't just helaena who died today.

when helaena asks rhaenyra “do you think living means just not being dead?” that is her trying to make her sister see sense. she is trying to tell her that rhaenyra, after all these losses, isn’t really living anymore.

the rhaenyra that she was died a little when visenya did, but she still had enough to carry on. and then luke died, and a part of her broke beyond repair.

when jace died, so did she.

and then, the final shot of the season—framed like she’s closing the doors upon her own crypt, because she's dead in all the ways that matter.

rhaenyra targaryen—the mother, the daughter, the wife, the friend, the sister—has perished. each one of them died, suffocated bit by bit under the weight of each successive tragedy. now, only the crown remains.

the queen is dead. long live the queen.

[peixesoluvel]

[814519]

and we will walk out in the sun

[dmcmercy]

I love Rhaenyra's slip-up here. They're supposed to be allowed to leave once Alicent gets back and Aemond is dead, but Rhaenyra accidentally says the truth out loud and confirms exactly what Mysaria told her. That Helaena will still be there when summer returns, no matter how long away it is, because she's never being let go.