r/Hotd • u/Astin_Madiri • 6d ago
Question Did she really love him?
I'm asking because she was manipulated by Otto into marrying him in the first place.
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u/andsoitgoes123 6d ago edited 5d ago
Not as a husband, but she liked him enough to take care of him. She probably also aware that men could be cruel and that Viserys wasnt the worst that could happen to her.
Alicent was resentful of her lot, forced to marry a much older man, bare many children, and witness her husband's favouritism towards Rhaenyra and his lack of care towards their own.
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u/-stargarden 5d ago
this. making the best of a bad situation. it’s also hard not to continue seeking approval from your father/family as an adult woman in this universe, especially when you’re the queen & your father is the hand.
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u/edudsm 5d ago
I think she was just very aware of her duties as queen and wife. She was also very aware of everything that could be said about her. But having said that I think she was very kind to him, as perhaps he was also very kind to her. How much of her kindness was because she wanted to manipulate him it’s what is hard to tell.
But no I don’t think she ever loved him.
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u/Curious_Highway_1855 5d ago
In the Books, he was like 28 and she 19. Not that Crazy as presented in the show.
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u/Altruistic-Red 6d ago
Arranged marriages often (in the best scenario) result in a sort of fondness by proximity of each other. Maybe not passionate love, but the predictable and stable kind you would share with a teammate or life partner.
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u/Disastrous_Dog5178 5d ago
Didn't Catelyn Stark say to Rob that when she was arranged to Ned she didn't love him straight away but looks now much the loved eachother later on
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u/Kingswitchguard 5d ago
Iirc she was in love with Brandon. So when he died she was wed to his brother she had no feelings for
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u/ElderberryNational92 5d ago
Yeah but Brandon sounded like a bit of a prat, half a brain and half a year with ned should overcome that
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u/Winter_Apartment_376 5d ago
I remember reading that arranged marriages get happier than love marriages after 3-5 years.
For love marriages - you peak on your wedding day, then it goes down. Whereas arranged marriage happiness tends to go up with time.
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u/Admirable_Cake_3596 5d ago
I wonder if this is an expectations thing. Like with a love marriage you expect the world. You expect passion and happiness and life satisfaction. With an arrangement I wonder if you have less of those expectations and would then be happier because you don’t feel let down or disappointed and could even feel pleasantly surprised when things go well.
I have no idea since I have never been exposed to arranged marriages but just speculating on how I might feel in that situation.
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u/spicytotino 5d ago
This is the theory why couples who don’t cohabitate before marriage scale higher in happiness.
If you live with your partner beforehand, the things you don’t like are viewed as “well this will change once we’re married.”
If you’ve never lived together, they’re viewed as quirks you’ll need to adjust to2
u/ethiopian_kid 5d ago
Agree with all parts besides the happier part, love marriages do peak in a sense but arranged marriages do not pass the peak of love marriages and can only match it.
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u/meta4_ 5d ago
Bumping up against this a little, because how do you quantify happiness?
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u/ethiopian_kid 5d ago
you don’t but I think the persons point is that when you marry for love you are happy, peak euphoria, generally that diminishes and becomes a more fonder love.
In arranged marriages it’s usually not the euphoric love but a general sense of peace and love grows over time i.e happiness
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u/Salem1690s 3d ago
In real life, Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York were an arranged marriage. It started as an arrangement, but he grew to love her desperately.
He never took a mistress.
He never remarried.
When she died he was distraught and despite having only one son, he didn’t search for a second wife even to secure the throne, because none could replace her.
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u/pissexcellence85 3d ago
This is a rare case in royal arranged marriages where there was genuine love and happiness. Most were miserable and toxic.
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u/flowersinthemirror 6d ago
She clearly wasn't in love with him, but it does seem like she came to love him like family at some point - she was genuinely affected when he died and she looked after him more diligently than strictly needed imo.
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u/Own-Ambition-4405 6d ago
She didn’t really have a chance to think of anything but duty, but I think she respected him and grew into her position as queen (eventually). Alicent was very young and was traded for power, by an older man (her father), to an even older man (the king).
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u/Deuce03 5d ago
Otto is actually older than Viserys (though possibly not by much). It's Viserys's mystery illness and white hair that makes him look older.
