Alicent Hightower

There's been a lot of talk about episode 9, and the problems with it, but I think a lot of the criticism misses the forest for the trees. They focus on individual aspects such as the time spent on the chase for Aegon or the scene with Rhaenys in the Dragonpit, or the non-appearance of Sunfyre, and often ridiculously declare episode 9 to be some horrible, Season 8-tier travesty. However, I think the real problem with episode 9 is both one that is fixable and something more subtle - the treatment of Alicent.

This entire episode is basically the show hammering into our heads how powerless, feckless, and disrespected Alicent is, even by her own Greens. She has zero role in the plots to crown Aegon, even though as the Queen, you'd think she'd be a crucial factor, especially with Good Queen Alysanne in living memory, is admonished by Rhaenys for being weak for not seeking the Iron Throne for herself, is undermined by her father, and forced to degrade herself by Larys. The clear message of the episode is that Alicent is fundamentally powerless and at the mercy of the men around her - she is not admirable, she is pitiable. And the fundamental issue of Alicent's characterization in the latter half of the season has been exactly this - she has been made more sympathetic by being more passive. This leads to the problem that people don't actually like Alicent or want to see her succeed - they just feel bad for her. She can only be a victim.

Compare this to Alicent in the books. The fact of the matter is that the entire anti-Rhaenyra faction at court is named after her. It isn't the party of the Hand, or the party of the Prince, or the party of the Hightowers, it is the party of the Queen. Though she is less sympathetic, she is portrayed as a worthy opponent to Rhaenyra, and deserving of respect, not just pity. It's Alicent who sends the servants who see Viserys' death to the black cells, it's Alicent who speaks to the council and urges them to crown Aegon, Alicent who sees to the defenses of King's Landing. Alicent is not Otto's pawn, they're equals - if anything, Otto is Alicent's pawn. Alicent isn't very sympathetic, but she is powerful.

The oddest part of this is that it seems as if Alicent's entire arc in the show has been leading to this - Alicent begins as Otto's pawn, but when Otto leaves, she's shunted out of his protection and has to find her own way. The whole point of the Green Dress scene in episode 5, to my mind, was to show how she is a political operator in her own right. And this is underlined by the fact that she is participating in her husband's councils, the fact that she is the person who keeps Criston on the Kingsguard, she is the person who gets Otto back in King's Landing. Otto even acknowledges this - there's a whole scene where Otto encourages Alicent to be more take-charge and assertive. In episode 8, when the Greens are trying to get Velaryon support, it's Otto and Alicent who conspire with Vaemond, not Otto and Tyland or Jasper. Even in episode 1, Alicent displays a political mind - when Aemma is pregnant, she immediately thinks about how this will affect Rhaenyra's standing.

That's why the depiction of the Green Council and events thereafter is so baffling to me. It undermines Alicent's entire season-long arc - all of it meant nothing, because she was still fundamentally in thrall to all the clever men around her, who she could not hope to outmaneuver. Otto didn't actually see her as an equal, she was just being used and debased by Larys, and so on and so forth. If there had been an attempt to show Otto actually maneuvering behind Alicent's back, it'd work better, but as it is, it just doesn't make sense and undermines so much of what Alicent does.

To be clear, I don't think episode 9 was horrible. It succeeded, overall, in what it set out to do - I just think what it set out to do undermined much of Alicent's previous character development and her arc. To a lesser extent, it also undermines Otto's character development, since he's never been portrayed as either particularly bloodthirsty (indeed, in the books, he gets fired for his reluctance to spill blood), and has also never been portrayed as not wanting Alicent involved in his schemes. And this all could have been solved if they had simply had Alicent be aware of the plans to crown Aegon. After all, what's the point of showing Rhaenyra and Alicent's reconciliation if Alicent isn't actually relevant?

I think it comes from a good place - wanting to make Alicent more sympathetic, and also trying to tell a feminist story. But it does so by ironically making Alicent passive and subservient. It falls into the trap of a lot of pop feminism, which rather than analyzing the patriarchy as a system, that exists beyond individuals (there were plenty of female monarchs in medieval Europe), opts to portray all its female leads as virtuous and inherently sympathetic to other women, and only falling short due to the meddlesome influence of the patriarchy.

Not only is this a disservice to Alicent's character, it's a disservice to the entire Greens by depriving them of a key character who has been built up as sympathetic this entire season, and undermining her entire arc. It's something that can be solved, primarily by emphasizing her status as the undisputed leader of the Greens, having her reconcile with Otto (remember, Otto doesn't discount the idea of a woman being a good ruler - he acknowledges the idea that Rhaenyra could be a ruler on par with Jaehaerys, and obviously encourages his daughter to think politically), and most importantly, by allowing her to do bad things of her own volition because she truly believes those bad things are the right thing to do.

TL;DR: The problem with Alicent's characterization in episode 9 is that it portrays her as passive, irrelevant, and a subservient player to the other Greens, especially Otto, in a way that is at odds with her arc thus far.

Let me start by saying I’ve never read the books. But it just seemed so unrealistic to me that he would choose love over duty, or whatever. He could just marry the 12 year old for duty/appearances (yes, ew) but then carry on a love affair with Alicent, right?? Why would he mess up an alliance and screw his family over? What does he get out of marrying Alicent??

I find Alicent to be a very interesting character. I think there are a few different takes on her and Rhaenyra’s picnic scene

-Alicent wants the best for the people she cares about.

• She wants Rhaenyra to have power and influence, and she could use that friendship to lessen the control Otto has over her

• She is annoyed/ jealous of the freedom Rhaenyra has to just enjoy life and do whatever she feels like.

• Like many women in this world, she’s a victim of the patriarchy. Her farther is trying to pimp her out to the king, and all she wants is some control over her life.