THOUGHTS ON S2 ALICENT AND HOW EVERYONE IS WRONG ABOUT HER.
Now that I've had some time to process and review. Here are my final thoughts/ hot takes. Some of these will probs conflict with my initial reactions to thing.
It wasn't a mischaracterisation of Alicent to abandon Aegon and Aemond, considering she never liked them to begin with. Which is literally the reason behind Aegon and Aemond being dysfunctional; her love was given conditionally. She only ever defended them against Rhaenyra, meaning she didn't bother to actually form loving relationships with her sons outside of projecting Otto's ambitions onto them.
She was ALWAYS a hypocrite. Her fucking Cole, even though yes it was annoying as fuck - is pretty in line with her characterisation. She literally let Larys wank to her feet in exchange for his loyalty/ her having more subliminal power. Remember how...she ostensibly gave Larys the green light to like murder Ser Harwin... and then attempt to murder Mysaria... yea...
Her idea of virtue was literally only ever used to maintain the idea of superiority over Rhaenyra/a justification to usurp the throne. It was never a real value of hers. It makes sense she'd abandon it when she is rendered powerless. Because it makes no difference either way to her.
Alicent may be a victim of the Patriarchy, but equally she is 100000% an abuser and an enforcer of Patriarchy. I won't elaborate. It's clear.
It also isn't out of character for her to not give a fuck about Jaehaerys either. Considering she massively projects her own trauma onto Helaena, and in general projects herself onto Helaena. She hasn't spent much time at all with the kid... like ever. And hardly even spends time with Helaena? She also like... willingly ignores Daeron.
It makes sense that Alicent probably feels little connection to Jaehaerys by virtue of the fact she seems to struggle with connecting to her sons. And Jaehaerys is an extension of Aegon and also of the crown.
Alicent has to an extent been traumatised by Targaryen men. All of which lean in to their "Targaryenness".
Helaena who, doesn't ride Dreamfyre (which annoys the fuck outta me that they made this choice). Seems to have little interest in her own House, thus is the most removed from being a Targaryen and to Alicent, is more aligned with herself.
So all in all, it makes sense why Alicent would basically be like "fuck them all but Helaena."
I think Alicent is deeply traumatised by the male dominated world. And in order to survive she had to adopt the qualities she knows men expect of women in order to maintain a level of power/control she had. Her entire life has been gaining power through the proximity of men and being used by them. She used virtue as a way to protect herself and maintain a level of power. That's why she opposes Rhaenyra, because Alicent has convinced herself that this is the reason she has cultivated her position. Because she is righteous. And Rhaenyra (whom is not righteous or virtuous) does not deserve to rule because of it.
However, once Aegon is on the throne, she realised that it was never her virtue which gave her power but her PROXIMITY TO POWERFUL MEN, WHICH DID - this entire farce collapses. She realises that the mask she wore means nothing. The entire identity she built herself around means nothing. She was never a good mother and she knows it. That's why she can turn around and abandon Aegon and Aemond. She made monsters who she can't control and she doesn't even want to. She'd rather abandon the Targaryens altogether and dissociate herself then face the fact SHE FUCKED UP. And... she legit did that throughout season 1 to... so....
Remember how Helaena said she didn't want Jaehaerys to be King? It's because even Helaena is aware of the dangers being on the throne causes. She knows her son would constantly be under threat and also living a life of despair. She just wants him to be happy because she loves him.
Alicent? On the other hand, literally hears Aegon SAY he doesn't want the crown. Literally hears how miserable he is once he has it. And basically doesn't give a fuck because her ambitions come before his wellbeing. She literally has never been a loving mother. She may have loved Aemond and Aegon deep down. But she wasn't loving. People for some reason think the two are mutually exclusive and they aren't. Abusive people can love you. But they can only love to the capacity they know how.
To Alicent, abandoning her sons is probably the most loving thing she can do. That way they can be free of her, and she can be free of them.
Think about it this way, if your sons were like... genuinely lowkey diabolical, would you stand by them without question?
If the first was a known rapist, enjoyed watching kids being beaten, treated his wife like shit, neglected his kids, spent most of his time drunk and having sex with prostitutes, tormented his younger brother etc; how positive would you feel about him?
If the second was a known maniacal edgelord who killed his own nephew, then tried to kill his brother, then also killed his cousin and then..... also lowkey committed genocide, etc; how positive would you feel about him?
Oh and they were both kinda misogynists?
In the real world, the mothers of fucked up men won't stand by their sons. Some do, but society has agreed those mothers are fucked up for being enablers.
Why do we expect Alicent to love her sons unconditionally, when she literally never did?
The problem isn't her arc, the problem is that the writers didn't actually explore the Green properly this season in order to allow us to understand Alicent. We saw so little of the Greens interacting with each other and so little of their dynamics that... in contrast to S1 Alicent, yea it does feel like they fucked up her character. But they didn't. They just sped run through her arc.
People comparing Ceresi to Alicent are greatly missing the point of Ceresi too. Whom was a raging narcissist - though yes she loved her children. She loved them because they were an extension of her and Jamie entirely. And her love for them meant she enabled Joffrey to become a fucking psychopath. Which again, is what the Patriarchy expects of women. It expects them to stand by men regardless of what they do. It expects them to be good and loyal. But Alicent is neither of those things and she never really was. Alicent is ALLOWED to be a bad mother. And she is ALLOWED to subvert our expectations of what a good mother should be. It's not anti feminist to let Alicent
I don't think it's a bad choice to have Alicent slowly start to develop reservations about the war. The only person who shouldn't of had those reservations is Rhaenyra.
The problem truly was, everything was so rushed, we didn't get the time to spend to see Alicent's arc develop properly. But all in all, like... I think people just be mad because, they are projecting their own ideals of womanhood and motherhood onto her. She is a victim, but she is also the abuser. And that's pretty much standard with the Greens. Both Aegon and Aemonds are both both victims and abusers too. That's legit what makes the Greens SOOOOO interesting.
