I'm not crazy about their choices either. But I do approve of them having Daemon throw his weight around and getting nowhere. Plus, I think merging Nettles and Rhaena is a good call l.
I have been a diehard Alicent/Rhaenyra shipper since episode one, so the fact that everything said in this video is _exactly_ what I've been screaming at my tv all season long says a lot about just how badly Condal and Hess screwed up. I'm all for ships (especially gay ones) but not at the expense of good writing.
@@idab9958what made you think those 2 were anything more than friends? You contradicted yourself since if those 2 loved each other the plot would suffer heavily because nothing would happen.
@@lumarrandom8144 Because that's my interpretation of their relationship which I am entitled to. They have tremendous chemistry and the script for episode one explicitly describes Rhaenyra as flirting with Alicent in one scene. You can interpret their love for each other as platonic or romantic but they absolutely loved each other in some way, that's why it's so deliciously tragic that they become enemies, that's the whole point.
Her character arc in season 2 be like "I'll poison you both against your sister your entire lives, but now I feel differently, so disregard it. You won't? You're both horrible. I need to just pack up and take the girls and only the girls."
But because she is the mother of the year, she is also throwing in her third son Daeron, to sweeten the deals. Only death can pay for life...3 gals to live, 3 boys to die.
I think it wouldve been better if she doubled down over her hatred and paranoia towards Rhaenyra when Jahaerys was murdered. Like she goes from "gee, I dont wanna get my forner best friend killed :/" to "NOPE! NOPE! FATHER IS RIGHT! SHE'S A CHILD MURDERING MONSTER. SHE NEEDS TO GO DOWN"
@@ifeeldead463 Ha, they can't have that, a Woman fighting against a woman. Damn, I didn't see one conflict that was a woman against a woman this season. Not one, or I forgot one.
I just like to add Helaena and Jaehaera wouldn’t be safe either. The Greens do not totally dismiss female inheritance, they merely believe it comes after the male line. According to traditional law, Jaehaera is Aegon’s heir because he has no sons. After Alicent’s sons and Jaehaera, Helaena herself is 4th in line to the throne. So for Rhaenyra to truly secure the throne all of them must die.
If so Daemon would also arguably come before Helaena in the line of succession, as well as Rhaenyra herself as the older sister, and possibly her and Daemon's sons as well. Where to place Jaehaera in the line of succession if men always come before women is a bit tricker - does she come before or after Rhaenyra, being the only child of Aegon? That is ambiguous enough that even if Helaena is no threat to Rhaenyra's claim (which may be why Rhaenyra seems fonder of her than she is of her brothers), Jaehaera probably is.
Helena comes after Rhaneyra in the succession. It's sons [oldest-youngest] Then daughters [oldest-youngest] Assuming it goes the way of most successions, if Aegon is the rightful king his immediate heirs are His sons His daughters His brothers His sisters His paternal uncles His paternal Aunts A direct heir having a child pushes everyone else down the succession, which is why Daemon is behind Rhanerya However Rhaenys Queen that Never Was sort of suggests that they will discount any female heir if a male one is available, hence it going down the line to Viserys and his children, skipping her and her children. Succession rules are often complicated and frequently they're written as and when needed because some real countries made up extra rules for their own convenience [England banning Catholics from the succession because they felt like it is a good example]. All summarised to say... Rhaenyra wouldn't need to kill Helaena... just anyone else in front of her in the succession.
Not necessarily in Jaehaera's case. Instead, more likely what would happen/what would be proposed, is that Jaehaera is betrothed to one of Rhaenyra's sons. Marriage was how a lot of these conflicts tended to be resolved (see Elizabeth of York being married to Henry VII) As for Helaena, she doesn't pose the same threat because Helaena's claim actually comes AFTER Rhaenyra and their brothers regardless of whenever you apply male primogeniture or succession laws that favor the eldest child regardless of sex.