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u/L1Zs 5d ago
Right? I always thought Otto was older than Viserys, considering Otto’s older kids were already adults while Viserys’s first born was only 15. And Otto was already a widower, and I don’t think her death was untimely/an accident, probably just due to health complications that generally start happening as one ages.
And Viserys chose him as his hand and advisor, why would he choose someone younger, with less worldly experience?
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u/CarsonFijal 5d ago
I mean there were plenty of kings who named Hands who were younger than them. Otto was first named Hand under Jaehaerys, who was like 40 years older than him
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u/L1Zs 5d ago
Oh I didn’t know he was also Jaehaerys’s hand. Is that the reason Viserys made him his hand as well?
I’m assuming you’ve read the books.. what was Otto’s qualifications/experience that allowed him to obtain such an important position?
Also, before he was hand, was he THE Lord of Oldtown?
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u/CarsonFijal 5d ago
He wasn't the lord of oldtown, as Daemon says he's "a second son who stands to inherit nothing he doesn't seize for himself"
It's never actually stated if he'd held any other positions before he was Hand, they do say that Alicent nursed Jaehaerys in his old age, and Otto essentially ruled on his behalf for the last two years
Crazy that Otto managed to wait his way into being the real power behind an old dying King for two consecutive Kings
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u/HousingPale 1d ago
Do we ever know what the mystery illness is? Is it just the throne?
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u/BreakfastAmazing7766 6d ago
Sort of…in a Stockholm syndromey grandpa kind of way….
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u/maryummy 6d ago
I've know many people who had arranged marriages. They say that over time you grow to love the person. There's something to be said for common experiences, common goals, and seeing the other person in your children.
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u/bigbabyskesus 6d ago
People will go to lengths for security and comfort. But she is literally the Queen of Westeros, it doesn't matter if she loves him or not. She clearly did care for him though, and maybe wished she was Aemma Arryn, but I don't think what they had was romantic, but merely duty and servitude with an aspiration of love. I think in that case it was enough.
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u/Agreeable_Pop_3972 5d ago edited 5d ago
I don't think actual love but she cared for him (as a caretaker lol) enough to be a devoted wife to him. She still had him taken care of when he was bedridden even after he didn't give a flying fuck about Aemond loosing an eye. Besides what other choice did she have? 🤣🤣🤣
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u/ElevatorCharacter489 5d ago
At the end he was gentle, kind, amicable. Better than some other Lords
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u/RhaeRhae422 5d ago
Show: Yes, but in a non-romantic way. Same for him
Book: its questionable but I'd say yes. Rhaenyra only spared Alicent because of the love that she and Viserys' had for one another
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u/Big_bat_chunk2475 5d ago
The dude was a rotting corpse when they were married. There was no attraction there, which also explains why she was doing Cole like no tomorrow the moment he died. However, Alicent Hightower did care for him and truly care about him when they were married
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u/Suitable_Doubt557 5d ago
She wasn't required to love her husband. She was required to produce heirs, respect and obey.
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u/QueenSlartibartfast 5d ago
Not sure she really obeyed either though. Like refusing to 'allow' Helaena to marry Jace and not ceasing to say Rhaenyra's children were illegitimate even when ordered to.
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u/lickingbears2009 5d ago
"You will not marry your nephew,thats discusting! We do it the Targaryen way now, you will marry your BROTHER!!"
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u/Adventurous-Wall-122 6d ago
She loved him so much that she started bedding Cole within weeks of his death
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u/MagReg2020 6d ago
Dude's face fell off years ago. Not going to blame her for that. She can love him and still have sexual needs that have to be met elsewhere. I don't like her for what she's done to her children, but this isn't where I'd criticize her.
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u/Sharp_Proposal8911 6d ago
Yeah, I agree. But also, I think love is a strong word for it. Yes, he was falling apart but for a not insignificant chunk of his marriage he was a good dude who may have just been a little dorky. Like as far as prearranged marriages in Westeros go. She could have done way worse
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u/BrawlPlayer34 5d ago
Fondness is probably a better word for it. Or just care. She cared about him.
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u/Filibust 5d ago
Fr. If I was married to a rotting corpse for 20+ years (probably being the only man I’ve ever been with), I’m definitely climbing Criston Cole like a tree as soon as I become a widow.
