House of the Dragon: Are Rhaenyra and Alicent in Love?
The "House of the Dragon" Cast on the Queer Tension Between Rhaenyra and Alicent in Episode 1
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Watch out! This post contains spoilers.
"House of the Dragon," the new "Game of Thrones" spinoff that premiered 21 Aug. on HBO, is all about the relationship between Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) and Lady Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey). The duo open up to POPSUGAR about the connection between the two characters in the first episode of the series.
Carey says any queer subtext between the pair was definitely purposeful on the actors' part. "It's definitely something we were conscious of, something that we brought up with Clare Kilner, one of the directors, our female director, that we got to work with as the younger version of the characters," Carey explains. "It was something I was immediately conscious of when I read the script, as a queer woman myself, I was like, hey, they're kind of in love a little bit."
"But I think something we played around with is the closeness of young girls like that," she continued. "I think any woman could think back to the best friend that they had at 14 years old, and it's a relationship and a closeness unlike any other where you toe the line between platonic and romantic." Carey says she thinks a lot of girls that age wouldn't be able to exactly identify their feelings for their close friend.
"It's like a tactile closeness and emotional closeness," they explain. In the first episode, the pair are often touching, and Rhaenyra even rests with her head in Alicent's lap. Carey adds that part of their closeness also comes from being the "only two young girls" in the Red Keep, especially after Aemma's death.
Alcock and Carey agree that the two women don't have many options when it comes to their relationship, though. "[Alicent] doesn't really have a choice in anything, whether it's man, woman, which man, at all," Carey says. "Something else we played around with throughout the show is that the jealousy between the two girls when it comes to talking about marriage and men, that I don't know whether it's they're jealous that the other is going to find a closeness with someone else or if it is a queer thing."
Alcock adds, "These women aren't given the privilege to know what choices they have because of the world that they live in. And I think that's the theme that runs through this entire story, and Alicent and Rhaenyra's relationship is a prime example of that."
