What Is the Significance of Alicent’s Green Dress in House of the Dragon?

The future of the impending Targaryen civil war was already teased early in episode 5 of House of the Dragon when, during the ball for the betrothal of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Ser Laenor Velaryon, Queen Alicent wore a green dress instead of the traditional red and black color scheme that’s mostly associated with House Targaryen. Of course, the people, Viserys included, were surprised by this choice. So, what is the significance of Alicent’s green dress?

Alicent’s green dress symbolizes that she was ready to go to war with Rhaenyra. As Harwin and Larys said, the beacons of Hightower are color green whenever they were signaling an upcoming war. And Alicent wore that green dress because she knew that Rhaenyra had lied about her maidenhood.

The fact that Ser Criston Cole confessed to the act of sleeping with Rhaenyra was the last straw for Alicent as she realized that Rhaenyra was no longer the friend that she used to know and that it was her that got Otto Hightower removed as Hand of the King. So, with that said, Alicent now means business, as it is clear that the two are heading toward a head-on collision in the future.

Why Did Alicent Wear A Green Dress?

A good part of episode 5 revolved around Rhaenyra Targaryen meeting with Ser Laenor Velaryon, who was the husband that King Viserys chose for her to marry. Of course, Rhaenyra knows that Laenor has his own preferences, and there was already an arrangement between them in relation to how their relationship would go in the future. Now, with things already clear between Rhaenyra and Laenor, Viserys decided to hold a banquet in celebration of their betrothal, as the houses of Targaryen and Velaryon were now going to be united.

During the banquet, a lot of things happened, but different lords greeted King Viserys and Princess Rhaenyra. Jason Lannister, with his usual pompous nature, greeted the king and the princess as he also asked why Queen Alicent wasn’t with them. 

That was when Viserys told Jason that Alicent was still getting ready. Of course, Jason, with his misogynistic attitude, said that the reason why men were the ones waging war instead of women was due to the fact that women take too long to prepare.

Much later in the evening, King Viserys was already welcoming the different noble houses that were there at the banquet as he announced that his daughter and Laenor Velaryon were going to wed one another. In the middle of his speech, however, he was shocked to see that Queen Alicent suddenly arrived wearing a green dress.

As Velaryon was speechless, the entire room was also left shocked to see Alicent wearing a green dress. She was walking through the aisle when the camera shifted to Ser Harwin Strong and Lord Larys Strong, who discussed the green dress. So, why did Alicent wear that green dress?

Ever since she married King Viserys, Alicent had been wearing the usual red dress that the Targaryens have been associated with. However, the fact that she now wore the green dress was surprising because of the fact that she had decided to go against what was customary among the Targaryens. And this goes back to the fact that the color green means something to House Hightower.

Going back to what Ser Harwin and Lord Larys were talking about, they mentioned that the beacons of House Hightower turn green only for one reason—war. In that regard, by wearing green, Queen Alicent was waging war on Princess Rhaenyra as this was a prelude to what was to come in the future. And yes, we are talking about the Dance of the Dragons or the Targaryen civil war, where both of them are on opposing sides.

What Is The Significance Of Alicent’s Hightower’s Green Dress?

As mentioned by Harwin and Larys, the color green meant war for House Hightower as this was the color of the beacons of Hightower whenever war was coming. And there is a larger significance behind the green dress that Alicent wore during the betrothal party of Rhaenyra.

Going back to the events of episode 4, we saw that Rhaenyra was seduced by Daemon when they were in a pleasure house in King’s Landing. One of Otto Hightower’s spies saw this, and that was the reason why he reported the incident to the king, who was quick to question whether or not Otto’s source was even reliable.

Of course, Alicent overheard the entire conversation and decided to confront Rhaenyra herself. While Rhaenyra did indeed lose her maidenhood that night to Ser Criston instead of Prince Daemon, she swore to Alicent that her virtue was still intact. And because Rhaenyra was her best friend, Alicent believed her.

Nevertheless, Viserys confronted his daughter. He told her that her fun and games were now over because she was now going to marry Laenor Velaryon. However, Rhaenyra only agreed to marry Laenor if he agreed to confront Otto Hightower, who she believed had his own ulterior motives as Hand of the King. After confronting Otto, Viserys dismissed his Hand from his post, as Alicent was obviously sad about this during the events of episode 5.

Then, in episode 5, Alicent learned from Criston Cole that he and Rhaenyra did indeed sleep with one another. So, when Alicent learned about that, she realized that her best friend was lying the entire time, even after Rhaenyra swore to her dead mother’s name. And that was the last straw for Alicent, who realized that Rhaenyra was no longer someone she could trust or even treat as a friend.

So, when Alicent wore that green dress, she was basically waging war against Rhaenyra, who she thought was not fit to be the next ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. And this was a premonition of what was to come because they would eventually clash with one another in the Dance of the Dragons.

During the Dance of the Dragons, two factions were formed. Rhaenyra’s faction was called the Blacks because of the usual black color that the Targaryens wear. Meanwhile, Alicent’s faction, which supported Aegon II as king, was called the Greens because of the dress that Alicent wore.

By wearing that green dress, she also rebelled against the customs of the Targaryens. That green dress was her way of rebelling against her husband’s wishes of putting Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne as the next ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. In essence, that green dress was her way of telling them that she was not going to abide by Viserys’s wishes and was not going to support Rhaenyra as the heir to the Iron Throne.

Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!