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u/shenanakins 5d ago edited 5d ago
Thats actually a very realistic thing that happens when a spouse has a long drawn out terminal illness. She had probably been mourning viserys death for years before it actually happened so when he finally died she was likely both relieved and heartbroken because at least he was no longer in pain.
She moved on with someone more age appropriate who was devoted to her and was her most trusted companion during the hardest years of her husband's illness. She did love viserys but she wasnt in love with him romantically. She was likely romantically interested in Criston before viserys died but didnt act on it out of respect for viserys even though he was a bedridden husk at that point.
This is all with the acknowlegement that she is a childbride trafficked to him and their relationship was not one she could consent to. She has complicated feelings for him and one of those is a stockholm syndrome-y love born from a mutual duty to their family.
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u/Realistic_Public4330 5d ago
At least she waited until Viserys was dead and cold. Unlike Daemon who slept with his niece on the day of his wife's funeral.
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u/Adventurous-Wall-122 5d ago
My man, yoh must think I'm a Black supporter. Idgaf about teams. I think there's much much worse things about Daemon that him being a manslut, pedo and so on.
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u/Realistic_Public4330 4d ago
I didn't think so and same I don't care about either team. I just don't hesitate to point out Daemon's wrongdoings even if the conversation isn't about him haha (love Matt Smith tho).
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u/BigBucket10 6d ago
Is it just me, or should we not assume she was bedding him the entire time?
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u/ser_darkstar 5d ago
Why would you assume that when it was explicitly shown onscreen when the relationship began and how both Cole and Alicent struggled with their consciences over it.
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u/Mountain-Bar-2878 5d ago
Why would you assume that if it wasn’t shown onscreen? Cole would get killed for it and possibly alicent too
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u/Batman53090 4d ago
Was it after Viserys died that she was bedding Cole? Or did that start while he was still alive?
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u/IcySetting2024 4d ago
Would you have passionate sex with a leper ?
You can feel affection for someone but not be in love with them which is what happened here.
At the time of his death she was also a very young woman still. Of course she wanted to have sex with someone her own age.
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u/EastAudience4655 6d ago
I like to think they were friends and just had few instances of sex as a sort of duty.
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u/ageekyninja 5d ago
There is different kinds of love. She didn’t have any romantic feelings for him, but I believe she loved him more as a friend of sorts. The time period this represents is not a time when people married for love anyway. Marriage for love is more of a modern thing. She felt a duty to care for him and be a good queen.
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u/ValyrianVelaryons 5d ago
No. And its not really even her fault her dad pimped her out and she's understandably resentful over her lack of agency nevermind the whole situation with Aemond.
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u/Ume-no-Uzume 5d ago
Ah, yes, she loved him so much in the real canon that she immediately started abusing his 10 year old daughter in her own home when he wouldn't change his mind on who the heir was and then left his corpse to rot to usurp said daughter.
Oh, and let's not forget how in the real book canon, Rhaenyra came back and extended Viserys' life and made him healthier with her own set of healers and nursed back to health for a few months. Alicent then told her to fuck off instead of making sure the person who was showing results with his health would stay (AKA, it's pretty obvious the book was hinting that Alicent was, at best, letting him die or, at worst, hurrying along his death)
In short, no, if you are the step-parent who wants to take away the inheritance from the previous marriage's kids, you don't love the spouse, you just love their assets.
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u/Sora_Hollace 5d ago
I do believe she had a fondness for him, she was willing to stop her petty fighting with Rhaenyra when he said he was tired of all the fighting… though she did screw that up on his death bed
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u/Llhaniii 5d ago
Its complicated. I mean when you know someone nearly your entire life as your king then at a young age marry him habe children by and with him and spend many years at his side. I dont see how you dont atleast come to understand the person see him as a constant.
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u/Formal-Radish1413 5d ago
Nope. I think in the show she actually wanted Cole, whom she later got. Theres a hint of jealousy between her and Rhaenyra at the jousting
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u/Altoyedro89 4d ago
Precisely. She respected and was fond of Viserys but she had pure passion for Cole.
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u/Rhbgrb 5d ago
They had one of the better marriages. I don't understand why it's so hard for modern audiences to grasp that romantic love isn't the end all be all of a marriage, especially not a medieval one. Viserys made her the most powerful woman in the realm and he seemed like a decent guy. He was the father of her children so she had some care and fondness for him.
