cherrieslvr - Tumblr blog

cherrieslvr · 2 months

Text

RHAENYRA TARGARYEN & ALICENT HIGHTOWER - TRANSITION FROM BEST FRIENDS TO EVIL STEPMOTHER TO USURPER (TV SHOW)

Rhaenyra Targaryen was just fifteen years old when her father decided to wed her best friend, Alicent Hightower, who also happened to be fifteen as well and the Hand of the King’s daughter. This marriage was already an outlandish decision as it was custom at the time for Targaryen kings to marry either another Targaryen or a Velaryon, who also had Valryian descent. But with Queen Aemma Targaryen dying along with Prince Baelon Targaryen, this left King Viserys desperate. It also did not help that Otto Hightower, Alicent’s father and Hand of the King, was pressuring Viserys to wed.

With the loss of her mother and brother all on the same day, Rhaenyra turned to Alicent with her grief. Both girls only had each other for comfort. "I want to fly with you on dragon back, see the great wonders across the Narrow Sea, and eat only cake." (Rhaenyra to Alicent, Season 1 - Episode 1) The girls were inseparable as they only had each other at court. With intimate and raw their connection was, I full-heartedly believe that there was a deeper, more romantic love that these two girls shared. They only had each other at court and it is said that there was rarely a time where Rhaenyra was seen without Alicent. This speculation only makes the betrayal between the two girls so much more heartbreaking. The start of this betrayal was when Alicent wed King Viserys.

Without knowing it, Alicent was essentially being groomed to marry the king by her father, Otto Hightower. He made sure that Alicent was the one who would go to Viserys’ chambers and comfort him after the loss of his queen. Otto even made sure that his daughter wore more mature dresses so that the king wouldn’t be distracted by the reality of Alicent’s age. Otto toyed with the idea of the king briefly marrying Laena Velayron, who was just twelve years old but had already decided that his daughter would be the next queen. (Funny that the King’s younger brother Daemon ends up marrying her before marrying Rhaenyra.) I feel I must point out that this action was not Alicent’s fault. She was fifteen years old and wanted to do whatever pleased her father. I do not say this because I am a Alicent Hightower defender, even though I very much am, but I say this because it is the truth.

The union between her father and her best friend was simply too much for Rhaenyra. keep in mind that the princess had already been named over the king’s brother, her uncle, Daemon Targaryen. Rhaenyra felt that her father was trying to take back her claim and give it to his future son that he would have with Alicent. There could also be an argument made that Rhaenyra felt that Alicent never really was her friend, and her only goal was to be queen when Rhaenyra’s mother died.

With Aegon Targaryen still in the womb, King Viserys decides that Rhaenyra is now next up to be wed. He even arranges a wedding tour so that the many royal houses will present a son for the heir to choose from, but Rhaenyra is entirely against this. “Because you mean to replace me… with Alicent Hightower’s son, the boy you always wanted. You have him in hands now. Y-You have no further use for me. You might as well peddle me for what you can.” (Season 1 - Episode 3) Rhaenyra fully believed that King Viserys was just trying to marry her off so that Aegon could ascend the throne which couldn't possibly be further from the truth. In actuality, the king just wanted Rhaenyra to have joy in her life and he believed that if she had a family of her own, she could get over the death of her mother and brother and the loss of her best friend.

Now at the time, Alicent was also against the idea of her son ascending the throne over Rhaenyra, but this quickly took a turn as her father started to plant the idea that it would be better for the realm if a man was on the throne over a woman. For a while, Alicent stood firm in her decision that she would not partake in the usurpment of her long-lost best friend but that quickly washed away after the scandal involving Ser Criston Cole, Daemon Targaryen, and Rhaenyra.

By this point, the princess is spiraling. She is still not over the loss of her mother and brother, or the betrayal of Alicent, and now her father is going against her wishes in an attempt to marry her off. Rhaenyra ends up getting very familiar with Criston Cole, her sworn protector, even going as far as to sleeping with him. Now what Criston did not know is that this happened just after her uncle, Daemon, took her to a brothel and attempted to sleep with her but thought against it. Rhaenyra feeling rejected took it upon herself to take the initiative in her little flirt game with Criston and sleep with him. The next day when Alicent confronts Rhaenyra about sleeping with Daemon, Rhaenyra swears on the memory of her mother that Daemon never touched her and that they were not in a brothel that previous night. Alicent knows that it’s a lie and that severs the remaining love that the two girls shared. There is also belief that the two girls were in a more intimate relationship here and that’s why Alicent took it so to heart when she heard that Daemon and Rhaenyra were seen in a brothel together. I believe this theory 100%.

Criston Cole tries to convince Rhaenyra to run away with him, but she declines causing the knight to share their night with Alicent which helps build resentment towards Rhaenyra for both of them. Criston Cole ends up becoming Alicent Hightower’s sworn protector after this and Ser Harwin Strong becomes Rhaenyra’s.

Rhaenyra ends up marrying her second cousin Laenor Velaryon and her uncle, Daemon, marries Laena Velaryon, Laenor’s sister.

Years go by and Rhaenyra now has three children, Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey. All three of these children are not Laenor’s as Rhaenyra and he married under the acknowledgment that Laenor was gay and would not be able to give her any heirs. Rhaenyra had these children with Ser Harwin Strong, her sworn protector. The only problem with this is that all three boys have brown hair just like their father and they are white. Both Rhaenyra and Laenor have white/silver hair and Laenor is black. So obviously the entirety of the realm knows that Rhaenyra’s children are bastards.

