Women have always been front and center in HBO's House of the Dragon, and by "front and center," I mean constantly pushed to the side. Despite having every possible qualification — blood, disposition, talent, experience, law, and tradition — House of the Dragon's lead women are constantly kept from exercising the full power they would have it they sat the Iron Throne. However, House of the Dragon goes beyond merely depicting misogynistic realities. It gives viewers a glimpse of what the people of Westeros are missing out on by failing to elevate women like Alicent Hightower or Rhaenyra Targaryen to the Iron Throne. In doing so, the show asks viewers to consider what we're missing out on by failing to elevate more women into the highest positions of power in our world.
Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
In the show's opening sequence, King Jaehaerys Targaryen calls a council where the lords of Westeros must vote on one of two potential heirs to the Iron Throne: his grandson Viserys or his granddaughter Rhaenys. Unsurprisingly, Viserys inherits the throne even though, as we learn later, he never wished for it. Rhaenys, on the other hand, had the "blood" and "temperament" to rule.
The lords overlooking Rhaenys is something of the original sin in House of the Dragon. Because Rhaenys becomes "The Queen Who Never Was," there is no precedent for Rhaenyra, Viserys' daughter, when Viserys names her heir to the Iron Throne. Everyone assumes the Seven Kingdoms will descend into war and upheaval because no woman has ever inherited the crown before. Spoiler alert: They do. When Viserys dies, the Hightowers orchestrate a coup to put Viserys' son Aegon on the throne instead of Rhaenyra, plunging the realm into "The War That Never Quite Happens" (at least until Season 3...presumably).
AND because bad things come in threes, after Rhaenys is passed over for the crown and Rhaenyra is withheld from it, the final female contender — Alicent Hightower — misses out on her opportunity to sit the Iron Throne. Technically, Alicent is the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and effectively ruled when her late husband Viserys was in failing health. Unfortunately, the members of the Small Council treat her previous service as if all she had to do was keep a casserole warm. When the opportunity arises to lead her kingdom in wartime, the council pushes her aside in favor of her son, Aemond.
When the Small Council rejects Alicent's bid to serve as regent in place of her injured son Aegon, some justify their decision by saying the situation calls for a military mind, someone whose talents will help them wage war. And Larys Strong admits to another reason, asking, "What would it say if, in response to Rhaenyra's crowning, we raised up a woman of our own?"
With his question, Larys acknowledges that prejudice started the war and prejudice is required to continue it. In doing so, the greens commit to subjecting the citizens of the Seven Kingdoms to violence, starvation, dragonfire, and death in order to maintain a tradition of misogyny. In this moment, the series makes it painfully clear what the citizens of King's Landing and all of Westeros are missing out on by not embracing a woman as their ruler: peace.
Peace, however, doesn't make for great television, and as we watch Rhaenyra and Alicent maneuver through treachery and prepare for war, we catch glimpses of the way they think, the way they rule, and the way they live. We see two women who are undeniably strong and courageous, but not because they successfully rise to the expectations of men or masculinity. Rather, Rhaenyra and Alicent have strengths and concerns that are far more likely to reflect women's experiences than men's, and both exemplify the advantage of using such attributes in positions of power.
Throughout season 2, Rhaenyra thinks often of her son Jacaerys and the obligation she feels to him both as mother and queen. For her, those duties are inextricably linked. Being a good mother means being a good queen, and vice versa. In "Smallfolk," the sixth episode of season 2, Rhaenyra asks the question, "How will I rule a kingdom when my own son doubts me?" Ruling a kingdom and parenting a child (especially a sulky, narrow-minded whiner like Jace) are obviously two different things, but Rhaenyra paints us a picture of a leader who feels her obligation to her subjects as intensely as her obligation to her own children. I want leaders who think like that.
Rhaenyra reminds us that, even in 2024, the physical and mental duties of parenting, caretaking, and educating disproportionately fall on women, and so it is women who are far more likely to be influened by these experiences in positions of power. Rhaenyra's character is shaped so much by being a girl (and then a woman) in a man's world, but the way she defies the traditions around her (and her own archetype) reminds us when we keep women from power we cut ourselves off from leaders who are most likely to think and act with the next generation's best interest in mind.
One could argue Alicent is the most effective character in the entire series. No one else gets stuff done as well as her. Unfortunately for her and the realm, "stuff" includes seducing, wedding, and bedding a man three times her age, reinforcing her son Aegon's illegitimate claim to the throne, and enlisting the surveillance expertise of a man with a foot fetish. Alicent endures these and numerous other indignities in service to her House and family.
"Effective" may not be a uniquely female experience or attribute, but last time I checked, the role of "worry so much about everyone else you cater to their needs to the detriment of your physical and emotional well-being and/or career ambitions" isn't one that generally falls to men. That's Alicent. And while that means her character is in many ways tragic (thus far), it also means she constantly makes us ask, What if? What if her father Otto weren't willing to manipulate his own daughter in service of his ambition? What if Alicent chose power for herself instead of for her son, Aegon? What if the people around her operated with the same kind of caution in the midst of chaos?
When Alicent and the Greens usurp the throne from Rhaenyra, Alicent confronts Rhaenys, The Queen Who Never Was. She asks Rhaenys to pledge her allegiance to Aegon. In this (awesome) scene, Rhaenys gives Alicent a long, penetrating stare, as if truly seeing her for the first time. Finally, she says, "You are wiser than I believed you to be, Alicent Hightower." There is surprise in Rhaenys' voice, but there's something else, too: admiration. Even though Rhaenys eventually flees King's Landing and sides with Rhaenyra, in that moment she seems to treat Alicent as an equal, as another woman kept from the fullness of her power. Later in the scene, Rhaenys approaches Alicent and whispers, "Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?" The words are a question, but they sound more like an invitation. There's a sense that if Alicent didn't just walk away, if she said, "Yes. I want the Iron Throne for myself," Rhaenys would have helped put her there.
Rhaenys, Alicent, and Rhaenyra are all pushed to the side, denied the power and influence they have earned and are — in their world — literally entitled to. There is only one Iron Throne, but there are many opportunities in this world to imagine women as leaders. House of the Dragon does its part by showing us three queens guided more by care and wisdom than power and influence. In doing so, it begs the question, What would it say if we raised up more women of our own?
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