Here's Why Alicent's Latest Outfit On House Of The Dragon Is A Cersei Callback
Alicent Hightower, as played by Olivia Cooke, is no stranger to sharp sartorial choices on HBO's new hit Westerosi series "House of the Dragon," and now, she's really reminding us of another queen who would do anything to protect her children.
Earlier, in the show's fifth episode, "We Light the Way," Alicent (played in her younger years by Emily Carey) shows up at the wedding of her former best friend turned rival Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (then played by Milly Alcock) fashionably late... literally. Clad in green, a color that signifies war for House Hightower, Alicent interrupts her husband and Rhaenyra's father Viserys' (Paddy Considine)'s speech and enters the proceedings as slowly as possible, sending a very clear message that the Hightowers are still standing — and ready to fight.
Now, in the eighth episode of the series, "The Lord of the Tides," Alicent uses her clothing as a weapon against Rhaenyra (played in her adulthood by Emma D'Arcy) once again, calling to mind another queen from "Game of Thrones." Here's why Alicent's latest outfit on "House of the Dragon" is a pretty clear callback to Lena Headey's Cersei Lannister.
Alicent's outfit is an homage to Cersei Lannister
When Alicent greets Rhaenyra at the Red Keep in "The Lord of the Tides" — a greeting for which she's late as she has to deal with her insouciant son Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) after he flat-out assaults a serving maid — she meets her old friend still in green, but with a little something extra. With epaulets on both her shoulders and a chain stretching between them across her chest, Alicent looks like she's ready for war... and considering that the Dance of the Dragons is definitely on its way, she kind of is.
Beyond that, this look became somewhat of a signature one for Cersei at the end of the sixth season of "Game of Thrones," where she torched the Great Sept of Baelor as revenge against several different political enemies who were inside at the time waiting for her to attend her trial. Clad in a similar outfit to Alicent, albeit black, Cersei wore this as a sort of armor, and it seems that Alicent is doing the same.
What brings Cersei and Alicent together?
Cersei and Alicent certainly have more than fashion in common; both are queens mother to two boys and one girl each, and both would do anything to protect their children... even their eldest children, who are uniformly gross (Aegon and Jack Gleeson's Joffrey Baratheon). There's also one enormous difference between them, in that Alicent is fighting against Rhaenyra, whose three eldest boys are bastards, while Cersei constantly plots to keep her own illegitimate children on the throne. That said, they're both insular, highly protective women who hew to the word of their powerful fathers — Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) and Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), both Hands of the King in their respective times — to promote the family name and status above all else, and both marry an older, unappealing king when told, as Cersei did with Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy).
Regardless, when you consider that "House of the Dragon" even shares a theme song with its predecessor, it definitely doesn't seem like an accident to put Alicent in an outfit so specifically reminiscent of Cersei. The series airs on Sunday nights, with two episodes left, on HBO and HBO Max.