The show traded a wicked stepmother rivalry for a fake teenage romance, and in doing so, HBO robbed us of one of the pettiest, most calculating villains in Westeros history.
The book reality? Alicent was 9 years older than Rhaenyra. While 9-year-old Rhaenyra was playing with toys, 18-year-old Alicent was already reading bedtime stories to a dying, senile King Jaehaerys I, who was so out of it he literally thought she was his dead daughter.
She wasn't Rhaenyra's childhood friend; she was a grown woman running a multi-generational Hightower scheme. Turning a ruthless political mastermind into a confused victim of patriarchy who just misses her childhood friend is wild
"So my position is such that I must hope... for the capture and death of my son." Alicent says those words to Rhaenyra, who simply replies, "I can only imagine." It is a heartbreaking exchange because Alicent speaks of the fear of losing a son, while Rhaenyra has already lived through that pain more than once. She no longer has to imagine it.
The usurpation of the Iron Throne took everything from Rhaenyra before the war had truly begun. The news of Viserys' death and Aegon's coronation sent her into premature labor, leading to the death of her newborn daughter, Visenya. Soon after, Lucerys was sent as an envoy only to be killed by Aemond, Alicent's own son. Then came the Battle of the Gullet, where Jacaerys, her firstborn and Prince of Dragonstone, lost his life while fighting to protect his mother and her cause.
That is why Rhaenyra's response is so powerful. While Alicent fears the possibility of losing Aemond, Rhaenyra has already buried three of her children. Visenya never had the chance to live, Lucerys was murdered on a diplomatic mission, and Jacaerys died defending the family he loved. Some mothers fear loss. Rhaenyra has already survived it, again and again.
@giovannagiord17@MaraTahnee@MarcoFattorini Perdonami ma io non riesco a considerarlo un eroe, un eroe non continua a bombardare il Donbass uccidendo bambini, violando anche i trattati fatti. Il fatto che voi ignoriate gli eventi del 2014, eventi documenti anche da giornalisti italiani che per far ciò hanno perso la vita +
"Gli italiani pagano molto di più per gli aiuti all'Ucraina, sostenendo bollette alte anche a causa della rinuncia al gas russo"
Maurizo Belpietro a #4disera