House of the Dragon stars explain why their season 3 reunion is so nerve-wracking to watch

‘They can never have a simple relationship again.’ At the end of season 2 of House of the Dragon, Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) cut a deal with her childhood best friend-turned-political rival Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) that would allow Rhaenyra to take over King’s Landing but protect Alicent’s children. The bargain quickly went wrong as King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) secretly fled the city. Alicent and her daughter Helaena were caught trying to do the same. House of the Dragon season 3 episode 3 deals with the fallout from the failed escape, as Alicent finds herself a prisoner in her old palace and tries to figure out how to work with Rhaenyra to protect her family and the Seven Kingdoms. "They're sort of at opposite ends of a seesaw or scales,” Cooke told Polygon in a virtual interview. “Both of them can't have power at the same time. But I think when Rhaenyra sneezes, Alicent catches a cold. No matter where they are, they can't help but feel the ripple effects of each other's actions and also recognize and see what each other are going through because they've been in these positions themselves.” Alicent helped rule Westeros when her husband Viserys’ health decli

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