I Have Mixed Feelings About The Decision To Make Alicent And Criston Romantically Involved.

I have mixed feelings about the decision to make Alicent and Criston romantically involved.

On one hand, I find it extremely satisfying. Alicent, who hated and berated Rhaenyra for cuckolding (with Laenor's full support) her gay husband, has been engaged in a long term affair. Like, if any more proof was needed for her insane hypocrisy, here it is. I also like that they actually followed through with young Alicent's implied attraction to Criston.

I think this also feels a bit more like book Alicent than anything else done with her character. Book Alicent was a hypocrite, she exploited her children, and attacked Rhaenyra for things that it was implied she herself did. Show Alicent trying to get Rhaenyra convicted of treason/adultery while simultaneously committing treason and adultery is the most in character decision they've made in season two.

However, I'm also just...so tired. Like, Condal hasn't been shy about making Alicent a hypocrite. He literally said he wrote her like a "woman for Trump". She's been hypocritical for almost all of season one, that's like the one consistent part of her character.

And yet, both the writers and fans continue to make excuses for Alicent. Despite the fact that Alicent was written to be hypocritical and in the wrong, she's still simultaneously made to appear right. No matter what she does: cheating on her husband, attempting to main/kill a child, attacking the heir, usurping Rhaenyra, Alicent is portrayed as a victim and therefore shouldn't be held accountable.

Basically, I know that no matter what Alicent does, no matter how shitty or hypocritical, she will still be treated as a hapless victim by the narrative and her fans. This information doesn't change the fact that HOTD still wants you to view Alicent as morally equal to Rhaenyra. They refuse to have her actually see the consequences of her actions because they themselves refuse to treat her as autonomous.

Edit:

So, I wrote this before the first episode aired, so back when Cole and Alicent's relationship were just a leak. That's why I'm kinda vague😂

So despite the fact that the two of them didn't sleep together while Viserys was alive (which I guess I am kinda glad they didn't do that), they still very much had an emotional affair. Alicent being a hypocrite still stands though, as she has now slept with a man out of wedlock, even if it wasn't adultery.

Updates 5/15/2024

Instagram: Video at Source

Instagram: Video at Source

Instagram: Source

Twitter: Source

Twitter: Source

Twitter: Source | GazaESims

Twitter: Video at Source

AlJazeera: Source

(Id/alt in alt tab)

To anyone who believes fairy tale romances never happen in real life, may I remind you that JRR and Edith Tolkien met and experienced a forbidden love in their youth, and then were separated for five whole years because of his guardian’s rules that he could not date till he was 21, and she got engaged to someone else only because she assumed he’d forgotten her and lost hope that she could ever be with him, but then on his 21st birthday, he wrote her a letter saying he still loved her and wanted to marry her, she responded basically saying ‘if I’d known you hadn’t left me on the shelf, I would never have said yes to anyone else,’ then a week later she greeted him at the train station and then immediately dumped her fiancé, and they got married and she converted to his religion and danced for him in a flowering field far away from the trenches into which he was drafted, which left such an impression that he crafted an entire story about the most beautiful maiden in the world who danced in the woods and made enormous sacrifices to be with the man she loved, and they had four kids and remained faithful to each other and blissfully grew old together and their gravestones are now marked with the names of that same fictional couple that he created, who broke every rule and overcame every possible obstacle to be together and get a happy ending, who only did all that because he based it all on their own real love story.

Do you also have a feeling that Tom and Ewan are promoted too much? I have a feeling that they're the only actors I see.

I've been avoiding the promos for the most part tbh, but from what I've seen, yeah, I agree. It definitely seems like they're leaning into them a lot, probably because so many people in the fandom find them attractive.

I also can't help but wonder if it's also partially because of how much the show runners favor their characters. Condal basically wrote Aemond into his self-insert and Hess has gone to bat to defend Aegon literally raping a girl. They already clearly favor the greens in the adaptation, but it seems like Aemond and Aegon are definitely some of the favorites, alongside their version of Alicent.

Every part of the promo decisions have left a bad taste in my mouth. Even the new costumes and hair styles have been kind of ruined for me with the emphasis on the "choose a side" bs. I was already sceptical of how season two was going to be handled, but with every promo and leak it's becoming clear just how badly this is going to play out.

Oh but Alicent is just such an angel who tried to protect Dyana! Just look at how productive her fucking "protection" is, working for her attacker. All hail Saint Alicent, defender of rapists and kinslayers.

SHE HAS TO SERVE HIM…AEGON GET A JOB. STAY AWAY FROM HER!!!!