#hotd analysis

Alicent, on her part, spends the entire episode issuing commands under borrowed authority: Helaena's, and whatever influence she can still claim as Dowager Queen. In doing so, she is forced to confront the fragility of power when it's not truly your own. I would argue that it's here when she comes closest to understanding Rhaenyra and the impossible burden of legitimizing her rule as a woman, and the necessity of gathering every ally, every ounce of support, simply to remain standing.

laenor -> probably the least egregious of these, a convenient plot device. still, in the show, a caring husband/father who made a clear commitment to rhaenyra, becomes a dude who abandons his kids to scrutiny and dies off screen.

laena -> very close/potentially homoerotic friendship and in general an important confidante to rhaenyra? nope. lets give that to alicent, so that later in life rhaeynra can have exactly 0 positive female relationships!

baela -> the "best" treated of the dragon twins in the sense that she gets about 0.5 seconds of positive screen time, is shown as a capable dragon rider and jace's betrothed. do we see any of that loving relationship? nope! in general, absolutely 0 character development or portrayal of her desires.

rhaena -> first 2 seasons: no dragon, no characterization, no well-styled hair even. season 3: let's axe a canon black female character, replace her with rhaena, and blame jace's death and rhaenyra's ensuing mental instability on her!!

beyond that, all of the other team black kids get shafted as well. aegon and viserys might as well not exist. luke is a bully for some reason, so we can feel bad for his unhinged murderer uncle. jace, by far considered the most capable/respected of anybody on either side of the war (by literally everyone in the realm), is a whiny kid who can't fight compared to aemond, can't speak valyrian, rebels against his mom, and dies after undermining her authority. legit the only character on team green who gets this disregard is daeron.

The whole truth and nothing but the truth!

Making house Valaryon black wasn't that big of a problem inherently, even if it made Rhaenyra's kids look more suspicious, as long as they gave Rhaenys a black haired wig instead of that fuckass silver one. But they didn't! And they deliberately made Strong kids' entire personality being bastards! When nobody actually gave a fuck about that in the books except team Green because they needed to spread slander and undermine Rhaenyra's rightful claim.

Laenor was alright. But Laena...They made Rhaenyra make out with every woman in her vicinity except the woman she actually loved! And Laena was made into a secondary choice for Daemon compared to Rhaenyra, and her screen time was spent on her talking about it, instead of showing how Daemon and Laena loved each other and their kids!

Rhaena and Nettles...They really said well look she's also black, what does it matter.

Baela was established to be brave and a capable rider...But once again, her screen time was spent on placating Jace, which brings us back to the main problem - Jace was not a whiny rebellious teenager!

How tf was Aemond given a tragic backstory and so much time was spent on exploring his sexuality, bullying and mommy issues, when Jace gathered the support of the entire North, the Vale, and the crossing with Freys, and it was never mentioned again?! Daemon spent the whole season trying to gather an army in Riverlands alone! Jace got half of the kingdoms on their side, and he was still treated like an inexperienced child acting on emotions! Meanwhile, Daemon whined and was conflicted about his loyalty the whole season (another derivation from the books and waste of time), and he's still looked as badass!

Larys Strong and Shakespeare's Richard III

Exactly, everything she despite about herself she sees on Aegon and Aemond. Aegon her softness and emotional side that she sees as weakness. Aemond is her vengefulness and rage that she find ugly. She loves and despite them both for it.

Harwin had nothing to lose by pursuing and sleeping with Rhaenyra. He actually had much to gain. His blood on the throne. An excuse of protecting her so he wouldn't have to marry yet. And even better treatment because he was the lover of the "heir". On top of this he could still end it with Rhaenyra and find a wife and have legitimate children. Plus he was from a respected and pretty powerful/influential house. He had something to fall back on. He could have fun and still do his duty to his family. And if they were caught there is a possibility he would be executed but seeing as he was the son of the Hand he more than like likely would've been either sent to the wall or exiled from the Capitol. Nothing serious, certainly not death.

Criston on the other hand? Yeah if he did pursue Rhaenyra beyond what they did he was screwed, especially if they were caught. He made vows to never marry, never own lands, never have children, and never break their chastity after these vows. If he had still been with Rhaenyra after this he would've been executed for breaking his vows, not even for the fact he had bastards with the "heir". Criston also didn't have a great back up plan beyond the Kingsguard. He was the son of a steward of a small house. No one knew of him or his family until he beat Daemon in that tourney. He was no one, and so to throw that away so his guard could have her fun wasn't fair in the slightest.

It’s even more impactful in his death, and his motivations. Rhaenyra reduced Jace’s desire to act as him simply wanting to protect his own claim to the throne out of misunderstanding.

While Jace really wanted to protect his mother’s claim, and in turn, his own. So that they may carry out Aegon’s dream and fulfill their purpose. To be told something SO grandiose intensified Jace’s eagerness to fight for their place in the prophecy. To be seen acting for their claim.

No one will fight harder for Rhaenyra's claim, and Aegon's dream, than the people closest to her who know it: Daemon and Jacaerys. They both believe with every fiber of their being that Rhaenyra is meant to be on the throne.