The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 5, "We Light the Way," which debuted Sunday, Sept. 18 on HBO.
Five episodes into the relatively quiet first season of House of the Dragon, Alicent Hightower finally shows her true colors -- metaphorically and literally. The young wife of King Viserys Targaryen cleverly chooses her side without saying anything, beginning the infamous Targaryen war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
Season 1, Episode 5, "We Light the Way" -- a reference to House Hightower's famous words -- proves that weddings should be banned in the world of Game of Thrones. What fans are calling "The Green Wedding" started in disaster and ended in even more disaster with the death of the groom's lover Joffrey Lonmouth at the hands of the "honorable" Ser Criston Cole. Rhaenyra Targaryen and Laenor Velaryon still ended up marrying after the bloody affair, but that wasn't what people would've been talking about during the reception. In between the mess was a significant moment that started the true fire and declared war on Rhaenyra's succession as Queen of Westeros.
Midway through Viserys' speech congratulating his daughter and future son-in-law, Alicent interrupts to make her grand entrance. The girl who once wanted to disappear into the background is no more -- this is Otto Hightower's daughter, who will carry out his slimy duties as a backstabber while he's gone. Despite legally being a Targaryen now, she's chosen to wear an emerald green dress to the wedding of Rhaenyra and Laenor. That might seem like a small detail to House of the Dragon viewers, but the people of Westeros know this is an intentional jab at Rhaenyra. Larys Strong says to his brother that the beacon on the Hightower glows green when Oldtown calls its banners to war. The explanation loads her decision with meaning.
Since her marriage to Viserys, Alicent has mainly worn the colors of House Targaryen: red and black. The exception is when she wears her mother's dress again in "We Light the Way" after Viserys and Rhaenyra have left King's Landing. Her mother's dress is blue and doesn't signal an act of betrayal or favoring of a particular family. Her dress at Rhaenyra's wedding, however, is her making a political stance that will affect the rest of House of the Dragon's story.
In Fire & Blood, the book which House of the Dragon is adapted from, the infamous war Dance of the Dragons officially begins at a tournament where Alicent wears green and Rhaenyra wears red and black. The women's feud creates a civil war in Westeros; half of the lords take the side of "the Blacks" (Rhaenyra) and half take the side of "the Greens" (Alicent). It's much less clear in the HBO series if this is the moment where the sides have been set in stone. It might be years before the Greens and Blacks are in a civil war on TV, since the next episode takes place a decade after this.
But why did Alicent wear this controversial color in the first place? In Season 1, Episode 4, "King of the Narrow Sea," Rhaenyra is questioned about her virtue and whether she lost her virginity to her uncle Daemon Targaryen. Alicent feels betrayed by this rumor, but Rhaenyra promises that she didn't have sex with Daemon. While this was not technically a lie, she did lose her virginity to Ser Criston that same night. In Episode 5, Ser Criston confesses to Alicent that he had sex with Rhaenyra. Alicent is furious -- not because Rhaenyra lied to her, but because she's jealous of the princess. Rhaenyra has a sort of freedom that Alicent could never have and vice versa -- leaving the war to be simply started by envy and a sense of terrible pride.
Alicent's green dress also symbolizes her deeply religious beliefs that have yet to be seen in the show. Compared to the Targaryens, the Hightowers are pretty conservative. Alicent and Otto's disgust at Rhaenyra's pre-marital sex isn't because she's a royal; it's because it goes against their religion. Alicent also doesn't shun Ser Criston for breaking his celibacy vows or killing a gay man -- acts that surely she would blame Rhaenyra for. With all these developments, Alicent has finally become a major player in the game, but will she be the winner she thinks she is?
New episodes of House of the Dragon air on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on HBO and stream on HBO Max.