The biggest problem is that the story is completely centered on Alicent and Rhaynra. They are the anchors sinking this ship. Rhaynra is a flat character who is not interesting anymore because she not presented in a flawed way. She’s never hateful, vindictive, or ambitious. She presented as clean slate person who has no flaws at all. It makes her boring and have no agency. The second problem is writers presenting her worse aspects as actual strengths not flaws. Which makes me dislike her, because there’s disconnect from what the writers say I should feel about her and what my eyes are showing me. Alicent is the other major problem. She’s now the most inconsistent character in the show making wildly different choices that are in contradiction to her past actions. At one point she’s acting a like a protective mother disregarding her own safety and willing to kill the source of her child’s mutalation. And on the other shes willing to sell her children down the river because she scared. The other problem is the clear attempt to blame the entire conflict on her, which makes absolutely no sense. The writers are absolutely biased against her. They also took out all of her more ambitious and cunning traits to present her in a way that takes away all development from her.
Agreed. The writers have bent over backwards to whitewash Rhaenyra and Alicent (while constantly humiliating Alicent at the same time, because she’s a woman on what midwits consider the “patriarchy team”), in order to hyperfocus on this single tragic relationship that now defines the story. In doing so, they’ve made it so that the show isn’t Aegon vs. Rhaenyra, or even the Greens vs. the Blacks. The core of the show is Alicent vs. Rhaenyra. Which would be fine, if both weren’t badly written.
There was absolutely a way to flesh out Alicent and make her more sympathetic than her book counterpart and make her and Rhaenyra's relationship the emotional core of the show - none of which is a bad idea by base - without taking away all agency, ambition, and any semblance of consistency from Alicent's character.
Rhaenyra does have flaws but they are constantly justified and hand-waved by the writers, the narrative, and the casual audience. By making Rhaenyra so perfect, the flawed Alicent was easy for the general audience to hate because they’re so used to seeing the perfection of Rhaenyra that flawed characters are seen as “evil”.
You forgot one thing, Rhaenyra would also be a kinslayer. If Alicent is offended at Rhaenyra’s premarital sex then she’ll be also offended at the prospect of kinslaying and the product of that premarital sex (her bastards) gaining kingship.
Rhaenyra’s sons were not the products of PREMARITAL SEX. She was married to Laenor when she became pregnant (each time) by Harwin; that makes it EXTRAMARITAL sex.
As a Black supporter, I greatly dislike how they made the Greens obvious villains and Rhaenyra the objectively the best moral choice. I was so ready for Rhaenyra to spiral out into becoming the Female Maegor, but the direction the show is taking made me feel disappointed. Ever since I first started watching HOTD, I’ve felt tense seeing Rhaenyra’s journey, because I know how her story ends, so every episode I’ve felt tension, but if they are gonna make Rhaenyra & Alicent smuggle across and be good lesbian, abandoning her son Aegon-III? It takes away the tension if they pull a Laenor again, and makes the characters worse. If you make Cersei a better mother in comparison, what’s wrong with you? I enjoy seeing the debate on which teams are the rightful rulers, Black VS Green, it makes my choice matter, if you make it a boring Good VS Evil story, then what’s the point of the debate? Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik have no plans, like what GRRM said in his blog. “I have no idea what Ryan has planned - if indeed he has planned anything”
The Greens WERE sooo absurdly evil in the books lol.. Smh. Man..I truly despise the entire "I'm team *insert color* .." Like.. The show is *obviously* setting up Rhanerya to become full blown "Mad Queen" when she loses Jace and is in middle of trying to rule Kings Landing at a terrible time. Smh. I'm so glad I can just enjoy the show while not *rooting for* a team.. Bc like in real life... Both sides suck.
