The sad secret of Alicent Hightower, Rhaenyra’s young stepmother in “House of the Dragon”

One of the most surprising moments of the second episode of House of the Dragon It was when King Viserys chose Alicent Hightower as his next wife.. The daughter of the king’s hand has fulfilled her role in her father’s plans. And what was seen in her second broadcast was not her only attempt to seduce the monarch, in addition, the wounds she has on her fingers mean more than we can believe.

Alicent’s story begins long before the reign of King Viserys. This begins during the reign of Jaehaerys I (The Conciliator), since he appointed Otto Hightower as his hand, which led his family to move to King’s landing. From then on Otto’s influence begins to grow.

The story goes that Alicent became involved at a very young age when she was assigned to care for King Jaehaerys I, who was losing his mental faculties by that time; so she spent all her time with him, even she helped him bathe and dress. Therefore, the person closest to the then king in the last moments of her life was her.

Did you know that in the time when the king was not in his power to rule, it fell to the king’s hand to handle the affairs of the seven kingdoms? Even the hand of the king has the authorization to sit on the Iron Throne and surely Hightower did it, since this man has always yearned for power, so much so that he once said that the gods have not created a man like him don’t be patient to get it. However, he had to see how Viserys was crowned and from that moment he began to manipulate him.

As with “The Conciliator”, Alicent gains Viserys’s trust, however, that approach was never desired by her. The young Hightower is being forced by her father and the biggest evidence that shows the mental state of the girl is her hands, which she hurts herself.

Otto also asks Alicent to wear her deceased mother’s clothes in order to look more grown up. Apparently, her father’s mission with her was to seduce one of the kings, and she did it with the most manipulable Targaryen in history.

Alicent has never had control over decisions in her life and she couldn’t even take it out on her best friend, Rhaenyra. So, the only way she found to calm down was by biting her fingers. She could not disobey her father, nor could she disobey the king’s orders. Therefore, just like her friend, her princess, she has always found herself trapped.

Now, in the third episode of the series, it was possible to observe how all the responsibility of being queen fell before her shoulders. But soon Alicent will use all those abilities to her advantage. She has not had life as easy as that of other princesses of the kingdom, and it is worth remembering it for the upcoming events.

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