#I don't know why people adapt stuff and spit on the source material

[lagosbratzdoll]

thinking thoughts

I have quite a few thoughts about Alicent Hightower, both the book and show versions of her character. Her actions remind me of the hyper-religious women in my own life, and while I sympathize with her somewhat in the show, I find her character cruel and callous. In the book, however, I respected her agency and choices, even if she annoyed me at times.

That being said, my main issues with the House of the Dragon show are the mistreatment of Laena, Leanor and Alicent's indecisiveness and lack of backbone. Rhaenyra's accusation that Alicent had been hiding behind her righteousness was spot-on. I'm sorry that Aemond lost his eye, but I do not think that the appropriate response will ever be knowingly removing the eye of a six-year-old boy. 

Alicent declares war against Rhaenyra because she believes she didn't tell her the whole truth about the pleasure house incident with Daemon. I wonder why she'd think she's entitled to anything from Rhaenyra, much less the truth.  She broke her trust and they are barely friends. While we know that Otto pressured her into going into Viserys' room, Rhaenyra does not, and in her mind, her best friend married her father only six months after her mother's death. Rather than trying to understand where Rhaenyra is coming from, Alicent breaks her trust once more and declares war.

Alicent ignores the violence her older son inflicts on his younger siblings, and she marries her 13-year-old daughter to her own violent rapist son.  Additionally, Alicent emotionally abuses her stepdaughter/friend for no apparent reason and aligns herself with an incel/murderer/oathbreaker, a kin slayer and a rapist despite going on and on about Rhaenyra's lack of morals. She knowingly crowns her violent rapist son, who she'd told was no son of hers, literally one episode ago.