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“How did you bear it?”

The fact that Daeron looks like the son of a young Rhaenyra and Alicent would be…

Alicent and Rhaenyra remain true to themselves, disguising their own feelings through conversations about Viserys. Instead of speaking directly about what they feel, they repeatedly take the detour of saying things like, “Your father would have… wanted…” Episode 4 offers another striking example when Rhaenyra personally delivers Otto’s ring to Alicent.

The camera lingers on the women’s hands for so long that the moment feels far more intimate and emotionally charged than the surface-level situation (two women who are officially enemies, one of whom executed the other’s father) would seem to warrant. Rhaenyra could easily have sent someone else to return the ring, but she chose to do it herself. After assuring Alicent earlier in the episode that she would have spared Daeron, this is the second time she signals that Alicent’s thoughts and feelings still matter to her.

More than that, Rhaenyra continues to seek Alicent out, even when there is seemingly little to gain from doing so. Amid the chaos of the Red Keep, Alicent has become something like a refuge or place of longing... A reminder of a different time, when everything was different. But Rhaenyra approaches her cautiously. After handing over the ring, she lingers for a few seconds, visibly torn over whether she can, should, or wants to say something more - until she notices Helaena and abandons the thought. She leaves, and we watch her walk away entirely from Alicent’s perspective, step by step. You almost want to call out on Alicent’s behalf: “Rhaenyra! Wait!” But Alicent remains silent and lets the moment slip away. It is quintessentially them.

At the moment, Alicent is the more defensive of the two. Yet she repeatedly reveals that Rhaenyra’s presence still affects her. When, in Episode 3, she - who so rarely smiles - remarks with a smile, “It is odd to be here with you.” The line lands somewhere between irony, disbelief, and wistful nostalgia.

The air between them feels heavy with caution. And understandably so. Alicent wants to protect Helaena, and no matter how much she may wish things were different, Rhaenyra remains a potential threat. What if circumstances change? What if the Queen decides or is forced to demand more heads? Alicent has every reason to stay guarded.

And yet, with every episode, the two women have moved a little closer together - both emotionally and physically. From being separated by the distance between King’s Landing and Dragonstone, to sharing space in the Red Keep, and now meeting in Alicent’s bedchamber, with Alicent in her nightgown. It is a steady escalation of intimacy.

The ring itself is, of course, loaded with symbolism. On the surface, it is simply Otto Hightower’s ring - a reminder of Alicent’s complicated and deeply painful relationship with her father. A reminder of where everything began, of how different things once were, but also of the patriarchal path that ultimately shaped both of their lives.

But rings also carry another layer of meaning. They symbolize eternity, love, loyalty and commitment. Once again, the emotional depth between these two women is concealed beneath relicts of their fathers. They hide what they cannot say behind the language of duty and family.

Sometimes I wonder whether they actually understand the messages they keep sending each other - or whether, out of sheer caution, they remain almost completely in the dark about their own feelings…

Perhaps they will never find the courage to put those feelings into words. Perhaps what exists between them will always remain hidden behind fathers, duty, crowns, and war.

But the series gives them away. Again and again. Through lingering glances, restrained touches, shared silences and the way the camera frames them together.

olivia cooke as alicent hightower