Are House of the Dragon Writers Deliberately Making Greens Look Bad?
Even though the show does not tell you explicitly which side is good and which one is bad, it is still kind of obvious.
In House of the Dragon, picking sides is tough. The majority of the fandom roots for team Black because they are portrayed as the main characters in a more persuasive way than their Green rivals.
In fact, the show appears to put extra effort in making the Greens look unfavorable and not tempting to root for. Fans seem to be convinced of that after recalling a certain episode that appears to have been omitted from the TV adaptation.
In Fire And Blood, there is a heartwarming moment during Aegon's coronation when his mother, Alicent Hightower, places a little crown on the head of her daughter and his sister, Helaena Targaryen. Then she kisses her cheeks, bows to her and call her "my Queen".
The show has never included this small but important interaction that clearly portrayed Alicent as a loving and caring mother. According to fans, there is a purpose to that.
"Unfortunately it does seem like the writers are purposely leaving out key moments that might put the greens in a favourable light," Redditor Timeboy456 argued.
Another Reddit fan noted that it was wrong of the showrunners to "cut out the stuff about Helaena being loved by the smallfolk". In fact, the show appears to be deliberately leaving out the moments that could leave the impression of the Greens actually being accepted by smallfolk.
"I took away that smallfolk actually do support Aegon because he's a man and the first son of Viserys. It was sort of nailed down that by naming Rhaenyra air, Viserys was breaking a tradition," Redditor KarlWhale said.
Still, due to the show seemingly showing the viewers who to root for, it makes it okay for Blacks to kill civilians (and that's definitely what Rhaenys did by bursting through the floor on her dragon and have Meleys throwing everyone away with her tail) and still be supported by the fandom. However, a mere thing goes wrong with the Greens, and they immediately receive hate from fans. The Greens supporters deem it unfair.
Episode 9 was still dedicated to Team Green and made sure the characters from this team are explored and are presented as layered and complex. Next episode, which is also going to be the final one for the first season, is set to delve into Blacks more.
House of the Dragon finale premieres on HBO Max this Sunday, October 23.