How Style Tells the Story on House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon, or HOTD, follows the story of the Westerosi Civil War dubbed as the Dance of the Dragons. The show was adapted from George R. R. Martin’s “Fire and Blood,” and the conflict centers around the story of the succession of Viserys I. 

Martin’s fictional land of Westeros champions the firstborn son as the heir apparent, but Viserys I chooses instead to name his firstborn daughter, Rhaenyra, as his successor. However, the King has multiple legitimate sons, and following his death, Rhaenyra’s claim is challenged by her younger brother, Aegon II. The throne is usurped by Aegon in allegiance with his mother, Queen Alicent Hightower—a childhood friend of Rhaenyra—and grandfather, Hand of the King Otto Hightower.

The show’s first season was costumed by Jany Temime, known for her work on the Harry Potter films. Season two’s looks were spearheaded by Irish costume designer Caroline McCall, who will be returning to style the third season.

In the show, audiences’ first glimpse of Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra finds her clad in black dragonscales, dismounting her gold dragon, Syrax. Known as “the dragon queen,” this initial styling artfully introduces the character. Rhaenyra, in her earliest characterization, is shown to be in unity with the emblem of her house, which is conveyed through her dress.

The audience greets a young Alicent Hightower, played by Emily Carey, a few frames later. Then, still shrouded in innocence, Alicent wears a pale blue gown, reminiscent of her mother’s house heraldry.

As confirmed in the show, Alicent’s mother was a daughter of House Florent, whose sigil depicts a red fox surrounded by lapis lazuli flowers. 

House Florent Sigil

Against Alicent’s deep auburn hair, the gown makes her out to be a physical representation of the sigil. Another pale blue is used on the banners of House Arryn, the house of Rhaenyra's mother. The color—and stylistic unity it beckons—is a powerful symbol throughout the show to highlight moments both characters express innocence and personal agency.

Upon marrying Viserys and attempting assimilation into House Targaryen, Alicent begins to dress in blood red gowns, heavy ruby jewelry, and rich furs. She is seen pregnant, cradling her toddler son in a deep crimson gown, appearing almost weighed down by the heavy fabric. 

Still of Alicent Hightower holding her son, Aegon.

Later, in the first season's fifth episode, “We Light the Way,” Alicent breaks away from Targaryen colors and dons a vivid green dress for Rhaenyra’s wedding. The Queen’s stylistic dissonance is noted in Martin’s original text for “Fire and Blood,” describing a scene where Alicent sports a green gown at a tourney celebrating her fifth wedding anniversary to Viserys. Rhaenyra, in contrast, was “dressed dramatically in Targaryen red and black,” leading to the rival factions within House Targaryen being referred to as the “greens” and the “blacks.”

In the latter half of the first season, the audience is introduced to child versions of Alicent’s children. Despite them being legitimate members of House Targaryen and direct descendants of the Targaryen king, Alicent dresses her children—Aegon, Aemond, and Helaena—in Hightower green, extending her silent, stylistic defiance into the second generation. 

Aemond and his sister Helaena in the background, both wearing Hightower green.

This interesting characterization of the children is the audience's first glimpse into the strong influence Alicent and her father, Otto Hightower, exert on them as they age throughout the show. When viewers greet Alicent’s oldest son, the newly-crowned Aegon II, during the second season's first episode, they find him still dressed head to toe in deep green.

Aegon’s bounds manifest in the jewelry he wears, most notably through the chains he wears throughout the second season, stretching across his shoulders like an untightened noose. 

Aegon II from his coronation scene, and later addressing his small council.

As the season progresses, and viewers gain insight into Aegon’s growing understanding of the weight of the crown, his chains become chunkier and seemingly heavier. In contrast, Alicent’s attire seems to become lighter, with flowier fabrics and gentler jewelry. As she sheds her responsibility onto her son, her jewelry becomes lighter, with less apparent symbolism.

While the first season of HOTD was heavily criticized for moving too fast, the second spurred the opposite concern, with many critics claiming that the storyline felt stagnant. Considering only a few notable battles took place, with only one major character death during the season, this line of reasoning makes sense at first glance, but fails to recognize the complex characterization that took place.

A nuanced narrative of war, however, does not only tell the stories of battles and betrayal. As illustrated through the complex character arcs interlaced throughout the season, equally important to depicting political conflict is understanding the mechanics behind its inception.

At the end of this season, the pieces are perfectly positioned, and the game of chess is fully underway. Season two allowed the audience to explore the interiority of each main player in the Dance, and the lack of major battles and action points does not make the narrative fall short. The final scene between the two queens, from both an aesthetic and literary perspective, serves as the perfect culmination of the season. Both attired in the pale blues of their mothers’ houses, Alicent and Rhaenyra claim full control of their lives; Rhaenyra accepts her duty, and Alicent seeks to shy away from hers.

“Why have you come here?” Rhaenyra asks Alicent. “Because I have lost my way,” she replies. “Or, rather, it was taken from me.”

But this Alicent, in her lapis-lazuli-blue dress and cape, embroidered with flowers, has reclaimed her way. She has stripped herself of the colors of “[her] husband, [her] father, [her] lover and [her] son,” and taken back the dignity and agency she had at the start of the show. 

Fashion is an invaluable vehicle in subtly communicating character arcs, as was expertly illustrated on this season of HOTD. Especially considering Rhaenyra, Aegon, and Alicent’s style progressions, viewers bear witness to just how much has happened over the course of the season:

Rhaenyra, making strategic political moves in her silky blue sleeping gown, stops separating her femininity from her competence to rule. Aegon II, crushed under the weight of his chains and Valyrian steel crown, emerges from the final episode as a broken King, and a shell of his former self, wrapped in rags to conceal his identity as he escapes King’s Landing. Alicent, claiming control of her own life and finally free from the tradition of Houses Hightower and Targaryen, slips back into Florent blue. 

Through just mapping out the styles of season two, it is clear just how much has happened over these eight episodes. An artful depiction of war is rooted in narrative complexity, which cannot exist without well-fleshed-out character arcs and motivations.