I never got the people that think Alicent is evil. she did her duty that is expected of a Queen in this world, she gave Viserys 4 health children three sons and a daughter. And according to the rules of the world she lives in her oldest son is the heir. Rhaenyra birthed three bastard sons. sons that looked nothing like their mother or supposed father
According to the world she lives in, Rhaenyra is the rightful heir because Viserys named her his heir and had all the lords of all the houses come and swear an oath to her. She betrayed her husband and the rules of the world she lives in.
@@mr.meesicks1801 She would have to admit they are bastards in the first place to legitimize them, which is not what she is doing. She tries to pass them as legitimate and not only as heirs to the Iron Throne but to Driftmark as well. This is treason. Imagine her admitting they are bastards later on. Then she is basically saying they murdered Vaemond and mutilated his family unjustly for saying the truth.
@@florence9702Yeah, because a king’s bastards wouldn’t be his heirs. A Targaryen king trying to make his bastards equal to his real kids is literally what started the Blackfyre Rebellions. You’re trying to make a double standard where there isn’t one.
The literal only way offering up Aegon makes sense to me is if this is Alicent's twisted way of going about a mercy killing. She has no idea he's recovering (?) so maybe she's making a quality of life argument somewhere we don't have access to. But, that doesn't account for anyone else in the Green side of the family. Like???? Hello, Gwain?? And your ONE NORMAL SON??? And if she thinks she can just walk away while Deamon is still alive??? As someone who is more interested narrativly in the Greens, it's just been really disappointing seeing the writers blatently taking a side this season. Like, we been knew for a while but at least in Season One we could pretend the Greens were on equal footing with them. 😮💨
Thank u for this video. Alicent to me was completely different from cersei and was falsely labelled as evil in season 1 by the brain dead fanbase if anything rhaenyra is more cersei than alicent. However she has been completely destroyed as a character in season 2 that im getting season 8 dany vibes from this season. Thumbs up.
They need to follow the book canon. It’s not about alicent and Rhaenyra it’s about aegon vs Rhaenyra and that whole scene with Alicent selling out her own sons Daeron doesn’t deserve that at all specially after her brother told her how good he was I had to go back and read the fire and blood book just cause the second season sucked and not painting Rhaenyra as a villain 🤷🏽♂️
was *waiting* for this vid. i saw your analysis about alicent when i first stumbled across your channel. after S2, i knew you’d have words about how they handled her character.
I honestly think they should just go off book and have rhaenyra behead Alicent when she takes kings landing. Olivia doesn’t deserve this mess of a character, they haven’t given her any good material at all in season 2. Olivia would have actually dominated season 2 if they actually wrote her as book alicent
A thing i kinda wish they would've done and kinda think would have fixed that to a certain extent, would be the council actually considering betrothing her to dolton greyjoy in effort to take down the blocade after the riot. The prospect of her having to go through yet another nonconsensual marriage for the pursuit of power could have made her go bonkers, having her agency taken away from her but from her son this time, yet another man in her life selling her off for his own benefit. That could've been a good turning point of realisation for her that whatever she did, however much she sacrificed herself for them, they would still use her.
I can kinda see the writers using Alicents martyr personality against herself. She values having the moral high ground bc of how she was raised, what if she’s using it to justify her offering Aegon on a platter? Her son is brutally disfigured, in pain and had his son be killed recently… what if she thinks death is a mercy for him? Again I highly doubt the writers of HotD are gonna go down this path, but idk can this as option playing as how they might try to salvage this train wreck of a personality switch
this is kinda where my thoughts are as well. Alicent has always presented herself as a very pious woman and if she thinks she’s doing the right thing morally that is the one reason I could see for her reasoning.
Except she isn't, in the scene she first mentions her freedom, then Heleana, and she only mentions Aegon after Rhaenyra does so, Alicent couldn't care any less about him
Except the writers see Alicent betraying her family as “redeeming” herself. They are proud of that moment. They honestly thought that she would be seen as redeemed by the audience but the majority see it as the betrayal it is and are siding with Aegon, Aemond, Daeron, Gwayne, Cole, and even Otto.
