Before they were mortal enemies on opposite sides of the Dance of the Dragons, Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower were best friends. It might seem a lifetime ago, but the duo were once each other's closest confidants.
By House of the Dragon season 2, though, there's a whole lot of fire and blood separating them. For one thing, Alicent married Rhaenyra's father Viserys, and she later helped her son Aegon usurp Rhaenyra's throne – though she was under the impression that this was King Viserys's dying wish. Then there's the murder of Rhaenyra's son Lucerys by Alicent's son Aemond, which itself was an act of (accidental) brutal revenge for Lucerys blinding Aemond in one eye when they were children. And that's just scratching the surface of the turbulent history.
