Since the beginning of House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower have displayed a certain affection in their friendship, particularly in their young days. However, it appears that Alicent is too suppressed for it to be fruitful. We meet two 14-year-old girls in episode 1 of HBO’s House of the Dragon: Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower. Both teenagers are evidently close to each other as they spend their leisure time with each other either studying, riding in horse-drawn carriages, or even assisting each other in getting ready for a celebration.

So you could say that their relationship, for lack of better words, is complicated. But how did this theory become popular on the internet? What are the pieces of evidence for this? Let’s find out.

What Did Emma D’Arcy Say About The Matter?

The actors Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the elder versions of the characters Rhaenyra and Alicent, respectively, in House of the Dragon, recently had an interview with The New York Times, in which they revealed the truth about Alicent and Rhaenyra being in love. Both actresses believe that this is certainly a possibility, but Emma D’Arcy is more than Olivia Cooke, maybe because Emma is non-binary herself.

Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen, said, “That sort of erotic energy is very present in their early relationship. I think Rhaenyra is primarily motivated by a deep desire to be known and seen. The hurt and pain is so dominant that I don’t know if there’s a space, at this point, for a conscious interaction with sexual lust, but she definitely yearns for the old physical intimacy that they shared. It’s different from what she shares with her current husband and her children. A different form of contact.”

Emily Carey (Younger Alicent) Believes This a Possibility

Apart from Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra) talking about this theory, Emily Carey, the queer actress who plays the younger Alicent Hightower, said this about the matter:

“It’s something we brought up with Clare Kilner, one of the directors we also work with for the younger version of the characters,” Emily continued, “It was something I was immediately conscious of when I read the script as a queer woman myself.”

So it is evident that two of the gender-fluid persons of the House of the Dragon cast (Emma D’Arcy is non-binary, and Emily Carey identifies herself as queer) see this as a strong possibility. Carey stated that her first response to the script reading session was that Rhaenyra and Alicent are “a little bit in love.” Hence, the actresses experimented with the notion of teenage girls having a unique intimacy with their closest friends.

Olivia Cooke, Who Plays Older Alicent, Says Alicent May Not Feel The Same Way Now

During her interview with the New York Times, Cooke said, “I don’t know if Alicent knows what it feels like to feel those things now (for Rhaenyra). There’s layers and layers of repression; sexuality and lust are probably a prehistoric, sedimentary layer by now. From Alicent’s point of view, I don’t think she’s that self-aware, in terms of what she’s feeling, to know what’s propelling her to reach out to Rhaenyra again.”

We have already seen bisexual and queer characters in “Game of Thrones,” most noticeably Yara Greyjoy and Oberyn Martell, but no publicly encourages queer relationships in George R.R. Martin’s fictional universe of Game of Thrones.