Rheanerya is in the wrong as is her father. His father before him established the rule of male primogeniture if he wishes to disengage that rule, then he becomes a prince, and not the king in which case his sister becomes queen as she was older than him. if simple primogeniture is all that they are looking for Rheanys is Queen and Corlys King Consort
Your analysis videos are better than your what-ifs. And it’s not close. I don’t mean any offense, I just hope you do more of this going forward, or radically shift your what if videos towards unapologetic fanfiction
I have a feeling that Alicent visiting Rhanerya has got to be some type of subterfuge because of how badly it conflicts everything they’ve built for her. But even if that’s the case, then that’d just make Rhanerya dumb for trusting her. Just not the political genius that the GoT show had for 4-5 seasons. There are really cool moments of HOTD, but also a lot of substance gets left on the table
I don't think people understand women that well to begin with. Just because a woman carries a baby to term doesn't mean they automatically love them. A woman who has extremely traumatic experience when she became pregnant can hate the Baby and resent it. Alicent loving Helaena is a show creation and giving how both characters are written is that the mother sees a lot of herself in the daughter. Both used to promote the men in their lives. Men believe that you treat women less than $*""* they still love you and the children. Alicent saw being married to a Targaryen is a duty and that her children are just duties to that house. Cersei Lannister unlike Alicent did have a choice in children she bear. Which is extremely rare in thet type society.
Personally, I don't think GRRM has grounds to complain here. He's an executive producer on the show, and wrote for television before becoming an author. He knows how these things work. That said, I agree that Alicent's character was screwed by the writers. I just find GRRM overrated and his complaints should be taken with a grain of salt.
@@Chinchilla2310 executive producers must have at least some input. And he could have signed the books over to some other network. Plus, by writing Fire and Blood as a collection of conflicting stories by writers who can't be fully trusted, he freed up the show runners to make all the changes they want.
I dunno. It doesn't bother me because I have no idea what else she can do. They're blockaded, out-dragoned insecure in their city and keep, Aegon, as far as she knows, can't move, and she can't steer the ship. Either they all die or some of them die.
The least she could've done is offer herself to be punished alongside her son/s knowing well she had a hand on how they turned out. She was the one pressuring Aegon, who did not want to be king, to become one saying that otherwise he and all his siblings would be killed by Rhaenyra.
Ehh, Book Alicent was a cartoonish villain, much like Princess Cinderella’s evil step mother, Show Alicent has been a breath of fresh air compared to that.
She wasn't, Alicent from the book genuinely cared for her sons, she was an intelligent player who was highly respected by her peers, she was defiant and strong, never one to bow. Show Alicent is a pathetic wimp
It seems like Ryan Condal and Sara Hess would be better off writing for the CW, where fan fic and “ships” is all they produce.
I'm not crazy about their choices either. But I do approve of them having Daemon throw his weight around and getting nowhere. Plus, I think merging Nettles and Rhaena is a good call l.
I have been a diehard Alicent/Rhaenyra shipper since episode one, so the fact that everything said in this video is _exactly_ what I've been screaming at my tv all season long says a lot about just how badly Condal and Hess screwed up. I'm all for ships (especially gay ones) but not at the expense of good writing.
@@idab9958what made you think those 2 were anything more than friends? You contradicted yourself since if those 2 loved each other the plot would suffer heavily because nothing would happen.
@@lumarrandom8144 Because that's my interpretation of their relationship which I am entitled to. They have tremendous chemistry and the script for episode one explicitly describes Rhaenyra as flirting with Alicent in one scene. You can interpret their love for each other as platonic or romantic but they absolutely loved each other in some way, that's why it's so deliciously tragic that they become enemies, that's the whole point.
@@idab9958 and that's why you're a hypocrite. Those 2 having a relationship would be bad writing and nothing note-worthy would happen.