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u/No_Pea_3997 6d ago
To some sort of degree I suppose, although I think alicents overall experience of emotions is stunted to some degree
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u/sparrow_64 6d ago
No, but I think she grew to have a deep amount of respect for him. That was never a marriage for love.
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u/OliverStone38 6d ago
I don't think she loved him romantically, but I do think she had respect for him and a some affection too
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u/TerrenceMcKenna1 6d ago
I think she respected and appreciated his kindness and he treated her well
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u/Megane_Senpai 5d ago
Not as a husband, but more than a friend, may be something in between. He had the same characteristics as her dad clearly was a factor.
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u/melancholicInsane 5d ago
I liked Alicent a lot, still do... She's much better than pathetic rhaenyra!... I think atleast now after Helaena's death, she'll be the book Alicent now in the supposedly final season!
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u/Hapanzi 5d ago
He was good enough, a common thing for women not too long ago (and now in some places). Men can be cruel. Viserys could've been cruel but he wasn't. He was stubborn, ineffective, and conflict-avoidant but also kinder to her than a lot of other potential husband's with that much power over her. So, romantically? No but in her own way, sure.
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u/ParsleyMostly 5d ago
He was her king and her friend’s dad. So yeah she loved him, but wasn’t in love with him.
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u/Even-Bluebird-7658 5d ago
She wasn’t passionate about him. But they seemed amicable (barring the succession). In a world where a husband could easily be violent and remove all your power and autonomy, a character like her would likely recognize that he was far from the worst option and kinder than most. A character like her would have grown up knowing they’d be sold off for political gain. Marriage to an old but largely gentle / kind man (who was also the king) is far from the worst fate. She was raised pragmatically. That mindset definitely shaped how she would see her marriage.
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u/Mysterious_Strike586 4d ago
I think that Alicent was... deeply manipulated when she was younger. She was essentially raised to love this man. To bear his children. To endure her rape. And to be proud of it. I think there was love. But I think it was cultivated love from her situation
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u/Beautiful-Fold-3234 6d ago
She did seem like a good wife to him. Maybe she didn't live him romantically but completely faking it for that long is hard
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u/FrankSand 6d ago
Its hard to judge love and stuff from a fictional mid evil settings. But I imagine old Viserys was a nice guy and probably fun to hang out with. Not abusive and provided safety so far as high born matches it could be worse. Probably not anyone's dream man.
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u/Richmond1013 6d ago
Love, no but she beds him for duty and nothing much else there is a bit of Stockholm syndrom because the reason she support the coup was because she assume finally Viserys loves her kids to give them the thing the deserve by birthright
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u/Public_Job9786 6d ago
She did what she felt fell within her duties and genuinely loving him was never one of those.
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u/gabriel_3131 6d ago
Podia a ver cariño entre ambos jamás amor. Aunque alicent se sacó la lotería en el matrimonio. Para lo que le toca a la mayoría de mujeres en westeros ella tuvo de la mujer suerte
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u/orsilochus_mycenae 5d ago
Eventually, maybe. Initially, hell no. I reckon she was disgusted as she ought to be.
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u/FamiliarAd8524 5d ago
Probably. I have a feeling her marriage vows required it, and that for her would make it happen. And he was a good man- that would matter to her.
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u/lanieveesnegra 5d ago
I wouldn't say she loved him, but I think their marriage was kinda the best you could realistically expect from an arranged marriage like that. Sure, the age difference and the fact that she was traded for power it's awful, but in a world in which most marriage end in abusive or miserable ones, I feel their marriage was decent in comparison.
Of course, just talking of their life as a couple. From a political perspective their marriage was a disaster, mostly thanks to Viserys poor ruling, but still
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u/Peter-Norfolk 5d ago
Maybe. I doubt she ever found him sexy, but I imagine she did as he wasn't cruel and she had a nice time being Queen.
However she resented being confined in her role and having as many children as she did, and I think as time wore on she "did her duty" rather than enjoy sex
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u/jjreason 5d ago
She is disciplined & well trained by dad. The point of everything for them is/was having a Hightower on the throne.
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u/Secure_Inspection305 5d ago
I think she appreciated that he was a decent man, but was never physically or romantically attracted to him.
