#i contain multitudes and so does alicent tbf

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https://twitter.com/sunshove/status/1611420410012401664?t=E-_OgwO--KM8nt74Jsi0NA&s=19

Thoughts?

As I've said before, I'm an Alicole "shipper" I suppose in that I quite like their dynamic and I believe there's a romanticism to it, especially as their connection grows and only gets stronger with the passage of time, though I do maintain that it has not and should never get into the realm of physical, unless we're in a heavy AU scenario. So from that perspective, I quite like this, and I've always enjoyed Emily's insight into Alicent, especially at such a vulnerable point in her life.

To me, this makes sense with the view I've had of Alicent and Criston in episode five. I believe I've mentioned it before (can't find the post but if you search 'alicole' on my blog you should find it somewhere), but a huge part of why that scene in the godswood is such a big deal is because Criston, wrecked with the guilt and despair over the track his life has taken, is prepared to kill himself (idk about Westeros but in Catholicism at least that's a big ole sin) and then the beautiful young woman, the merciful queen who had spared him despite knowing his crime, the mother of the king's children, comes to him through the mist in this holy place and saves him. Of course Criston must see an innocence in her, a purity untouched by whatever was in Rhaenyra that had her seduce him, in his head, (patriarchy be whack), and certainly by his own sin and defilement of his Kingsguard vows and white cloak. Alicent comes to him at his lowest to save and in that moment Criston sees her as The Mother reborn, it's why that moment is so pivotal to his die-hard loyalty to her. And after Criston's spent the entire episode seeing Rhaenyra not caring about the sanctity of what he wants and how he views the world, see Laenor and Joffrey flout the laws of gods and men (I know homosexuality isn't illegal in Westeros but it is frowned upon), and have Joffrey all but confirm that the life of highborns is that of debauchery and dissolution and sacrilege, having Alicent still represent what he thought was loss is deeply important to him, as important as the human fact that he's no doubt grateful someone cared enough to find him in his darkest hour.

On Alicent's part, it equally makes sense to me that Alicent saw a kinship with Criston, she alone (other than Rhaenyra, who's busy at the moment) knows what he's done and she knows better than Rhaenyra how he must be feeling, not just because of his earlier verbalizations but also because they share a religion that they both have a deep connection to, as well as Alicent also knowing intimately how it feels to want to act out violence when your emotions grow too much, except she acts out that violence on herself when she self-harms vs Criston, who appeared to have acted out that violence by bashing Joffrey's head in. And this is Alicent, Alicent who we've seen over five episodes be kindhearted and determined to give the benefit of the doubt, Alicent who decided she was gonna spare Criston despite his crime, Alicent who gave her seat a lil pat to have him sit down next to her to be more comfortable during their talk. She can recognize their kindred spirit and still see past what he's done to understand how he feels and goes to him, and Criston reacts to that goodness and does, yeah, likely see it as an innocence he'd thought was gone from the world at that time.

I think it can be read either way; I know Emily's said that she views Alicent as having been in secret love with Criston for some time, which is part of why she views the whole situation as a betrayal, beyond just Rhaenyra lying and losing her dad and being worried about what this means for her kids. I think it can be certainly read as platonic, love doesn't strictly mean romantic love and it's entirely possible that the deep abiding love we know Criston and Alicent feel for each other is as platonic as it is chaste, Criston can still be like family just by being her friend and companion and sworn protector, and so I do hope the lesbian!Alicent truthers aren't discouraged by it (plus I will go to my grave swearing Rhaenyra and Alicent were in love as kids/teenagers before life went to ship, I stand by Rhaenicent). A bond is a bond is a bond, whether it's romantic or platonic, and there is something to the idea that Alicole cannot even exist without Rhaenicent having existed in its various forms, but that's a post for another time.

TL;DR, I agree with Emily on this and it's basically been my viewpoint on how that relationship became so fireforged ever since the episode aired (wanted to write a fic about it after the ep and then got lazy), but it can definitely be read as important but platonic if that's your jam. I still ship it tho.

#personal #answered #anonymous #alicole #the power of being a multishipper is that one thing doesn't cancel out the other #i can love westerosi lancelot and guinevere but make them zealots AND i can love the sad lesbians torn apart by the machinations of men #i contain multitudes and so does alicent tbf