The best change House of the Dragon ever made from George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood was making Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) childhood friends.
The pair's new shared history and love for each other made their eventual enmity hurt even more, as these two fierce companions were torn apart and pitted against each other by the male-led systems of power in Westeros. As a result, any scenes they shared crackled with thorny resentment, not just at each other, but at the fact that they'll never be so close again.
It's devastating, then, that Rhaenyra and Alicent are separated for House of the Dragon Season 2. The two remain far behind the battle lines drawn at the end of Season 1, with Alicent in King's Landing and Rhaenyra on Dragonstone.
Yet even though the pair are far apart, they're still clearly on each other's minds. For example, in the Season 2 premiere, we learn that Alicent has been sending Rhaenyra ravens in the wake of Lucerys' (Elliot Grihault) death.
Outside of their characters' actions, House of the Dragon also makes sure to link Alicent and Rhaenyra on a craft level. While speaking at a June 3 House of the Dragon press conference, showrunner Ryan Condal mentioned that "in the editing [process], we found ways to connect [Alicent and Rhaenyra]. If you see Alicent going through something deep and emotional, and you cut to Rhaenyra, there is a kind of filmmaking decision there."
The clearest example of these editing connections in the Season 2 premiere is the scene in which Rhaenyra and her family burn a funeral pyre for Lucerys. The episode intercuts between this sequence and Alicent going to pray in the sept in King's Landing. There, she lights candles to remember the dead, including her mother Alerie Florent and the late King Viserys (Paddy Considine). She hesitates for a moment, then, when Rhaenyra places the last of Lucerys' belongings on the fire, Alicent lights a candle for Lucerys as well. The gesture, as small as it may be, transcends wartime aggression. It's a way for Alicent to commiserate with Rhaenyra as a former friend, and as a mother herself.
The candle-lighting and pyre sequence links Rhaenyra and Alicent not just through editing, but also through imagery. Both their respective mourning rituals involve fire, yet they're still distinct enough that we recognize them as stemming from Targaryen culture or the Faith of the Seven. Similarly, the entire episode has set Rhaenyra and Alicent up as outliers in their respective camps, albeit in slightly different ways. Alicent urges caution while her sons Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) hunger for war. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra grieves the loss of her son even as her uncle/husband Daemon (Matt Smith) champs at the bit to retaliate against Team Green.
The moments in which Rhaenyra and Alicent mourn Lucerys are among the calmest of the episode, a beat for both women to collect themselves and process the consequences of all their actions that have led to this point. Choosing to edit them together here reminds us that even though they are physically apart, they are deeply, inseparably connected — and their dynamic remains House of the Dragon's bleeding heart.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.