Her character arc in season 2 be like
"I'll poison you both against your sister your entire lives, but now I feel differently, so disregard it. You won't? You're both horrible. I need to just pack up and take the girls and only the girls."
But because she is the mother of the year, she is also throwing in her third son Daeron, to sweeten the deals. Only death can pay for life...3 gals to live, 3 boys to die.
I think it wouldve been better if she doubled down over her hatred and paranoia towards Rhaenyra when Jahaerys was murdered. Like she goes from "gee, I dont wanna get my forner best friend killed :/" to "NOPE! NOPE! FATHER IS RIGHT! SHE'S A CHILD MURDERING MONSTER. SHE NEEDS TO GO DOWN"
@@ifeeldead463 Ha, they can't have that, a Woman fighting against a woman. Damn, I didn't see one conflict that was a woman against a woman this season. Not one, or I forgot one.
I just like to add Helaena and Jaehaera wouldn’t be safe either. The Greens do not totally dismiss female inheritance, they merely believe it comes after the male line. According to traditional law, Jaehaera is Aegon’s heir because he has no sons. After Alicent’s sons and Jaehaera, Helaena herself is 4th in line to the throne. So for Rhaenyra to truly secure the throne all of them must die.
If so Daemon would also arguably come before Helaena in the line of succession, as well as Rhaenyra herself as the older sister, and possibly her and Daemon's sons as well. Where to place Jaehaera in the line of succession if men always come before women is a bit tricker - does she come before or after Rhaenyra, being the only child of Aegon? That is ambiguous enough that even if Helaena is no threat to Rhaenyra's claim (which may be why Rhaenyra seems fonder of her than she is of her brothers), Jaehaera probably is.
Helena comes after Rhaneyra in the succession.
It's sons [oldest-youngest]
Then daughters [oldest-youngest]
Assuming it goes the way of most successions, if Aegon is the rightful king his immediate heirs are
His sons
His daughters
His brothers
His sisters
His paternal uncles
His paternal Aunts
A direct heir having a child pushes everyone else down the succession, which is why Daemon is behind Rhanerya
However Rhaenys Queen that Never Was sort of suggests that they will discount any female heir if a male one is available, hence it going down the line to Viserys and his children, skipping her and her children.
Succession rules are often complicated and frequently they're written as and when needed because some real countries made up extra rules for their own convenience [England banning Catholics from the succession because they felt like it is a good example].
All summarised to say... Rhaenyra wouldn't need to kill Helaena... just anyone else in front of her in the succession.
Yeah and Daeron as well
Not necessarily in Jaehaera's case. Instead, more likely what would happen/what would be proposed, is that Jaehaera is betrothed to one of Rhaenyra's sons. Marriage was how a lot of these conflicts tended to be resolved (see Elizabeth of York being married to Henry VII) As for Helaena, she doesn't pose the same threat because Helaena's claim actually comes AFTER Rhaenyra and their brothers regardless of whenever you apply male primogeniture or succession laws that favor the eldest child regardless of sex.
@@cheriealicent9981grrm said it himself in his recent blog, jaehaera is aegon ii's heir (but yeah, show and book are different)
The biggest problem is that the story is completely centered on Alicent and Rhaynra. They are the anchors sinking this ship.
Rhaynra is a flat character who is not interesting anymore because she not presented in a flawed way. She’s never hateful, vindictive, or ambitious. She presented as clean slate person who has no flaws at all. It makes her boring and have no agency. The second problem is writers presenting her worse aspects as actual strengths not flaws. Which makes me dislike her, because there’s disconnect from what the writers say I should feel about her and what my eyes are showing me.
Alicent is the other major problem. She’s now the most inconsistent character in the show making wildly different choices that are in contradiction to her past actions. At one point she’s acting a like a protective mother disregarding her own safety and willing to kill the source of her child’s mutalation. And on the other shes willing to sell her children down the river because she scared. The other problem is the clear attempt to blame the entire conflict on her, which makes absolutely no sense. The writers are absolutely biased against her. They also took out all of her more ambitious and cunning traits to present her in a way that takes away all development from her.
