Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower start as inseparable childhood friends, sharing their deepest secrets and dreams in House of the Dragon. However, their friendship takes a dramatic turn when Alicent marries King Viserys, Rhaenyra’s father, creating a rift that changes their relationship forever. In Season 2, they try to form an uneasy alliance, but things don’t exactly go their way. Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra, calls the scenes from Season 2 where the two interacted, their favorite.
Quick details:
- Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke are the best of friends.
- Their scenes together are D’Arcy’s favorites.
- D’Arcy pities Alicent.
Emma D’Arcy loved their reunion with Olivia Cooke
Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, much like their on-screen personas, have formed a very close bond with each other. And when the chance came upon to act together, they made the most out of it. In a recent interview with Collider, D’Arcy fondly recalled,
“I also loved shooting those two scenes with Olivia [Cooke], obviously, not least because I was incredibly happy to see her, but somehow, when those two characters are together, all of that history sits in the room, as well, and you see flashes of two girls bickering. You also see mothers with extreme trauma and pain; you see anger and regret and all this stuff.
Credits: Max
Whenever I see people in my life who’ve known me for a very, very long time, something about that witnessing through a lifetime means you see yourself from without, and certainly, the first time that Rhaenyra and Alicent meet in the Sept, there’s this strange experience of seeing myself and both of them. It almost feels absurd. I mean, Rhaenyra is also literally in disguise, and I really enjoyed the absurdity to that meeting.”
Emma D’Arcy on Alicent’s loneliness
After Rhaenyra left King’s Landing, Alicent has been slowly losing allies. First her father, then her children, in a court full of people, she feels alone like an island. D’Arcy sees the contrast between her and Rhanyra, and says,
“And there’s still quite a singular experience to be a woman in a court, perpetually undermined, patronized, othered. That’s still not an experience that you see reflected back by many people. I suppose Rhaenyra kind of slowly builds this trust and this friendship with Mysaria, but when I was watching the series, I was so struck by how extremely lonely Alicent must be. It’s so painful. You can feel it on her skin.”
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