As an Alicent Hater, I Can't Help but Absolutely Enjoy Her in House of the Dragon S2

House of the Dragon still has lots of time to unveil more horrendous events to come in the following episodes, but in a way, things are already looking pretty promising now that the new season offered a completely different perspective for Alicent Hightower and the role she may be having in how the approaching war will unfold.

Though Alicent’s ambiguous emotional state was clearly teased by numerous trailers dropped ahead of the second season’s release, I feel like no one really saw it coming as another possible and quite big plot twist which has all chances to make Alicent look way better even to those who have been rooting for Team Black all along.

Still, the Alicent from season 2 is definitely not the Alicent from season 1, and that’s the biggest development in House of the Dragon so far.

It is fair to say that Alicent has always been a victim of circumstances that her father Otto Hightower put her into, yet her behavior later on could easily become a major reason for her supporters to switch sides just to stay away from her and all the unnecessary drama she was causing.

Alicent’s claim for a full revenge towards Rhaenyra and her children after Aemond accidentally loses his eye in a childish fight and her overall arrogance regarding her former best friend and her part of the family just felt too much at some point, but this time the show’s most controversial character does appear to realize that one way or another she’ll have to own up to the consequences of her odd behavior.

Season 2 episode 1 was quick to catch me off guard, repeatedly proving that Alicent’s thoughts were actually far away from what everyone in her family cared about.

Despite her claims that the Greens didn’t avenge the Blacks in an appropriate way (it still may be her way to delude her father into thinking that she was as adamant about starting the war as the rest of her team), Alicent doesn’t waste much time secluding herself in a home chapel and lighting a candle for Lucerys Targaryen, which clearly highlights her guilt over his death.

To me, she also appears to be more of a ruler here, as episode 2 features Alicent entering her son Aegon’s chambers, presumably ready to tell him off after he dismissed Otto Hightower, but Aegon’s emotional state gives her a clear signal that the day of his heir’s death may not be the best time to deal with governmental issues.

So far, Alicent’s sudden change of heart and her attempts to hide what is really tormenting her serve as yet another proof of Aemond’s words about his mother still having love for the Greens’ enemies.

There’s not a single way to foresee how Alicent’s true feelings about Rhaenyra and the whole full-scale war will play out, but, while still being an unspoken leader for her team, she now seems to be the one with an ability to make all the tables turn thus leading the show in a completely different direction.

Considering House of the Dragon’s weird concept to stay away from George R.R. Martin’s novel in many aspects, I wouldn’t sweep this thought aside for a while now.