With one more episode to go in season 2, fans are ecstatic to see how the second season of House of the Dragon concludes. But before the season finale finally drops this Sunday, the penultimate episode of this season has left fans befuddled about the future of Olivia Cooke’s Alicent.
In The Red Sowing, Alicent is removed from the small council after Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond takes over the throne, replacing Tom Glynn-Carney’s Aegon, who’s deemed unfit to rule as king. This pushes Alicent to move to Kingswood and take a dip in the lake, and the actress has broken her silence about the character’s current state of mind.
Olivia Cooke Details Alicent’s Thought Process
As the war escalates, Alicent, who has been removed from the small council by her son, is arguably in her most vulnerable state, as she proceeds to stroll through the woods with her horse and Ser Rickard. Her isolated journey further sees the character diving into a lake and floating alone, as she continues to stare at the sky. Although it can be symbolized as Alicent wanting to cleanse her sins and guilt of causing the war, according to Olivia Cooke, she is currently contemplating her future.
With Aemond no longer to interfere, Cooke explained that Alicent’s current goal involves keeping her daughter Helaena and herself safe and how to progress further.
She told TIME:
Alicent needs to get out of King’s Landing to figure out the longevity of her house, family, and herself. The longevity of her life and her daughter’s [Helaena] life, and how sustainable it is at this point. She needs to be able to plot without Aemond looming, and without being used as a chess piece. She’s gone off to try and make all of these humongous decisions that will impact the regency, possibly, forever.
As for Alicent’s statement of “I’m not yet certain I do” when asked about her intentions about returning to King’s Landing, according to Cooke, it actually meant “I don’t know what will be in my future after the course of what I’m about to do”. With one more episode to go, it’ll be interesting to see what the writers have stored for her.
House of the Dragon References George R.R. Martin
For the original pilot for Game of Thrones, author George R.R. Martin filmed a cameo, in which he appeared as a Pentoshi nobleman with a large hat. However, upon pushback from HBO higher-ups, which led to a major overhaul, the cameo of Martin was left in the editing room. Although the acclaimed author has yet to make an appearance in Westeros, the latest episode of House of the Dragon did reference the GOT creator, as his face can be seen carved in a tree.
With the second season to conclude, and season 3 already greenlit, fans will hope the show continues to excel and do justice to Martin’s works.
House of the Dragon Season 2 is available to stream on Max.