Agreed. The writers have bent over backwards to whitewash Rhaenyra and Alicent (while constantly humiliating Alicent at the same time, because she’s a woman on what midwits consider the “patriarchy team”), in order to hyperfocus on this single tragic relationship that now defines the story.
In doing so, they’ve made it so that the show isn’t Aegon vs. Rhaenyra, or even the Greens vs. the Blacks. The core of the show is Alicent vs. Rhaenyra. Which would be fine, if both weren’t badly written.
There was absolutely a way to flesh out Alicent and make her more sympathetic than her book counterpart and make her and Rhaenyra's relationship the emotional core of the show - none of which is a bad idea by base - without taking away all agency, ambition, and any semblance of consistency from Alicent's character.
Well said
Great point, Alicent seems to have a split personality lol. While if we are meant to support Rhea who continually does really stupid stuff
Rhaenyra does have flaws but they are constantly justified and hand-waved by the writers, the narrative, and the casual audience. By making Rhaenyra so perfect, the flawed Alicent was easy for the general audience to hate because they’re so used to seeing the perfection of Rhaenyra that flawed characters are seen as “evil”.
and dont forget Gwayne and Otto and maybe the rest of her Hightower kin that is In the field and will get burned to death by Rheanyras dragons
You forgot one thing, Rhaenyra would also be a kinslayer. If Alicent is offended at Rhaenyra’s premarital sex then she’ll be also offended at the prospect of kinslaying and the product of that premarital sex (her bastards) gaining kingship.
Rhaenyra’s sons were not the products of PREMARITAL SEX. She was married to Laenor when she became pregnant (each time) by Harwin; that makes it EXTRAMARITAL sex.
@@carastone3473lol thats true but she was at first angry with the affair with cole (again an irony)
As a Black supporter, I greatly dislike how they made the Greens obvious villains and Rhaenyra the objectively the best moral choice.
I was so ready for Rhaenyra to spiral out into becoming the Female Maegor, but the direction the show is taking made me feel disappointed.
Ever since I first started watching HOTD, I’ve felt tense seeing Rhaenyra’s journey, because I know how her story ends, so every episode I’ve felt tension, but if they are gonna make Rhaenyra & Alicent smuggle across and be good lesbian, abandoning her son Aegon-III?
It takes away the tension if they pull a Laenor again, and makes the characters worse.
If you make Cersei a better mother in comparison, what’s wrong with you?
I enjoy seeing the debate on which teams are the rightful rulers, Black VS Green, it makes my choice matter, if you make it a boring Good VS Evil story, then what’s the point of the debate?
Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik have no plans, like what GRRM said in his blog.
“I have no idea what Ryan has planned - if indeed he has planned anything”
They were more evil in the books! Lol, especially Alicent and Aemond… with Aegon not far behind.
To be fair, Miguel is not part of the team anymore. He left after season one. Ryan Condal and Sara Hess are the captains of this sinking ship.
Not Miguel Sapochnik catching strays here, the guy's not even involved anymore.
The Greens WERE sooo absurdly evil in the books lol.. Smh.
Man..I truly despise the entire "I'm team *insert color* .."
Like.. The show is *obviously* setting up Rhanerya to become full blown "Mad Queen" when she loses Jace and is in middle of trying to rule Kings Landing at a terrible time. Smh.
I'm so glad I can just enjoy the show while not *rooting for* a team.. Bc like in real life... Both sides suck.
I agree as a green supporter
I never got the people that think Alicent is evil. she did her duty that is expected of a Queen in this world, she gave Viserys 4 health children three sons and a daughter. And according to the rules of the world she lives in her oldest son is the heir. Rhaenyra birthed three bastard sons. sons that looked nothing like their mother or supposed father
According to the world she lives in, Rhaenyra is the rightful heir because Viserys named her his heir and had all the lords of all the houses come and swear an oath to her. She betrayed her husband and the rules of the world she lives in.
