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For those who have only seenHouse of the Dragonand not read George R.R. Martin’sFire & Blood,or vice versa, you might find a bit of difference between the female characters in the different media. As for those who have read the book and are currently watching the series, they will tell you thatHouse of the Dragonhas failed to show the complexity of its female characters.
Fans especially have had complaints about the three most prominent females in the series – Alicent, Rhaenyra, and Rhaenys. While they are stronger, more brutal, and violent in the book, the show depicts them in a light that dilutes their ruthlessness and political savvy. On the other hand, things were a bit different withGame of Thrones.
HasHouse of the DragonFailed its Female Characters?
A post onRedditrightly points out thatHouse of the Dragonhas been overdoing the wrong trope all this time. The outdated and overdone trope in question is that while men are violent, women only push for peace. This has been seen time and again in the series.
The female characters inHoTDare quite passive when compared to their book counterparts and have been watered down to fit inside a box. InGeorge R.R. Martin’s book, Alicent Hightower is the genius mastermind behind the Green Council and is shown to be a great political strategist. Unfortunately,Olivia Cooke’s Alicent was stripped of this political prowess and her father Otto Hightower was the one who took her place. Thus, Alicent went from a strong, intelligent, and strategic character to a weak and confused pushover.
“It’s like they choose to forget about this”: House of the Dragon Fans Dig Up 1 Unforgivable Scene of Alicent Abusing Rhaenyra That Team Green Cannot Defend
Coming to Rhaenys Targaryen, who in the books was a strong advocate for using Team Black’s greater dragon power to launch a swift attack on King’s Landing and ensure a quick victory. She was not afraid to endorse violence and was a brilliant strategist. In the show though, Eve Best’s Rhaenys sees a notable departure from her book counterpart and often gives speeches emphasizing restraint and caution. Even her previously mentioned dragon strategy was shown to be the brainchild of Daemon and the Black Council.
Now, let’s talk about everyone’s favoriteHoTDcharacter – Rhaenyra Targaryen. In the book, she fed Vaemond Velaryon to her dragon Syrax when he called her children out being bastards. It didn’t take Rhaenyra a moment of consideration nor did she have sympathy for him before committing the act which just shows how unapologetically ruthless she can be. The show, however, took all her rage and gave it to Daemon, makingEmma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra a tragic, morally conflicted character.
The post perfectly states,
Women can be just as violent as men; having a woman do things that are considered ‘evil’ or for self gain doesn’t take away from the character and if anything I think makes for more compelling characters rather than the unfortunate whitewashing that has occurred.
All in all, we would love to see the women of the show regain their complex and ruthless nature as they get their hands dirty. It’s about time we stop watering down just insane characters!
Fans Have Been Saying This for a Long Time
WhileHoTDhas been receiving unending praise from both critics and fans, this one complaint has always occupied viewers’ minds, especially those who have readFire & Blood.Here’s what some of them have to say about the show whitewashing such powerful female characters:
the house of the dragon writers when they have to pick between writing their female characters like the ambitious, vengeful women they were in the book or making them domestic abuse victims with no agency whatsoeverpic.twitter.com/IgVsGIdICV
— a. (@thesprlngprince)July 30, 2025
House of the Dragon looked at every single female character from the dance and said “and you’ll be stripped off your entire personality! We need that for the men!” but hey! Female Dragons!https://t.co/zFQjd8nRgD
— Aria🪽ARR 2.2 (@vitaaeris)August 03, 2025
House of the Dragon, why are you so afraid to let your female characters slay like this?#hotdpic.twitter.com/Kb7UaAO9KZ
— … (@daelysimon)June 18, 2025
Why is house of the dragon so afraid of power hungry female characters?!!! Let them be bad!!! I don’t need a fucking sob story.
— 𝝠sh 🇵🇸 (@starfallgoddess)June 02, 2025
What is the main problem of House of the dragon that writers don’t understand? They have the female characters suffering more than what they should. We know Rhaenyra is a tragic figure. But she was supposed to have Daemon whom they made a complete abusive, asshole.
— Sunshine_Dreamer -The Book of Carol🐬🌺🌸 (@MandellaMary)Jul 23, 2025
The female characters on house of dragon are weak as fuck. If she held a dagger to their kids in GoT?
Cersei would’ve had her hanging from a wall by sunrise. Daenerys would’ve charbroiled her. Arya would’ve killed her with that dagger while wearing alicent’s son’s face!#HoTd
— unserious account (@2GeminiSides)June 05, 2025
The point aboutGame of Thronescouldn’t have been said any better. From Cersei to Daenerys to Arya, the female characters in the show were absolute perfection. Cersei was evil and the show didn’t try to hide this by giving her a moral complex. Daenerys was your average savior throughout the show but left hints of darkness behind. And Arya? Well, we’ll let her revenge for the Red Wedding speak for itself.
Perhaps the women ofHoTDcan take a page out ofGoT’s book.
“My jaw is on the floor, I didn’t even catch that”: House of the Dragon Episode 3 Scene Featuring Alicent and Rhaenyra is Return to Form for Peak Writing That Many Fans Missed
Of course, there is also a chance that the creators might be afraid of going all out with their female characters after the backlash that happened afterEmilia Clarke’s Daenerys went through a sudden change in season 8. But hey, if there’s one thing that we learned from the franchise it is that you must not be afraid to take risks.
StreamHouse of the DragonandGame of Throneson Max.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2258
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you can find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
