House of the Dragon‘s unreliable source material has always been the show’s biggest creative asset. The Dance of the Dragons in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood is a story told by questionable sources with their own biases and agendas. That ambiguity, which often leads to conflicting and incomplete accounts, gives the prequel incredible, justifiable freedom for an adaptation. A clearly faulty historical tale has allowed the show to fill-in gaps, answer major questions, and change the specifics of key events. But after the series’ season two finale, it’s clear this show is not giving viewers its own version of Martin’s story. Alicent offering up her son’s life to end the war and set herself free in House of the Dragon‘s finale fundamentally changed the Dance of the Dragons as we know it.
Rhaenyra and Alicent are the very heart of Fire & Blood‘s Targaryen civil war. They are the driving forces behind the conflict, the ones most responsible for bringing fire and blood to the Realm. Despite being enemies, they do share one crucial trait. Both love their children beyond reproach and want to keep them safe.
In the book, Alicent fears Rhaenyra will have her children killed after becoming Queen. It’s not an unreasonable fear. She thinks Rhaenyra would see her half-siblings and their offspring as potential challenges who could be Viserys’ rightful heirs. Alicent has a lot of very fair reasons not to trust Rhaenyra at that point in their lives, so she, more than anyone, pushes to have Aegon named King instead.
House of the Dragon greatly altered Alicent’s motivations for supporting her son’s claim (something he notably didn’t even want!) when she misunderstood her husband’s final words on his deathbed. That confusion was a major change for both the character and the origins of the Dance. But it didn’t radically alter the overall story, instead only affecting Alicent’s arc. The rest of Viserys’ small council still planned to usurp the throne from Rhaenyra anyway, and Alicent agreed with them, just for a different reason.
The Dowager Queen showing up on Dragonstone to offer Rhaenyra the Iron Throne—at the cost of Aegon’s life no less—in exchange for her own freedom did radically change this story. That selfish capitulation upends the very foundation of George R.R. Martin’s Dance of the Dragons in ways no previous show changes have.
This is no longer the tale of two mothers willing to do anything to keep their children safe, resulting in a continent wide bloodbath. Alicent—following weeks of despair over her shortcomings as a mother— completely betrayed her single most understandable, most relatable, most redeeming quality, the one thing that bound her to her greatest enemy.
Alicent has betrayed all her loyal allies and House Hightower. She’s willing to let Aemond die in battle. And worst she is freely handing Aegon’s head to Rhaenyra on a platter. And for what? So she and her daughter can go free to live a life without responsibility. This is what Alicent’s entire life, every decision she ever made, has led to? Unreliable narrators can’t explain something that fundamentally different about this version of the Dance. Forget the details about this civil war, which were always nebulous. The prequel has upended the soul of the story, which was never in doubt.
You might think this Alicent and her offer makes for a more riveting story. Or you might hate everything about it. But no matter how you feel, there’s no questioning House of the Dragon is telling a fundamentally different tale than the one found in Fire & Blood, thanks to Alicent’s offer.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He hates but respects book Alicent. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.