Why did Rhaenyra not kill Alicent? There are numerous political, superstitious, and personal reasons why Rhaenyra did not kill Alicent during the House of the Dragon coronation.
House of the Dragon contains many of the same features that Game of Thrones fans adored, but it also has its own unique plots.
Although Rhaenyra’s plot differs from the novel, her decision not to kill Alicent when she emerged with her dragon at the coronation demonstrates that her decisions and character development are still as nuanced as they are in the books.
Is House Of The Dragon As Good As Game Of Thrones?
Although around 9.986 million viewers came in across all of HBO’s linear and streaming channels to watch the premiere of the much-anticipated Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, it was still unknown whether this program would be as excellent as or as popular as its predecessor.
Fortunately, House of the Dragon appears to be holding its own. Although the show got mixed reviews from reviewers, fans praised it for maintaining the same degree of grandeur, dramatic clothes, and architecture as the original Game of Thrones.
Having said that, it does include fresh stories with the same themes of intrigue, love, pride, betrayal, death, and conflict.
Why
Why did Rhaenyra not kill Alicent?
A large part of what makes House of the Dragon so special is the fact that the characters and their decisions are more complex than what the viewers can see on the surface.
Rhaenyra’s story in the ninth episode of House of the Dragon is the most obvious point in the series that the writers have started differing from the story in the books.
However, this does not mean her reasoning, strategies, or character are less defined or any less complicated during this episode.
There are many different reasons why Rhaenyra chose not to kill Alicent, Aegon, and the rest of the Green family and council during this coronation, even though it would have put an end to the war before it began.
The first reason is that Rhaenyra is opposed to killing in order to make her way politically and it would not have benefitted her politically.
Furthermore, superstition also dictates that a person who engages in kinslaying will be cursed for killing a member of their own family. This means that since Alicent jumped in front of Aegon, Rhaenyra would not be able to kill her without also killing Aegon.
Lastly, it is also true that Rhaenyra may just have more respect for Alicent after their discussion in the eighth episode, but as always, the story is complicated and most likely, all of these reasons played into her final decision not to kill Alicent.
It is also true that Alicent intervened to stop the council from murdering Rhaenyra, so that there could be no question who truly inherited the throne, but at this point, Rhaenyra had no knowledge of this happening and this would not have affected her decision not to kill Alicent.
Why killing Alicent would not have gone over well politically for Rhaenyra
Even though it would seem like an obvious choice for Rhaenyra to utter the “Dracarys” command and have Meleys burn the royal family and council to a crisp when she emerged at the coronation, she knew that strategically, this would not be the best option.
Even if she is the rightful heir to the throne, if she gets the throne after destroying the council, her family, and many innocent bystanders, her subjects would never accept her as their queen in the future and this may give way to a civil war in Westeros. This is the main reason why she does not kill Alicent.
Why killing Alicent would lead to Rhaenyra being a kinslayer
The second reason why Rhaenyra actually cannot kill Alicent at the moment when she emerges with Meleys at the coronation is because Alicent jumps in front of Aegon to protect him.
This means that if Rhaenyra did try to kill Alicent with Meleys’s help, she would probably have ended up killing Aegon too and since he is her brother, she would be marked a kinslayer and would be cursed.
Why Rhaenyra increased respect may have kept her from killing Alicent
In the eighth episode of House of the Dragon, it seemed like Rhaenyra and Alicent had truly made peace with each other and gained a new respect for one another.
This increased level of respect and somewhat peaceful relationship that Rhaenyra has with Alicent in the ninth episode could also play into her reasoning for deciding not to kill her.
