How would she know what a healthy household looks like?

The Targaryens are not a normal family, and they never will be, I have no doubt about that. In fact, the deeper the show goes and explores all the dynamics between the characters, the more excited I am to see how tangled and messed up all these relationships are. It would have been horrifying in real life, but it’s great entertainment on TV.

However, the second episode of House of the Dragon season 2 unexpectedly made people turn away from Alicent even more than I expected. As a proud member of Team Black, I cannot be too upset about this, but Alicent Hightower deserves credit where credit is due. She is not as bad of a mother as many people think she is.

Does Alicent Love Her Children?

Compared to Rhaenyra, who never misses an opportunity to spend time with her children, comfort them, and show them her love, Alicent seems more distant as a mother, and the most recent episode proved this to be true.

Instead of comforting her grieving daughter, Alicent tried to have a conversation about her and Ser Criston Cole. Instead of comforting her tearful son, she simply walked away (to have sex with Ser Criston Cole…). However, this is not the ‘gotcha’ moment that many Team Black fans think it is, but rather a logical extension of her character.

While both girls lost their mothers early in life, their fathers were very different. While Viserys certainly made some mistakes, he loved Rhaenyra unconditionally and proved his love over and over again. Otto Hightower, on the other hand, used his daughter as a means to put the Hightowers on the Iron Throne from the time she was a teenager.

Not only did Alicent become queen as a child on Otto’s orders, but she was also pressured to have children with the king. Since there was no pleasure in that, Aegon, Aemond, Helaena, and Daeron, all four of her children with Viserys, were probably unwanted in the first place, and raising them was hard work rather than pleasure.

From fighting fiercely to avenge Aemond’s eye, to stepping in front of Aegon to protect him from Rhaenys’ dragon at the coronation, to trying to comfort Helaena in the carriage at the funeral procession, Alicent has proven time and again that she is a good mother. The best she could be, given the circumstances in which she grew up.

Perhaps if her own father hadn’t pushed her away and dismissed her opinions, she wouldn’t have dumped years of generational trauma on her own children’s shoulders. But then again, House of the Dragon would have been a much more boring show if the Targaryens were a normal, functioning family.

If you are just as intrigued by what is about to happen in the next House of the Dragon episode as I am, be sure to tune in to HBO or Max this Sunday.