Olivia Cooke talks about the moment Alicent Hightower loses her s*it for the first time

Episode 7 of House of the Dragon finally gives us some of the most anticipated moments from Fire and Blood and the trailers that we probably must have rewatched hundreds of times. The new chapter not only gave us the high-octane, adrenaline-filled flight scene of Aemond on Vhagar, but also the skirmish that followed included a scene that was the first look at the fabled Catspaw dagger from the first teaser.

That was the first time in House of The Dragon so far when Alicent Hightower truly let go of her emotions. The dowager queen always maintained an appearance of grace, sincerity, piousness, and righteousness, but she turned into a raging psycho when Aemond lost his eye. Olivia Cooke, who plays the role of Alicent in the series, recently talked about it in the official Game of Thrones podcast.

Cooke said, “It just feels like she was backed into a corner for so long. She’s also been emboldened by Larys and Criston Cole, her allies who are hermetically sealed in their disdain towards Rhaenyra and her whole regime. So when it’s so obvious that Viserys is going to choose Rhaenyra, and throws the threat of that being treason for what I’m saying or what my boys have said, I think that’s when she just breaks.”

“It’s just piled on top of her for so long, that I don’t even think she realizes she’s grabbed the knife and is chasing towards Rhaenyra until she slices her. It’s just pure hate at this point, and adrenaline. And then yeah, the huge amount of guilt and confusion and sorrow for what she’s done, and the disgust at what she’s capable of now. Which you know, daddy loves.”

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