Olivia Cooke Says Alicent’s Survival Drives Her

Alicent’s survival – In a roundtable ahead of House of the Dragon’s Season 3 premiere, Olivia Cooke paints Alicent Hightower as focused less on reconciling with Rhaenyra Targaryen and more on survival for herself and her daughter, Helaena—right up to the bargain that demands a bru

Alicent Hightower’s war with Rhaenyra Targaryen may be tangled in old friendship and broken loyalty—but Olivia Cooke’s read on Alicent is startlingly practical. After the Season 2 finale, Cooke describes a woman who isn’t pausing for feelings. She’s preparing for the next turn of power, and she’s trying to keep Helaena alive.

In a roundtable interview with Cooke. Fabien Frankel. and Freddie Fox ahead of the Season 3 premiere. Cooke was pressed on where Alicent and Rhaenyra stand with each other. Are they really closer than enemies?. Is Alicent ready to swallow pride for peace in Westeros?. Cooke’s answer lands on priorities, not romance or regret.

“I don’t know if Alicent’s cognizant of where she stands with Rhaenyra. I don’t think that’s her priority. I think. in lieu of fixing the wrongs that she has done within the kingdom. she’s focused on survival — preparing the Red Keep for as safe a transition of power as possible and getting herself and [her daughter] Helaena out of harm’s way. That’s exactly where I think she is in the first two episodes. But she keeps being waylaid and interrupted in some of the worst ways possible.”.

Cooke’s Alicent, then, moves like someone who believes time is running out. Even if the past relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra began as childhood best friends, and even if it was disrupted by Alicent’s marriage to Rhaenyra’s father, the show’s current reality is set by what’s at stake now.

In the Season 2 finale, Alicent makes a proposal to Rhaenyra. The agreement, as framed heading into Season 3, points toward Rhaenyra taking King’s Landing and declaring her rightful place on the Iron Throne—presumably with Alicent opening the gates. But the route to that transition is paid in blood.

Cooke spells out the cost Alicent has weighed and why she chooses it. “Alicent has weighed up all the offers she could have made Rhaenyra. and I think she tried to give offers that had lesser personal stakes. But she knew she had to offer Aegon’s head because that was the only way people would transfer their loyalty to Rhaenyra. I think she had a lot of time — a very long horse ride back to Westeros — to contemplate what she’d done.”.

The person at the center of that bargain is Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney). The article notes that Alicent has previously rejected the idea of surrendering her first child multiple times. In other words. Season 3 doesn’t just ask whether Alicent can live with her past—it asks whether she can live with the decision she made when survival demanded something she once refused.

That tension sits inside a story that some viewers will recognize from the wider series history. The piece also points to a major shift from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood: aging down Alicent to make her Rhaenyra’s best friend. adding “a queer doomed lovers layer to the series.” It’s a dynamic that makes Cooke’s blunt focus on survival feel especially uneasy—because it leaves less room for tenderness. even as the characters’ connection remains at the core of the show’s emotional weather.

There’s another cloud over that future, too. The article references recent news from creator Ryan Condal, saying the series will not end happily in Season 4, the show’s last—“perhaps pushing the doom of Alicent and Rhaenyra even further.”

While Alicent keeps her attention on the Red Keep and on getting Helaena out of harm’s way. others are still being pulled apart by war. Cooke. Frankel. and Fox also talked about Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox). who are away from the politics unfolding at King’s Landing.

Cooke said of Alicent’s isolation from them, “We don’t really know what each other is doing, do we?. Alicent doesn’t know if [Cole and Gwayne] are alive. All Alicent knows is that she’s got to keep on this path of survival for herself and for Helaena. and try to bring the terms of this bargain to fruition.”.

Fox added that the separation cuts both ways. “ [Cole and Gwayne] don’t know what’s going on in [King’s Landing]. They hope there’s still something to live for. They have to muddle through despite having very different personalities.”

The article also teases where that “muddling through” leads for Gwayne. including upcoming scenes with Ormund Hightower. played by James Norton. Fox described Gwayne and Ormund’s past relationship as being built on “bullying” and said much of Season 3 finds them “quarreling over ‘their influence over another new character.’”.

As for Criston Cole, Frankel offered a glimpse of what might be possible if the war ever slows down enough for them to reconnect. In a sentence he described as something Cole might want to tell Alicent if they were reunited, he said: “I fancy your brother.”

House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres June 21, 2026 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max, with new episodes airing every Sunday.

House of the Dragon Season 3 Olivia Cooke Alicent Hightower Rhaenyra Targaryen Helaena Criston Cole Gwayne Hightower Aegon II King’s Landing Iron Throne