House of the Dragon: Alicent Hightower’s secret weapon in the fight for the Iron Throne

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When Rhaenyra arrives back in King’s Landing with Daemon and her children in episode 8 of “House of the Dragon”, they find the Red Keep greatly changed. Since King Viserys is seriously ill and bedridden, Otto and Alicent Hightower took over the reign in his place. The queen took advantage of this time and incorporated her faith into the new design of the keep.

The Seven in Westeros

The Faith of the Seven is the predominant religion in Westeros. After the Andals from Essos landed on the continent, they fanatically spread their religion and almost completely eradicated belief in the Old Gods. Only in the north and a few houses in the south do people still pray at weirwood trees.

In Septas, the followers of the Seven gather and pray to the One God in his Seven Aspects. These would be: The father, the mother, the blacksmith, the warrior, the maiden, the crone and the stranger. Each of them embodies certain virtues and values ​​​​that one must adhere to according to the book of faith of the Seven-Pointed Star.

In earlier days there were many disputes and even an open war of faith against the Targaryens because their practices of incest violated the customs of the Church. This dispute was resolved under King Aenys I and Jaehaerys I Targaryen. Nevertheless, there are still followers of the faith who see the Targaryens as a violation of nature and all that is good.

The Hohenturm as a bastion of faith

The ancient center of the Faith of the Seven in Westeros (before it became the Great Sept of Baelor in King’s Landing) is Oldseed. The seat of the Hightower is, next to King’s Landing, the largest city on the continent and, in addition to the Maester Academy, is also home to many monuments of the faith.

The Hohenturms were always considered the strongest supporters and followers of the faith. However, income from the many pilgrims who come to the city to see the Star Sept and the Seven Shrines definitely has something to do with this fact.

When Alicent and Otto Hightower come to King’s Landing to join Viserys I, they bring their traditions with them. Alicent will soon expand it further, to the dismay of the Targaryens.

Alicent and faith – a means to an end or true spirituality?

Since a few episodes of “House of the Dragon” we have always seen Alicent dressed in symbolically green clothes and a seven-pointed star as a necklace. Even in her youth, she was shown to be a strictly religious woman, who was also offended by Rhaenyra’s sex scandal with Daemon/Ser Kriston.

After she and her father take over the reins of government in King’s Landing, she has many of the insignia of House Targaryen exchanged for signs of faith. The entire castle now appears cooler, colorless and simpler, in keeping with the teachings of the faith. But is this all just a clever move by Alicent to demonstrate her power, or is she really such a fanatical follower of the Seven?

A false prophetess

From what we know about Alicent, her faith may indeed be true. But nevertheless it is also an expression of their hypocrisy. As Rhaenyra correctly realized, she uses this “mantle of righteousness” at will to believe that she is on the right side, on the side of “good”.

She prays, wears the seven-pointed star, spreads its teachings and decorates the castle in the “style of faith”, but this does not stop her from intrigue, murder and manipulation. At her ambiguous request, Larys murdered his brother Harwin and father Lyonel Kraft. She also keeps another assassin, Ser Kriston Kraut, in her service as her sworn knight.

She seems to do as little to stop the rapes of maids committed by her son Aegon as she does against the disregard for hereditary succession. But the greatest injustice and hypocrisy is probably the fact that she married her children Aegon and Helaena together in the old Targaryen tradition, but previously took offense at Rhaenyra and Daemon’s relationship.

Even if Alicent definitely believes in the Seven somewhere, she doesn’t act in that spirit. She plays the game of thrones with all the means at her disposal and that includes faith, which offers her a certain majesty and protection.

But the facade is easy to see through. So the hanging stars in the Red Keep cannot be seen as charged with a religious meaning, but rather as her personal symbol of power and dominance of her and her house.