When it comes to any popular show with a fandom, ‘shipping’ can never be avoided; and with House of the Dragon featuring multiple characters getting tangled in romances with each other, fans have broken up in camps favouring one ship from another.
One particular ship that has been popular with fans since the first season is Rhaenyra x Alicent a.k.a. ‘Rhaenicent’, and the ship has found an unlikely supporter from the main cast of the show.
Olivia Cooke Ships Rhaenyra x Alicent
As fans have discovered on her IG, Olivia Cooke likes to retweet and share fanart and comics promoting the romance between the two queens of Targaryen Team Black and Team Green. Check this out:
She even shared a promo photo of her and Emma D’Arcy and captioned it with “*kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss*”
Even around the release of the first season, Cooke has already been hinting that there is definitely a unrequited romance that is being implied between the two queens. She told ET (via ThePinkNews),“The younger versions are in love, they love each other so dearly… There is possessiveness and passion.”
The Rhaenicent in the Fandom is Strong
The romance between Alicent and Rhaenyra isn’t lost on the fans either. Whenever the two manage to share a scene in the season—specifically in the Sept where Rhaenyra is dressed like a septa and Alicent is praying—it’s immediately followed by all kinds of posts of lesbian longing between the two characters.
The recent kiss between Rhaenyra and Mysaria was also a source of a lot of hilarious fanart of Alicent getting jealous and immediately getting emotional that the woman she was having a lot of tension with had a moment with someone else besides her.
How the Show Differs from the Book
While the series does try its best to make scenes from the book more accurate, House of the Dragon has taken some liberties with the source material, often adding more drama to otherwise unremarkable details in the book.
The tragedy of Viserys is one huge character change from the source material which a lot of people —specifically George R.R. Martin—liked; and while there were certainly some naysayers, a lot of fans actually celebrated the kiss between Rhaenyra and Mysaria online. Take note, a romance between Mysaria/Rhaenyra wasn’t hinted at in the books, but the way the season was written, it was inevitable that the two were going to end up with each other.
Probably one of the biggest changes the series has also introduced is the relationship between Rhaenyra and Alicent. In Fire & Blood, Alicent is actually ten years older than Rhaenyra and the two were never close. In the series though, the two are best friends and are almost the same age. It was even their friendship that urged Rhaenyra to try and reason with Alicent in the sept—inconceivable if their relationship was like the one in the books.
For now, the show really seems to lean in on the connection between the two. It’s unlikely that the two will eventually get to have a romance with each other, but Rhaenicent fans will take what they can get.
Catch new episodes of House of the Dragon Sunday nights on Max.