The fact that Rhaenyra has bastards also literally does not matter. She is the queen she can legitimize any person she wants, including her own sons.
If she was a dude, no one would care that she had bastards.
@@mr.meesicks1801 She would have to admit they are bastards in the first place to legitimize them, which is not what she is doing. She tries to pass them as legitimate and not only as heirs to the Iron Throne but to Driftmark as well. This is treason.
Imagine her admitting they are bastards later on. Then she is basically saying they murdered Vaemond and mutilated his family unjustly for saying the truth.
@@florence9702Yeah, because a king’s bastards wouldn’t be his heirs. A Targaryen king trying to make his bastards equal to his real kids is literally what started the Blackfyre Rebellions.
You’re trying to make a double standard where there isn’t one.
The literal only way offering up Aegon makes sense to me is if this is Alicent's twisted way of going about a mercy killing. She has no idea he's recovering (?) so maybe she's making a quality of life argument somewhere we don't have access to. But, that doesn't account for anyone else in the Green side of the family. Like???? Hello, Gwain?? And your ONE NORMAL SON??? And if she thinks she can just walk away while Deamon is still alive???
As someone who is more interested narrativly in the Greens, it's just been really disappointing seeing the writers blatently taking a side this season. Like, we been knew for a while but at least in Season One we could pretend the Greens were on equal footing with them. 😮💨
Thank u for this video. Alicent to me was completely different from cersei and was falsely labelled as evil in season 1 by the brain dead fanbase if anything rhaenyra is more cersei than alicent. However she has been completely destroyed as a character in season 2 that im getting season 8 dany vibes from this season. Thumbs up.
Alicent season one was more like Catelyn Stark in my opinion.
@@dianadrozd175 thank u the same for me
The CW-ification of HBO is downright tragic.
They need to follow the book canon. It’s not about alicent and Rhaenyra it’s about aegon vs Rhaenyra and that whole scene with Alicent selling out her own sons Daeron doesn’t deserve that at all specially after her brother told her how good he was I had to go back and read the fire and blood book just cause the second season sucked and not painting Rhaenyra as a villain 🤷🏽♂️
was *waiting* for this vid. i saw your analysis about alicent when i first stumbled across your channel. after S2, i knew you’d have words about how they handled her character.
I honestly think they should just go off book and have rhaenyra behead Alicent when she takes kings landing.
Olivia doesn’t deserve this mess of a character, they haven’t given her any good material at all in season 2. Olivia would have actually dominated season 2 if they actually wrote her as book alicent
“but these are just my thoughts…” says the man while spitting facts
A thing i kinda wish they would've done and kinda think would have fixed that to a certain extent, would be the council actually considering betrothing her to dolton greyjoy in effort to take down the blocade after the riot. The prospect of her having to go through yet another nonconsensual marriage for the pursuit of power could have made her go bonkers, having her agency taken away from her but from her son this time, yet another man in her life selling her off for his own benefit. That could've been a good turning point of realisation for her that whatever she did, however much she sacrificed herself for them, they would still use her.
I can kinda see the writers using Alicents martyr personality against herself. She values having the moral high ground bc of how she was raised, what if she’s using it to justify her offering Aegon on a platter? Her son is brutally disfigured, in pain and had his son be killed recently… what if she thinks death is a mercy for him?
Again I highly doubt the writers of HotD are gonna go down this path, but idk can this as option playing as how they might try to salvage this train wreck of a personality switch
this is kinda where my thoughts are as well. Alicent has always presented herself as a very pious woman and if she thinks she’s doing the right thing morally that is the one reason I could see for her reasoning.
