House of the Dragon: Why did Alicent marry her two children, Aegon and Helaena?

• Marriage in Westeros mostly serves to strengthen one’s own (family) position.
• Aegon and his sister, Helaena, were betrothed to each other by their mother, Alicent.
• Why does a Hightower uphold the ancient Targaryen incest traditions?

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As queen and mother, Alicent has risen to become a powerful figure in the royal court in House of the Dragon. Yet many still see her rival Rhaenyra, and not her son Aegon, as Viserys’ legitimate successor and heir to the Iron Throne.

To bolster her eldest son’s claim and secure the future of the family, she betroths him to his sister Helaena. What appears to be an affront to good manners not only has a long tradition among the Targaryens, but in this case also has many tactically good reasons.

A covenant to strengthen the family

After 7 episodes of “House of the Dragon”, Alicent Hohenturm has become a savvy and experienced “player” in the Game of Thrones. Accordingly, her plan to marry her eldest son, Aegon, to her eldest daughter, Helaena, is extremely clever and gives her “Green” faction a tremendous advantage.

Instead of thousands of suitors and lords of Westeros vying for the hand of her children in order to increase her own power, Alicent decided to keep it in the family. In this way, no new, foreign, potentially dangerous parties are brought to the royal court and to the ranks of the “Greens”. This shows once again that her children are true Targaryens. Because only these were allowed by society and faith to enter into incestuous marriages. Old King Jahaerys was the last Targaryen to take a sister-wife.

A matter of blood

That her son and heir will now marry a bride who is of pure Valyrian blood like himself underscores Alicent’s bid to challenge Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne. Her son Aegon is not only older, but also the undisputed legitimate son of King Viserys I. It is now an open secret among Rhaenyra’s children that Jacaerys, Lucerys and Gottfrid are all bastards of the late Ser Harwin Kraft.

Aegon, Helaena and their children thus have a greater claim to the throne with their unmistakable Targaryen lineage, complete with silver hair and fine features. Such external characteristics are important to the common people in particular, and Alicent knows this too.

This is all the more important when you consider that Alicent’s children are also half Hohenturms by ancestry. With the arranged marriage among themselves, they want to prevent the bloodline from being further diluted by foreign houses. Something the Targaryens have been doing to each other for centuries to keep their lineage and lineage as pure as possible.

By marrying Aegon to a daughter of another great house, there would be a risk that their children would look “out of Targaryen character”. This would open the floodgates to unfounded rumours. Aegon and Helaena’s marriage, then, is first and foremost a shrewd and important move by Queen Alicent, both to protect her children and to cement her family’s power and entitlement.

Once Rhaenyra has children with her new husband and uncle Daemon, they will be full-blooded Targaryens and thus considered by many to be the stronger heirs of Viserys. Alicent wants to forestall this by marrying her children. Possibly in the next 2-3 episodes we should be able to see Aegon and Helaena’s children. Jaehaera, Jaehaerys and Maelor will continue to play big roles in future seasons of House of the Dragon.

No kites for strangers

Another reason for Alicent’s planned incestuous marriage of her own children is almost as obvious – dragons. It has always been customary for all Targaryen children to have a dragon. Of course, many Great Houses also have their sights set on this instrument of power of their dynasty. Because the Lords of Hightower, Tully, Lannister, Arryn and Co. know very well that a silver dragon as a son or daughter-in-law also means a fire-breathing dragon.

In the forthcoming “Dance of the Dragons Civil War,” dragons will play a crucial role in warfare. With Laena’s marriage to Daemon Targaryen, House Velaryon has 2 potential dragon riders who would fight for her father and the “blacks” under Rhaenyra.

Of course, Alicent (and her father Otto, the Hand of the King) know this and tries to shift the dragon power balance back in their favor. By keeping her family whole through intermarriage, Alicent also ensures that no other houses that could theoretically switch sides come into possession of the dragons.

Even though Aegon doesn’t see it himself, Helaena doesn’t care, and Aemond enviously mourns it, this engagement, arranged by Alicent, was hugely important. It offers two advantages at once, that of blood and that of dragons, and secures the claim to the throne and succession of your son and your family.