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Has Alicent Hightower Become Powerless In House Of The Dragon Season 2? Explored
The Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower has faced a significant loss of power after the death of King Viserys I Targaryen. Here is what might happen as a consequence.
This article contains spoilers from House of the Dragon
The Targaryen Civil War in the second season of the popular show House of the Dragon seems inevitable now and it’s mostly due to Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) losing her power. The Dowager Queen had immense power over the council as she was the wife of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine).
However, with the death of the King and her father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), also out of the picture, her hold on the council has fallen apart. In the recent episode, we saw that this had pretty dire and violent consequences in the Targaryen civil war.
How did Alicent Hightower lose her power?
In the first season of "House of the Dragon," Alicent Hightower is depicted as being in a powerful position. In her childhood, she was a close friend of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), the daughter of Viserys I Targaryen. However, Alicent’s scheming and ambitious father, Otto Hightower, positioned her in the palace to secure the Iron Throne by marrying her off to the king. As a result, the relationship between the two inseparable friends deteriorated as they became unwilling pawns in a political game, but on opposing sides.
As the king’s health began to deteriorate, he was no longer able to command all the Seven Kingdoms from the Iron Throne. During this time, Alicent and Otto effectively started to control everything, giving her considerable power. However, on his deathbed, King Viserys I Targaryen wanted Rhaenyra to inherit the throne and sought to legitimize her child. Due to a misunderstanding, Alicent believed he had changed his mind, leading to her son Aegon II becoming the new king.
However, things did not play out as well as Alicent had hoped. With both the late king and her father, Otto, now out of the picture, Alicent has practically lost all of her power. This loss of power comes not only from her son, who now sits on the Iron Throne, but also from Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel), who has become a close confidant of the king. Despite her position, neither of these men nor the members of the council, care about her opinion because she is a woman, even though she might have been the only one capable of preventing the civil war.
The war is almost here
Rhaenyra Targaryen wanted to resolve the problems peacefully, but every time she tried, the Greens only responded with violence. Even the queen’s own men strategize about the war behind her back. In the recent episode, the Black Queen disguised herself to speak with Alicent. Despite understanding that the throne was never meant for her son, Alicent refused to back down and decided to support him. Sadly, although she desires a peaceful solution, no one on the council listens to her. Not even Ser Criston Cole, with whom she has an affair, can help her now. With her power over the throne gone with her husband and her father, all Alicent can do is sit and watch as the civil war tears Westeros apart.
It seems that every attempt at a peaceful resolution has failed and the Dance of the Dragons is fast approaching. With the death of Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) at the hands of Aemond's dragon Vaghar (Ewan Mitchell) and the recent death of the Green family’s youngest member, Jaehaerys, war seems inevitable. Although Rahenyra has never engaged in violent behavior, her tactic to talk to Alicent has also failed. She has no option now but to prepare an army of dragons to defeat the Hightowers. Despite Alicent's intelligence and capability to devise a better solution, nobody is willing to listen to her, and none of the other men on her side are effective diplomats. With her father Otto absent and her inputs consistently denied, Alicent has no choice but to watch as the two sides engage. From the looks of it, the war that has been brewing for a very long time will be the bloodiest Westeros has ever seen.
ALSO READ: House Of The Dragon Season 2 Finally Connects Daenerys' Dragons To Rhaenyra's Decision
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