@@hey_its_heather Yep, like "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"
Except she isn't, in the scene she first mentions her freedom, then Heleana, and she only mentions Aegon after Rhaenyra does so, Alicent couldn't care any less about him
Except the writers see Alicent betraying her family as “redeeming” herself. They are proud of that moment. They honestly thought that she would be seen as redeemed by the audience but the majority see it as the betrayal it is and are siding with Aegon, Aemond, Daeron, Gwayne, Cole, and even Otto.
Alicent was my favourite character in season 1…
0:44 GRRM will never make another blog criticizing HOTD directly, HBO cracked down immediately
You can say everything you want about Alicent but she's still a hottie
I actually think both actresses are better looking than the actresses for Rhaenyra .
I hate those writers with a passion.
Keep up the good work! Love your content ❤❤❤
Rheanerya is in the wrong as is her father. His father before him established the rule of male primogeniture if he wishes to disengage that rule, then he becomes a prince, and not the king in which case his sister becomes queen as she was older than him. if simple primogeniture is all that they are looking for Rheanys is Queen and Corlys King Consort
Rhaenys wasn't his sister, she was his cousin
@@charlottewalnut3118 Rhaenys is not his sister. King Jaeherys is not his father but grandfather.
Your analysis videos are better than your what-ifs. And it’s not close. I don’t mean any offense, I just hope you do more of this going forward, or radically shift your what if videos towards unapologetic fanfiction
I have a feeling that Alicent visiting Rhanerya has got to be some type of subterfuge because of how badly it conflicts everything they’ve built for her.
But even if that’s the case, then that’d just make Rhanerya dumb for trusting her.
Just not the political genius that the GoT show had for 4-5 seasons.
There are really cool moments of HOTD, but also a lot of substance gets left on the table
I never thought it would make sense.
I don't think people understand women that well to begin with. Just because a woman carries a baby to term doesn't mean they automatically love them. A woman who has extremely traumatic experience when she became pregnant can hate the Baby and resent it. Alicent loving Helaena is a show creation and giving how both characters are written is that the mother sees a lot of herself in the daughter. Both used to promote the men in their lives. Men believe that you treat women less than $*""* they still love you and the children. Alicent saw being married to a Targaryen is a duty and that her children are just duties to that house. Cersei Lannister unlike Alicent did have a choice in children she bear. Which is extremely rare in thet type society.
Personally, I don't think GRRM has grounds to complain here. He's an executive producer on the show, and wrote for television before becoming an author. He knows how these things work. That said, I agree that Alicent's character was screwed by the writers. I just find GRRM overrated and his complaints should be taken with a grain of salt.
It’s not like George had full creative control. From the sounds of the post, Condom wasn’t being exactly forthcoming with his planned changes.
@@Chinchilla2310 executive producers must have at least some input. And he could have signed the books over to some other network. Plus, by writing Fire and Blood as a collection of conflicting stories by writers who can't be fully trusted, he freed up the show runners to make all the changes they want.
I’m guessing you said the same thing when he praised the show?
@@MattyCamachio I didn't say anything when he praised the show.
@@amorojaz27 I see
What if viserys lll lived?
100% right!!!
I dunno. It doesn't bother me because I have no idea what else she can do. They're blockaded, out-dragoned insecure in their city and keep, Aegon, as far as she knows, can't move, and she can't steer the ship. Either they all die or some of them die.
The least she could've done is offer herself to be punished alongside her son/s knowing well she had a hand on how they turned out. She was the one pressuring Aegon, who did not want to be king, to become one saying that otherwise he and all his siblings would be killed by Rhaenyra.
what if rhaenyra claimed vermithor
Everyone is gonna mind their business and not challenge her. Lol.
Ehh, Book Alicent was a cartoonish villain, much like Princess Cinderella’s evil step mother, Show Alicent has been a breath of fresh air compared to that.
She wasn't, Alicent from the book genuinely cared for her sons, she was an intelligent player who was highly respected by her peers, she was defiant and strong, never one to bow. Show Alicent is a pathetic wimp