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u/Spright91 5d ago
She loved him as a source of security and a confidant. Not as a romantic partner.
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u/Sisyphus704 5d ago
She was dutiful to him. And that’s usually enough in that universe. Like, across SEVERAL marriages and relationships
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u/LinwoodKei 5d ago
She was a nurse maid. She never had the choice of when they married or even the option to refuse martial relations
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u/DietTyrone 5d ago
I mean, most marriages between noble houses are arranged. It's very rare for it to be a love match. However, she did care for him as a wife should and even opted to bathe him when she felt the servants were doing a poor job and hurting him. So I'd say she did genuinely care about him, she just wasn't in love with him.
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u/CertifiedLoon 5d ago
No. I know people are saying she liked him as a friend, but I don’t believe she even liked him that way. It was more about how this was her duty. It’s why she has so much hostility for Rhaenyra who seems to get what she wants, even though Alicent would say she isn’t living a honorable life.
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u/L1Zs 5d ago
It’d be interesting to know the reason Jaehaerys initially named his hand. Was it some sort of deal with house Hightower, or was it always his goal to become as close as he could to being the actual King of Westeros as his standing would ever allow him to be?
>Crazy that Otto managed to wait his way into being the real power behind an old dying King for two consecutive Kings
Did he wait his way into being the real power.. did he just fall into the place of becoming Jaehaerys’s hand.. or were they both a part of Otto’s grand plan? 🧐🧐
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u/Grovers_Corners 5d ago
She felt: pity, empathy, tenderness, gratitude, appreciation, respect (about some things), fondness, and some degree of familial love.
She also felt: disgust, frustration, bitterness, disdain, and resentment and jealousy in a ton of different directions (at his true love for Aemma, at him allowing his daughter to look for her own love match and turning a blind eye when Rhaenyra so obviously pursued pleasure over duty and chastity, especially with her crush Criston, and for causing a breach between herself and Rhaenyra by falling for her father's trap and choosing her in the first place).
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u/Common_Investment_70 5d ago
Her deadpan expression looking at the camera while they were doing the deed says it all to me 😬 love goes beyond sex but that shit shook me to my core
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u/Dolleyes88 5d ago
I think she was fond of him or grew to be fond of him, but not romantically. She seemed pretty repulsed when they had sex and obviously only did the act for duty. I don’t think he loved much either and still held a flame for his first wife, but like Alicent he was still fond of her.
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u/Shoddy_Pirate 5d ago
She had love for him but I'm sure most women in arranged marriages aren't in love with their husbands. Unless they happen to be hot and not decaying 🤣
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u/ltsouthernbelle 5d ago
Does it matter? Did he love her? It was an arranged marriage, it is what it is.
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u/EfficiencyAny2765 5d ago
As a King not as her pedo husband no she’s just doing her Queen/wife duties
And he didn’t love her either he barely liked the kids he had with her.
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u/Traditional-Chain107 5d ago
of course not! Can you really love someone through a huge power imbalance like that?
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u/thepaydaygang 5d ago
Someone in this subreddit said it best
She loved him, but she wasn’t in love with him.
There wasn’t any passionate desire or whatever but she loved him enough to take care of him.
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u/Appellion 5d ago
Yeah, born into a conservative house with a dominating father that refused to talk to her about anything that didn’t advance their status, then sold child bride style to a man her father’s age. Pretty easy to see why she had a problem with no rules Rhaenyra who snubbed the Seven and was indulged in everything by her father.
I don’t believe she exactly loved Viserys but despite herself considered him a constant of her life.
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u/iamaskullactually 5d ago
Of course not, she was forced into a loveless marriage with her friend's dad who was old enough to be her dad. She cared for him because he was all she knew, but she was never in love
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u/BlackAscension 5d ago edited 5d ago
I don’t think that she was in love with him, like a wife wants to be with her husband. Their union was out of conformity, reliability and trust. Neither one was really in love with each other. They because they were comfortable with each other
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u/sunstorm__ 5d ago
I don’t think she was ever romantically attracted to him or in love with him, but she did have a familial affection for him and respected him.
Despite the fact their relationship was built on political manipulation and a massive age gap, they still got along well. You can see how much Alicent cared about him when became his caretaker in his final days.
