If this is to end in fire

... But in my opinion, almost nothing is as grating as Helaena's characterization.

Rhaenyra and Alicent, for all their handling is abysmal, do have a sort of guideline, at least on paper. Rhaenyra wants the throne: crying every two minute, yes, acting as she's a Geneva convention expert in an ultra feudalistic world, all right, but at least she has a goal she's moving towards. Alicent is an idiot and an hypocrite on an almost pathological level, but she wants to "be at least myself (...) die free and unnoticed" (how she wants to do that in practice is a discussion for another day), which is... underwhelming, but still something.

What the fuck does Helaena want?

She's not a Cassandra figure; she never tries to act on her visions or even warn those around her. She's too little tormented for the reference to stick. She's not a grieving mother, because it's one thing to express grief in an unconventional way, it's another to shrug your child's brutal death because "children die". She doesn't want to burn innocents but doesn't ever advocate herself for peace. She's not a dragonrider despite having a dragon. Aemond is treated as a monster for the crime of asking her a perfectly reasonable thing - help him fight against the side responsible for her boy's murder. She wants to keep chicken, because apparently anything with more layers than that is too far beyond the scope of her Neuro divergent mind.

The dreamer arc they explored for her on the show? Not explored. Her relationship to motherhood, Queenship, partnership, familial relationships? Non existent.

She's there only to spout the occasional spoiler, and be the mouthpiece for the writers. See, the most innocent character on the show is totally fine with her mother selling out her family and faction to the wife of the guy who had her son beheaded. That means they deserve it and Rhaenyra is morally righteous!

Now, as many things in HOTD- in theory, it's not bad as a concept. You can build a character around the idea of them giving a face to the collateral damage. AOT does this decently enough in more occasions (never mind the other issues I have with that story). Characters are not people, they exist to convey a thematic thesis.

But they should still FEEL like real people.

And real people are always something that goes beyond their victimhood.

Helaena doesn't. There's no way to deduce what she feels or thinks about anything happening around her. Does she despise Aegon? Who knows. Does she blame Aemond for his part in her child's butchering? Your guess is as good as mine. Did she even register witnessing her mother sleeping with ser Criston? If so, what did it mean for her? The fourth secret of Fatima.

middle-earth meme: eight characters (5/8) — thorin oakenshield

“The show must go on, Satine. We’re creatures of the underworld. We can’t afford to love.”

We’re supposed to view Helaena agreeing with Alicent as proof that her decision to betray the Greens is completely justified.

Problem is C&H have written Helaena to be a simpleton, not a voice of reason and common sense. This isn’t even me being rude, it’s a fact. By implying she’s on the spectrum (in the most ableist way imaginable I might add) they have created a character who views the world through the eyes of a child and has no concept of the real world.

Helaena has only known a life of wealth and privilege, her romanticising the idea that she can “keep chickens” is the exact same poverty porn Marie Antoinette did with her fake village. Neither queen knows the first thing about keeping chickens or living in abstract poverty, it’s just play pretend for them.

So this scene doesn’t actually prove Alicent right, instead it highlights just how stupid she truly is to genuinely think two noblewomen with 0 life skills could hack it in the real world.