In House of the Dragon, Queen Alicent does not seem to hate Princess Rhaenyra, but instead, it appears that she envies Rhaenyra because of how differently she lives her life.
House of the Dragon has recently concluded its first season which detailed the events that led to the Targaryen civil war, titled the Dance of the Dragons.
It finally saw Rhaenyra begin the war of succession to the throne after the duplicity of the Hightowers in King’s Landing to place Aegon ll as king, despite King Viserys’ wishes.
But for viewers who may have lost some details due to the time jumps in season one, one of the biggest questions that many ask is, why does Queen Alicent hate Princess Rhaenyra so much?
But it seems like Alicent does not hate Rhaenyra, but she is rather envious of how the princess lives her life compared to her.
The beginning of Queen Alicent’s animosity towards Princess Rhaenyra
When House of the Dragon premiered, Princess Rhaenyra and Lady Alicent Hightower were best friends and they spent a lot of time together.
But after Lady Alicent married King Viserys following the death of Queen Aemma, Rhaenyra distanced herself from Alicent. Moreover, as she was named the heir to the throne, Rhaenyra started accepting suitors.
One of the first suitors was Ser Criston Cole, who Alicent had feelings for. This marks the beginning of Alicent’s anger and dislike towards Rhaenyra, as she engaged in an intimate relationship with Alicent’s crush.
Young Alicent actress, Emily Carey, explained to Variety in an interview, “It’s the betrayal of, ‘Hold on. You slept with him, and I’m in love with him, and you know this. That’s not fair”.
House of the Dragon: Why does Alicent hate Rhaenyra?
Queen Alicent, it should be noted, does not hate Princess Rhaenyra, as is seen in episode nine of season one when she stood up against her father when he wanted to assassinate Rhaenyra and her six children.
But by the time they had reached their adulthood, the two former best friends did not like each other.
It may have initially stemmed from Rhaenyra distancing herself after Alicent married her father, the king, without her knowledge, and Rhaenyra subsequently bedding Alicent’s crush Ser Criston Cole.
It was during the events of season one, episode six, when Alicent gave words to why she has so much animosity towards Rhaenyra.
After Rhaenyra had attempted to create a pact between herself and Alicent in light of the growing speculation about the paternity of her three first born children, Rhaenyra offered a marriage pact and a dragon egg between the two families.
But Alicent declined, and she launched towards Rhaenyra with Aegon the Conqueror’s dagger.
There she exposed her true feelings when she confronted Rhaenyra asking her, “Where is duty? Where is honour? Where is sacrifice? It’s trampled under your pretty foot again”.
This was after she had said, “What have I done, but what was expected of me? Forever upholding the kingdom, the family, the law, while you flout it all to do as you please”.
This unveiled that Alicent is not hateful, but jealous of Rhaenyra and how she lives her life.
Why is Alicent jealous of Rhaenyra?
Alicent was jealous of the way that Rhaenyra lived her life. Alicent lived out her young life with no particular ambition but to earn her father’s affections.
This ambition allowed Ser Otto Hightower to live out his own ambitions of climbing up the hierarchy as he was the one who instructed his daughter to console the king after the death of Queen Aemma, so that the king could choose her as his next wife, which he did.
But as she fulfilled her duties as a wife and queen, Rhaenyra could live out her life as she pleased, as seen in the paternity of her first three children.
When did Alicent start waging war against Rhaenyra?
The first time that Queen Alicent waged war against Princess Rhaenyra was during the betrothal banquet that was hosted for Princess Rhaenyra and Ser Laenor Velaryon.
This was after Ser Otto Hightower alleged that Rhaenyra’s maidenhood was taken by her uncle, Daemon. But Alicent later found out that it was taken by Ser Criston Cole and that Rhaenyra lied about the matter.
Moreover, she had gotten her father, King Viserys, to isolate Ser Otto by removing the King’s Hand from the court.
As such, she wore Green, the colours associated with the Hightowers instead of the red and black of the Targaryen family, which was understood to be waging war.
Olivia Cooke on why Alicent does not hate Rhaenyra
Olivia Cooke, who plays the older Queen Alicent Hightower, also corroborated the sentiments that Queen Alicent does not hate Rhaenyra, but rather that she feels animosity toward her as Rhaenyra could flout responsibility, duty, and honour and still be the heir to the throne, in contrast to the life of duty, responsibility, and honour to the crown and the men in her life that Alicent lived.
Cooke explained in an interview on the House of the Dragon’s podcast, “So when it’s so obvious that Viserys is going to choose Rhaenyra and throws the threat of that being treason for what I am saying or what my boys have said, I think that’s just when she just breaks”.