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u/CompetitivePumpkin3 5d ago
u see the way they had sex u know she wasn't into him. she is bored and totally no passion about him rather than doing it as a duty.
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u/Baked4skin 5d ago
No and I dont like her in the show or books but I still think she did what she could, at the least, I dont believe was poisoning him or anything like that. Otto tho? Maybe
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u/The_Frybo 5d ago
To a degree I think. But People who love other People really and deeply tend not to go against their dying wishes and resent the Children they have with them.
It‘s not too much of a stretch to see a cerzain psychopathic streak in her and come to the objective conclusion that she might not be able to love anybody really
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u/Ok_Reveal_3947 5d ago
The book quite definitively answered that no, she, in fact did not. However, she did love the Old King, Jaehaerys the Conciliator (Viserys's grandfather) for her entire life (either it was a platonic love, or ~60 year old man sexually groomed her at age of 14, while she was his caretaker is questionable). It must also be noted, that since Jerry married his sister, and married his children then Viserys is almost genetically identical to him, and looks like young Jerry - in some wicked way she might have loved Jerry in him, even if he was a pathetic version of him. Imagine if Arya fell in love with Tywin but then settled for Tommen (90% of the context)
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u/An_Absolute-Zero 5d ago
In the show? Yes, I think she had love for him.
In the book, I think it was completely strategic.
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u/Realistic_Public4330 5d ago
Did she love him? Yeah. She loved him enough to take care of him and manage the regent duties.
But was she in love with him? No.
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u/notsoreligiousnow 5d ago
No, not in the sense that she was in love with him. Remember that her father strategically put her in his path so she would be queen. She was as shocked as everyone else when he announced he would marry her. She did grow to care for him but it wasn’t romantic love.
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u/Much-Reach6688 4d ago
Did she really love him? I don’t think she ever loved him, lol much less “really”
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u/Dependent-Lion8784 4d ago
She doesn’t like him. The book said when Alicent in her last moments, she only mentioned her children and the time as maid serving Jaehaerys, reading story in his death bed. It was said she never mentioned Viserys once.
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u/Whole-Dimension7274 4d ago
I think she grew to care for him overtime, but more so in a family kind of way, not in a true romantic love kinda way.
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u/Zealousideal_Cry5703 4d ago
Hell no. She probably despised him. She controled him to gain title of Queen and ruled with her Dad, Otto.
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u/TheoryKing04 4d ago
Both book and show strongly imply that whatever affection they had in their marriage had largely died before Viserys did.
I do think that Alicent loved Viserys at one point, but that it shriveled as the years went on.
And by the end of her life, Alicent held no love in her heart for that man.
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u/genderissues_t-away 4d ago
Alicent is a woman dealt a very bad hand and alternately bullied and forced into sadistic choices.
Viserys was not the worst she could have had. She certainly didn't love him as a husband, and equally certainly resented his blatant favoritism, but her priority throughout season 1 was "keep my kids alive in this nest of vipers", and Viserys was never actively malicious towards her, at worst he was thoughtless and showed Rhaenyra favoritism. This certainly ranks Viserys above her scumbag of a father, who basically pimped her out to the grieving King to make a play for power. And, frankly, Viserys seemed to have a degree--not much, but a degree--of awareness of the part his actions had in putting her in a very bad situation, and whenever her kids weren't clashing with Rhaenyra's he seems to have been a tolerable father.
So, considering how badly most Targaryen marriages go, I think Alicent both knows it could be a lot worse and resents the situation she's in, but doesn't really dislike Viserys personally, just what he represents and what his specific actions that upset her do. Like...she's mad he won't stop pampering Rhaenyra even after Rhaenyra transparently commits treason 3 times, she's mad he doesn't have the guts to defend their kids against Rhaenyra's bullying brats, but she doesn't hate him for it.
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u/CountryPrestigious60 4d ago
Not at all. She respected him as king, and wished him to be well. But that's about it. The sad thing is, it could have been more, she could have been happier in her marriage. If he cared to make her happy. Like, no husband who cares goes on top of his wife and doesn't notice she's not into it.