By now, Alicent has four children, Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron. Alicent and Rhaenyra’s children are all around the same age and do not get along.

With years to fuel Alicent’s resentment against Rhaenyra, she does wicked things to her. One of them is making Rhaenyra bring Alicent the baby Joffrey right after he is born just to take pride in knowing that Joffrey does not look like Laenor. This action sparks even more resentment and anger in Rhaenyra and her father is oblivious to it.

Few months later after Daemon loses his second wife, Laena Velaryon, to childbirth, Lucerys takes the eye of Aemond after being attacked by the prince. Aemond took the dragon of Laena Velaryon which started this fight as it was entitled to her and Daemon’s daughter, Rhaena. This sends Alicent right over the edge as she grabs a dagger and lunges for the boy only to be stopped by Rhaenyra. The two girls who were once friends are now mothers protecting their children. The desperation is clear on their faces as they speak to each other. You can see the longing that these two women share for each other, but it’s overcome by their duties as mothers. Rhaenyra and Alicent never pictured themselves on different sides of anything let alone a war. Seeing them long for what could have been if there hadn’t been a dominant male influence in both of their lives leading them to what they considered better for the realm is so devastating. I also think that the quote from Alicent in season 2 of House of the Dragon furthers my point on this. “You have no idea the sacrifices that were made to put you on that throne.” This quote just shows the devastation that Alicent feels towards Rhaenyra as she had to give up her connection with her. Alicent begs King Viserys to defend their son, but he does not and takes the side of his daughter as he has always done.

With the eye of her favorite son being gone, Alicent is all done with Rhaenyra.

Years go by and King Viserys’ illness is starting to take him. Rhaenyra and Daemon have faked Laenor’s death and have had two sons together, Aegon and Viserys, and are pregnant with a baby girl.

King Viserys and Queen Alicent have married their two eldest, Aegon and Helaena, together and the couple have three children, Jaehaerys, Jaehaera, and Maelor. Aegon has also expressed his disdain for the idea of taking the throne. His love for his half-sister is there. “My sister is the heir ... what sort of brother steals his sister’s birthright?” (Fire & Blood)

King Viserys dies but not after confusing Alicent with Rhaenyra. Alicent confuses the words that her husband says and thinks that he is talking about putting Aegon on the throne even after knowing that the king never wanted anyone but his daughter on the throne. While Rhaenyra and her family are in Dragonstone, Alicent, Otto Hightower, and Ser Criston Cole convince Aegon to ascend the throne under the pretense that Rhaenyra would kill him and his family.

Rhaenyra hears word of her father’s death and the succession of Aegon on the throne and goes into early labor. Her daughter, Visenya, comes out stillborn. “According to Mushroom, Princess Rhaenyra had cursed Visenya while giving birth, calling her a monster. He also claims that Visenya had dragon-like birth defects, describing her as having been twisted and malformed, with a hole in her chest where her heart should have been and a stubby, scaled tail.” (A Wiki of Ice and Fire)

After this sad event, Otto Hightower visits Dragonstone demanding that Rhaenyra denounce her claim to the throne and bend the knee to her half-brother, Aegon. He gives Rhaenyra a torn page from her and Alicent’s favorite book trying to appeal to her emotions towards his daughter (yet again this can be chosen to be taken as platonic or romantic, but I think we know the obvious answer) but after a single tear, Rhaenyra refuses to bend the knee. In the end, whatever love those two girls shared was destroyed by the male influences in their lives that pushed them into a state of hatred and resentment for each other. This blaming just fueled the war as there was now a more personal betrayal between the girls.

Preparing for war, Rhaenyra sends her two eldest sons, Jacaerys and Lucerys, on dragon back to the royal houses to remind them that they swore fealty to her. While Lucerys is in Storm’s End, he sees his uncle, Aemond, there. His eyepatch is prominently seen by Lucerys as a reminder of their encounter. Lucerys tries to remind Lord Borros of the fact that his father was a fierce supporter of his mother, but Lord Borros rejects him and sides with the Greens.

On his way back from Storm’s End, Aemond, flying on the war dragon Vhagar, kills him, starting the Dance of the Dragons and severing any chance of peace between Rhaenyra’s family (the Blacks) and Alicent’s family (the Greens). I believe that Alicent never wanted Lucerys to die even after what happened between him and Aemond.

I do believe that if the two women just sat down and spoke to each other about their resentment and apologized, none of this would have happened. There were just too many miscommunications and the love of these two girls was not strong enough to withstand it. Alicent should not get the hate that she deserves as it was not her fault that King Viserys spoke to her thinking it was Rhaenyra and the queen got confused. It might be her fault for thinking that he would ever place Aegon on the throne as he had been the biggest supporter of Rhaenyra being his heir from the get-go and had years to name their son his heir but didn’t. It is very sad to see the heartbreak between these two women and the idea that they will never get to fly around and eat cake together but the circumstances around them forbade it. Otto Hightower never would have let that happen as he would have done anything to get his blood on the Iron Throne.

All in all, Rhaenyra is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne and her children should’ve been her heirs. It is so sad to see all the death that could have been prevented if these people knew how to communicate.

Word Count: 2189

14 notes · View notes