House of the Dragon just nailed the Rhaenyra and Alicent fix we’ve been waiting for

You know the drill by now: spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 3 incoming, so if you don’t want anything ruined, look away.

Let’s talk about HBO’s House of the Dragon, the big, bloody Game of Thrones prequel everyone’s pretending not to be obsessed with. It’s based on George R.R. Martin’s ‘history’ book Fire & Blood – which is mostly a list of grim deaths, dragon stories, and a constant reminder that having blond hair in Westeros rarely ends well. The focus here, though, is really on two women running the show: Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). Their relationship—full of baggage, old wounds, and moments of actual affection—pretty much fuels this whole war. At least, that’s what the series wants us to believe.

When the Plot Gets a Bit Wobbly...

By the time we got to Season 2, the show was so desperate for more Rhaenyra-Alicent scenes that it started inventing ways to get them in the same room, even when that didn’t really make sense. In ‘The Burning Mill’, they had Rhaenyra—who, remember, is the most recognisable woman in the Seven Kingdoms—sneak into King’s Landing dressed as a septa just to surprise Alicent. Never mind that Rhaenyra was basically enemy number one, supposedly responsible for a horrific murder in Alicent’s family, and generally too famous to be subtle. It was a stretch, to put it mildly.

Then, at the tail end of Season 2, things got even more hand-wavy. Alicent somehow dodges a full-blown naval blockade, sails over to Dragonstone, and offers to help Rhaenyra take King’s Landing. Any sense of realism? Long gone. Unsurprisingly, fans were split on whether these big contrivances actually worked. (Hint: a lot of people thought they didn’t.)

Season 3 – Finally Using Common Sense

This series has now hit the reset button. The first two episodes of Season 3 were, by and large, a return to form—some rough edges still, but much better than watching grown women playing Westerosi hide-and-seek. Episode 3, ‘Rhaenyra Triumphant’, takes a more grounded approach. Now that Rhaenyra has actually seized King’s Landing and is trying out life as queen (not nearly as much fun as you’d imagine), it makes sense for Alicent and Rhaenyra to share scenes—it’s not a forced reunion anymore, given that Alicent is stuck as her (somewhat regal) hostage after fumbling an escape last episode.

With all the ridiculous sneaking around and secret boat rides off the table, the show can actually let these two just interact, like adults in the same castle. No more acrobatics to justify their conversations. They’re back to being two complicated women with years of shared history, now forced to coexist. There’s still heaps of mistrust—fair enough, considering everything that’s gone on—but there’s the ghost of their old friendship hanging about. You can actually believe it, finally.

Plot Finally Moves Forward—Thanks, Alicent

One other nice touch: Alicent’s actually useful again. She reveals to Rhaenyra that this valuable hostage Ormund Hightower (played by James Norton) supposedly handed over was, in fact, a decoy. So whatever sense of security the court was feeling? Out the window. Rhaenyra’s victory lap is immediately undermined—there’s still plenty of opposition smouldering outside the city walls.

'It is odd to be here with you,' Alicent tells Rhaenyra, sounding half-nostalgic and half-shell-shocked.

Odd, yes—but for once, narratively logical.