‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Finale: Why Alicent’s Blue Dress Is So Important

For Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), green is out and blue is in.

The Dragon HouseThe Dowager Queen turned to green as early as Season 1, a nod to the green fire that House Hightower lights in Oldtown when it calls its banners to war. Since then, the color green has become synonymous not only with Alicent, but also with her son Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his followers.

However, Alicent changes things up in the final two episodes of Season 2. On her camping trip to Kingswood in Episode 7, she wears a dark blue-green cape over a lighter blue dress. The subtle color change from her usual wardrobe is just a hint at her shifting allegiance to the Green Team, but the episode takes it a step further. When Alicent sheds her outer layers before swimming in a lake in a simple white dress, the meaning is clear. Helpless, worn down, and unable to stop the madness of war, Alicent abandons the duty she has spent her entire life defending.

She tells her old friend and royal adversary Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) in the Season 2 finale, when she travels to Dragonstone to propose a bold new plan to end the war. As soon as her son, Prince Regent Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), flies to the Borderlands, Alicent tells him she will hand King’s Landing over to Rhaenyra, the designated heir to the Iron Throne. In exchange, she asks that she be allowed to go free with her daughter, Queen Helaena (Phia Saban), so that they can both live the kind of unburdened lives they were never free to choose.

The whole scene is a The Dragon House The climax of the scene is when Alicent agrees to give up Aegon’s life in exchange for Rhaenyra’s victory. But the scene also continues Alicent’s revealing sartorial journey from Episode 7. Here, Alicent’s entire outfit is light blue—no hint of green here! Also missing are symbols related to the Faith of the Seven, another key element of Alicent’s regal persona. These visual choices by costume designer Jany Temimes help to underscore the shift Alicent has undergone over the course of the season: she’s officially ready to give up her power and status.

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But why light blue, in particular? I couldn’t The Dragon House Did you choose a color to show Alicent’s departure from her old ways? In theory, yes. However, the light blue actually has a specific meaning for Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship in The Dragon Housemaking it the perfect choice for Alicent’s final transformation.

Light blue actually has special significance for Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship in “House of the Dragon.”

In the very first episode of The Dragon HouseWhen young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent (Emily Carey) are most intimate, Alicent is seen wearing a light blue dress. Later, as things begin to deteriorate between the two, Alicent is seen in a dark blue dress, and then in Targaryen red and gold. Despite all these changes, this first light blue dress remains the outfit most closely associated with Rhaenyra and Alicent’s love for each other.

It’s worth noting that this is also the dress she wears when Rhaenyra tears a page out of a history book during one of their first conversations—the same page Alicent sends to Rhaenyra in the Season 1 finale in an attempt to remind her of their former friendship and ask for peace. This gesture seems to be a precursor to Alicent’s actions in the Season 2 finale, where she once again relies on her bond with Rhaenyra to stop further bloodshed. Only this time, Alicent tries to work with Rhaenyra, instead of against her.

Alicent’s light blue dress and coat in the The Dragon House The Season 2 finale calls back to the Season 1 dress and all the feelings that come with it. But it also hints at Alicent’s mindset going forward. If she truly wants to live as her true self, without the trappings of duty imposed on her as a child, doesn’t a return to her youthful self before she became queen seem like the best place to start? (We also see this when Alicent bites her nails at a crucial moment in her conversation with Rhaenyra, a devastating reminder of the younger Alicent who also worries about her nails.)

But Alicent doesn’t just want to free herself. She wants to free Rhaenyra as well, begging her to “come with me” into whatever is to come. It’s going to be one of the most romantic (and doomed) moments of the season. Rhaenyra, for her part, can’t go, trapped as she is under the weight of war and Targaryen history. However, Alicent’s proposal doesn’t seem as unappealing to her as Criston Cole’s (Fabien Frankel) proposal did in Season 1. Maybe Rhaenyra wants to go back to those early days when she and Alicent sat together under the weirwood tree in the Red Keep, talking about history and cake without any fear of war, or marrying your best friend’s father. If Rhaenyra ever trades in her black clothes for her Season 1 gold to match Alicent’s new light blue style, then we’ll know for sure.

The Dragon House Season 2 is now available to stream on Max.

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