Why House of the Dragon changed the book with Alicent and Rhaenyra’s meeting

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 3, “The Burning Mill.”

House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 3 makes a big but important change from the book with the story of Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen. Alicent and Rhaenyra are reunited for the first time since House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 8. When they last saw each other, the former had declared that the latter would make a good queen; now they are opposing sides in a civil war that will become known as the Dance of Dragons.

When Alicent and Rhaenyra meet, both of them realise how much has happened and the events that have led them there. Crucially, Alicent realises that there was a misunderstanding and that Viserys spoke on his deathbed about the dream of Aegon the Conqueror and did not announce that her son Aegon should be king. It is an emotional scene and although it differs from George RR Martin’s, Fire & Bloodit was necessary.

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The meeting of Alicent and Rhaenyra in King’s Landing does not take place in Fire & Blood – but HOTD needed it

House of the Dragon had to bring Alicent and Rhaenyra back together

In Fire & BloodBoth Rhaenyra and Alicent are at this point rather passive participants in the Dance of Dragonsand Rhaenyra does not leave Dragonstone until she and Daemon make their departure for King’s Landing (which in House of the Dragon Season 3). Their relationship is more distant in the book than in the show, as the age difference between them is much larger and it is therefore understandable that they do not have to try to reach out to each other. But that does not work in the TV series.

The relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra is the focus of the game of Thrones Prequel. Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy lead House of the DragonThe cast of and they are the main characters, even in such a large ensemble. Their friendship and their strife were what drove much of the first season’s plot and their respective character arcs, and yet the story inevitably had to separate them. Since their stories are intertwined and so heavily dependent on each other, the series had to bring them back together somehow, hence the invention of Rhaenyra’s secret infiltration into King’s Landing.

This was also crucial for the further development of Rhaenyra’s storylineand rewards their previous passivity. House of the Dragon The end of Season 1 may have set up her revenge for Lucerys Velaryon’s death, but Season 2 changed that. When she spoke the words “I want Aemond Targaryen,” Giving in to her anger, an innocent child had her head cut off. She understands the pain of losing a child and cannot take it lightly. She had to know without a doubt that there was no turning back. And, well, now she knows. Talking to Alicent was the only way to make that happen.

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Now there is absolutely no way to avoid a war with dragons

Now that Rhaenyra knows exactly what happened, and Alicent will not turn away from the war despite knowing full well her misunderstanding, it means that the dance of the dragons will really begin. Admittedly, I feel like this has been a promise since the end of season one, but this time it really rings true. The dragons on both sides will be released, and Rhaenyra has her full support for that.

It will also be interesting to see if this ultimately leads to a bigger change for Rhaenyra. She has accepted that the dragons must be unleashed, but will that include her own, Syrax? Will she stand by and let others fly into danger – and death – for her? Her trip to King’s Landing already shows that she is willing to take a more active, riskier role, and that could lead to her playing a bigger role in the war than House of the Dragon continues.

New episodes of House of the Dragon Releases Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.

House of the Dragon

About 172 years before the events of game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the story of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragon lords to survive the fall of Valyria. The popular HBO spin-off series initially starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, before being replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series are Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.

Pour

Jefferson Hall, Paddy Considine, Fabien Frankel, Ryan Corr, Eve Best, Gavin Spokes, Graham McTavish, Steve Toussaint, Olivia Cooke, Sonoya Mizuno, Bill Paterson, Matthew Needham, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, David Horovitch

Release date

21 August 2022

Seasons

2

network

HBOMax

Showrunner

Ryan Condal

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