Olivia Cooke, one of many stars of Home of the Dragon, spoke out in opposition to followers who confront her about her character, Alicent Hightower. Home of the Dragon is the primary and, thus far, solely Sport of Thrones spinoff to make it to air, although A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is predicted to debut in 2026.
The sequence, which tells the story of the Targaryens, kicked off in 2022 with rave evaluations and record-breaking scores. Home of the Dragon season 2 did not fare almost as effectively, with many followers complaining concerning the lack of a climactic battle and even A Track of Ice and Hearth writer George R.R. Martin criticizing the difference of his work.
Among the characters, together with Alicent, have confronted backlash for numerous choices they’ve made on Home of the Dragon.
Throughout an interview with THR, Cooke pushed again in opposition to followers who complain about Home of the Dragon, particularly once they take drastic measures to make their offended opinions heard. The actress admitted that some followers have been “f***ing horrible” to the solid, and he or she does not wish to must “bow down” to them after they make such “hate-filled” feedback.
Cooke notably despises the moments when followers come as much as her and ask for a selfie however then will inform her, “We HATE your character!” Typically, the criticism comes throughout “with a variety of malice.“
Whereas Alicent is a really divisive character on Home of the Dragon, Cooke cannot imagine individuals have such sturdy reactions, particularly since she has at all times tried to play the function with “as a lot complexity as potential.”
“They’ll take an image, after which they’ll be like: ‘We HATE your character!’ Typically individuals do say that with a variety of malice…[Alicent has] actually stirred up a variety of emotions. It’s odd to be on the receiving finish of that as somebody who has solely ever tried to convey her with as a lot complexity as potential.”
“Among the followers have been f***ing horrible to our solid. It makes me actually offended that we’re then supposed to simply bow down and [pay] obeisance to those people who solely wish to say essentially the most debased, hate-filled issues. However fortunately, we’ve all skilled it in our personal means, and we’ve bought one another, which doesn’t make it proper.”
What Backlash Means For Home Of The Dragon Season 3
Whereas the primary season of Home of the Dragon earned overwhelmingly constructive evaluations, Alicent as a personality has by no means acquired the identical kind of response. She’s made choices which have negatively affected fan-favorite characters like Rhaenyra Targaryen. The 2 was once buddies, however they finally ended up on opposing sides.
What made the state of affairs worse was the truth that the advertising and marketing for Home of the Dragon has overestimated the “Group Inexperienced vs. Group Black” angle. Followers who’re Group Inexperienced again Alicent, whereas Group Black is with Rhaenyra. Encouraging followers to decide on a aspect has led to a variety of tense discussions on social media between the 2 camps.
The world of Westeros is stuffed with so many complicated characters who do not neatly match the labels of “hero” or “villain.” Lots of them are in that grey area within the center, which is how Martin wrote the characters in his books as effectively.
Home of the Dragon season 3 has the possibility to show critics fallacious, each by way of the storytelling that suffered within the sophomore season and for characters like Alicent. Nonetheless, preserving her a fancy character who does not at all times make the correct decisions helps maintain the wealthy storytelling intact.
Our Take On Fan Backlash To Alicent Hightower
Alicent is a polarizing character; there isn’t any doubt about that. Nonetheless, there are a variety of polarizing characters throughout each Sport of Thrones and Home of the Dragon, and so they do not at all times obtain the identical stage of backlash that is been directed at Alicent.
One other issue that ought to be taken into consideration is the truth that Alicent is a girl making these horrible choices. Horrible males dominate in Westeros, and but these figures escape a variety of the vitriol.
If Home of the Dragon season 3 will get the sequence again in followers’ good graces from a storytelling perspective, perhaps a personality like Alicent can be checked out by a special lens going ahead, particularly after the season 2 finale confirmed her rising sympathy towards Rhaenyra.
Home of the Dragon
8/10
- Launch Date
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August 21, 2022
- Community
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HBO
- Administrators
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Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel
- Writers
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Gabe Fonseca
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Fabien Frankel
Ser Criston Cole