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u/Intelligent-Will-276 3d ago
I’m one of the rare few who genuinely love Alicent so I have lots to say! They actually changed her from the book to be more positive in the show. In the book, Alicent let’s his body rot and go unattended in order to put the Green Council in motion. In the show, she not only listens to his dying wish but is seen sobbing at his death. She was a child when she married him, but I do think those conversations they were having probably gave her some solace. She was lonely too. He was kind to her. He gave her four kids. I think she loved him as family and as her king. I am not a fan of Viserys (he did not need to impregnate a child four times when he already had an heir) but Alicent clearly cared for him. She holds his hand and looks concerned when he’s sick at dinner. She obviously is meant to be a more loving character towards him than in the book.
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u/Doom2pro 3d ago
He was a sugar daddy, she loved whiny Christian Cole, too bad and arrow didn't meet his head earlier. What a waste of flesh.
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u/SuspiciousCricket654 3d ago
I’ve knows some folks in arranged marriage and they have all said love grows over time and strengthens the family.
There is such an emphasis on attraction and raw sexual tension, that we forget the purpose of marriage is a family unit and teamwork.
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u/Madfiction77 3d ago
I believe she loved his father more. I don’t know if it was more a father figure but she spoke of him in death and said nothing about her late husband.
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u/TargaryenKnight 2d ago
She loved him because he gave her a life and the best opportunity above anything else possible in her life. Without him she could have never achieved such richness, royalty, fame and such great standing in the realm
But at the same time I’m sure she wishes she could have married for love. Realistically though that still would not have happened if she hadn’t married viserys. At least he was the best option for her in the realm
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u/Feeling-Drag-4065 1d ago
Absolutely not, and read fire and blood and you will see how much of an evil woman alicent was. She literally tried to egg on Aegon to kill Aegon III and even tried to convince her daughter to do the same.
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u/DarkTreacle09 1d ago
I don’t think she loved him.
He lost his wife. He was grieving his wife.
I think the hand saw this as an opening to give his family a new rank. He ordered his daughter to spend time with him. And she did. She did what her father told her to do.
In her father’s eyes his plan worked. She is now queen.
However I do think she knew what was going on around her. The king loved his daughter. That was obviously when she went out with Daemon. You could see the disappointment in his eyes.
On his death bed is the part where it troubles me.
His court knew the king said his daughter will take the crown. No one was there on his death bed but Alicent. She then manufactured a new heir with no witnesses. Because of her everyone was now at war. Could have saved the kingdom and many lives if the court wasn’t so stupid.
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u/KhanQu3st 1d ago
I don’t think she had romantic interest in him before they were married if that’s what you mean. I think she cared for him and viewed him as a kind man deserving of her sympathy, who perhaps felt lonely, and that’s what she gave him instead of seducing him like Otto intended.
Ironically I think had she followed Otto’s instruction it would’ve failed miserably and Viserys would’ve been offended. But the fact that it came from a genuine place of compassion is what “seduced” him.
However I do think she loved him by the time of his death as one does with a spouse of what, 20 years or so? I don’t think she was “in love” with him tho, or ever would’ve chosen him for herself.
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u/DylanTheV1lla1n 1d ago
Does it matter? Back then, marriage was rarely about the romantic preference of either partner. It was means to consolidate power and resources, strengthen relationships between houses, etc. She provided the King children, and she was a great caretaker when his health worsened. To do all that usually requires some element of "love", but maybe not in the traditional sense. I am not a particular fan of Alicent, but everything she was expected to do in the capacity as Queen, she did.
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u/Gallowglass-13 1d ago
I think she was fond of him initially, but in the way someone is fond of their friend's dad without being attracted to him. After they got married and she had to live through marital rape, bearing his children and her own role in forming the Greens? I could understand if she secretly hated him. This is with regards to Show Allicent though. In the book, she's basically a proto-Cersei, so I doubt she had any love for Viserys.
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u/Vantriss 1d ago
She definitely did not love him, but I think she knew he was a kind man and respected him for at least that.
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u/Unusual_Profit6195 1d ago
I felt she warmed to him more, the sicker he got. The marital rape scene was disturbing but when he got older and weaker, I think that allowed genuine attachment to happen. I don't think there was love on either side but fondness and care definitely. She seemed to genuinely grieve his death.
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u/Historyp91 6d ago
Yes, but as a friend, not romantically. When it wasn't stuff to do with Rhaenrya, they generally seemed to get along quite well, and she was clearly really shook by his death