House of the Dragon Destroyed Alicent With a Single Bad Decision

Queen Alicent Hightower has been in hot water from the very beginning of House of the Dragon. Starting off as Rhaenyra's best friend (or, as many people suspect, more than a friend), she quickly turned into an archenemy for the Blacks.

This has not stopped "Rhaenicent" shippers from, well, shipping, but many people believe it was a huge mistake for House of the Dragon to focus on Rhaenyra and Alicent relationship as much as it did.

"Ageing down Alicent and making her besties with Rhaenyra was the worst decision they ever made. It has already done irreparable damage to the foundation of the story and will continue to do so throughout the remaining seasons," Twitter user rhaenyratrgryns said.

Other fans echoed the sentiment, arguing that House of the Dragon basically chose the worst way to explore the relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra by making them the same age.

"They could've done [something] so interesting with the [different] mother figures in Rhaneyra's life. Even with Alicent as her stepmother it didn't necessarily have to be antagonistic from the get go?? It would've been a much nuanced exploration of motherhood [and] gender than [whatever] this is," noted Twitter user realmsdelight02.

In the books, Alicent was more of a wicked stepmother than a traitor best friend to Rhaenyra; and many people still believe that the show should have rolled with this scenario. Instead, the series turned Alicent into a "daddy brain dead, sad and lonely puppet" that is manipulated into basically everything she does.

Now it's too late to change things for Alicent, as House of the Dragon is heading into its second season which is due to start filming in March. The premiere date is yet to be scheduled by HBO.