Alicent Hightower’s green dress explained

We’re officially past the halfway point in House of the Dragon season 1, and Episode 5, “We Light The Way,” was a big one. In many ways it served almost as a mid-season finale for the series, since after this week major characters like Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower will be replaced with older actors following a 10-year time jump. The episode featured a royal wedding of grand proportions…and we all know how those tend to go in Westeros.

The peak drama of the evening was undoubtedly the horrific murder of Laenor Velaryon’s paramour Ser Joffrey Lonmouth at the hands of Ser Criston Cole. Yet that was far from the only way the pot got stirred at Rhaenyra and Laenor’s wedding.

Daemon Targaryen may have sauntered in uninvited, but it was Alicent HIghtower who took the crown for the most dramatic entrance. Arriving just as King Viserys began his welcome speech, Alicent interrupted the proceedings when she strode into the hall in a flowing green gown that put even Rhaenyra’s wedding dress to shame.

As it turns out, that dress holds an awful lot of significance beyond its sleek design.

The meaning behind Alicent Hightower’s green dress

There are a few layers to Alicent’s choice of garb that we have to peel back. The first is the one the show tells us plainly: when House Hightower calls its banners for war, they light a green flame atop the actual Hightower in Oldtown, from which House Hightower gets its name. Alicent isn’t outright calling for war here, far from it. But considering how often she’s worn Targaryen reds throughout the season, and that she just discovered Rhaenyra lied to her about losing her virginity, she is drawing a line in the sand. This is Alicent declaring, in a subtle yet powerful way, that she is now standing for her own house and interests first and foremost. She no longer trusts Rhaenyra, and will not support her claim over her own son Aegon’s.

The meaning behind the dress goes even deeper, and to get it all we have to look at George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, on which House of the Dragon is based. During the coming civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, the factions are split into two sides which are commonly known as the “blacks,” who support Rhaenyra; and the “greens,” who support Alicent Hightower’s son Aegon II Targaryen.

In Fire & Blood, King Viserys and Alicent hold a great tourney to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. By then, however, she and Rhaenyra have already been on frosty terms for quite some time, which is different than the show. This event marks the real beginning of their very public divide:

"At the opening feast, the queen wore a green gown, whilst the princess dressed dramatically in Targaryen red and black. Note was taken, and thereafter it became custom to refer to “greens” and “blacks” when talking of the queen’s party and the party of the princess, respectively."

House of the Dragon took a cue from this, and had Alicent display her green dress early in order to set up this eventual plot point. We don’t know for sure whether we’ll ever see that dinner where she and Rhaenyra dress in their trademark colors, but given this image it seems likely that it’s on the way:

House of the Dragon premieres new episodes on HBO and HBO Max Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. CT.

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