Everyone needs to choose a side in House of the Dragon Season 2. There are many who believe the same as Alicent Hightower. That belief is that Aegon is the rightful King of Westeros.
As the Green Trailer for the season reminds us, Alicent believes that Viserys made it clear that he wanted Aegon to sit on the Iron Throne. Initially, Viserys had made it clear that Rhaenyra was his heir, but Alicent shares that Viserys had a change of heart on his deathbed.
That wasn’t really the case, but it’s easy to understand why she believes that. She didn’t realize that Viserys wasn’t actually talking to her.
Where Alicent got it wrong in House of the Dragon
Alicent believes that Viserys told her that Aegon should be king. She thinks that he believed he “got it wrong” when it came to who would sit on the Iron Throne after him.
In Alicent’s mind, Viserys was sharing how he realized the people of Westeros wouldn’t accept a queen on the throne. That would mean, as his eldest son, Aegon would end up ruling. It was an understandable mistake, and we can’t actually blame her for believing that her son should sit on the throne.
The problem is that Viserys didn’t realize who he was speaking to at the time of his death. He didn’t realize it was Alicent in the room. He believed Rhaenyra was still there, and the “got it wrong” remarks were about the prophecy of the Prince Who Is Promised.
Alicent had no idea about the prophecy in House of the Dragon. She has no idea about the dagger and the rumors of the White Walkers north of The Wall. It’s only natural that she overlooked some of what she would have considered ramblings and focused on how he likely got it wrong about who should be his heir. Had Alicent known about the prophecy and everything Viserys and Rhaenyra had talkedabout in the past, she would have realized that it was never about Aegon.
Viserys never did change his mind. He believed his daughter should be the next queen. And while at first, she may have been the right person, it’s clear that vengeance is clouding her. This is going to be a bloody civil war.
House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres on Sunday, June 16 on HBO.