Rhaenyra Targaryen: Rightful Heir or Reckless Ruler?
At the heart of the Team Black vs. Team Green civil war is Rhaenyra, the Realm’s Delight turned embattled queen. For her supporters, the case is simple: she was named heir by her father, King Viserys, and the Greens’ entire claim is based on blatant misogyny.
Every choice she makes is framed by the impossible standard set for a woman seeking power in a man’s world. They argue her moments of indulgence or political miscalculation are human flaws, not disqualifying sins. The other side of the group chat, however, sees a protagonist blinded by privilege and entitlement. They point to her lies about her children's parentage as a fundamental betrayal of the throne’s integrity and a catalyst for conflict. To them, she expects the loyalty due to a queen without always demonstrating the wisdom or sacrifice required to earn it, making her just as responsible for the war as her rivals.
Alicent Hightower: Pious Pawn or Master Player?
Is Queen Alicent a tragic victim or a calculated villain? This is the debate that defines Team Green. One argument paints her as a pawn in a patriarchal game, pushed by her ambitious father, Otto, to secure power for her family. In this view, she is a woman of genuine faith and duty, terrified by Rhaenyra’s transgressions and what they mean for the stability of the realm. Her actions, including crowning her son Aegon, are seen as a desperate attempt to protect her children in a system that offers her no other way. But many viewers aren’t buying it. They see Alicent as a willing participant who weaponizes piety and tradition to justify a power grab. They argue she nursed a personal grudge against Rhaenyra for decades and was more driven by jealousy and self-righteousness than any noble cause. For them, she’s no victim; she’s the architect of the coup.
Daemon Targaryen: The Internet’s Bad Boyfriend or a True Villain?
No character dominates the discourse quite like Daemon, the Rogue Prince. He’s violent, impulsive, and has a deeply unsettling relationship with his niece. He murders his first wife, grooms Rhaenyra, and generally behaves like a one-man agent of chaos. And yet, the internet can’t get enough. The debate isn’t just about whether he’s good or bad—he’s objectively bad. The real argument is *why* so many are drawn to him. His defenders see a fiercely loyal family man beneath the bloodshed, the only person who consistently and unconditionally supports Rhaenyra’s claim. They celebrate his charisma and decisive action as necessary strengths in a brutal world. The other camp is simply baffled, seeing the fandom’s embrace of Daemon as a classic case of romanticizing a toxic, abusive figure just because he’s played with smoldering intensity by Matt Smith. Is he a complex anti-hero or just a monster with good hair? The DMs are still flying.
Ser Criston Cole: Scorned Lover or Radicalized Incel?
Perhaps no character inspires more pure, unadulterated rage than Ser Criston Cole of the Kingsguard. His journey from Rhaenyra’s sworn protector and lover to her most virulent hater is a core source of fan fury. The debate centers on his motivation. Was he a man of honor who, after breaking his vows for a princess who wouldn’t run away with him, felt so consumed by shame and heartbreak that he was driven into the arms of her enemy? This take sees him as a tragic, if deeply flawed, figure. The far more popular opinion online, however, is that Criston Cole is the ultimate cautionary tale of male entitlement. In this reading, his affection was conditional, and the moment Rhaenyra rejected his fantasy of a simple life, his love curdled into a violent, misogynistic hatred that he nursed for decades. He’s not a man of honor; he’s the embodiment of the phrase, “if I can’t have you, I’ll ruin you.”
