I think Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower from House of the Dragon are super similar to Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl.

They’re the medieval version of Blair and Serena, just with dragons instead of designer bags.

These best-friend duos come from very different universes, but since I’m a huge fan of both shows, I’ve been able to draw several parallels and notice multiple similarities, specifically between these main characters.

Frenemy dynamics: Besties turned rivals

The starting point is the fact that both of these friendship dynamics began as super sweet, loving, and adoring relationships before eventually turning into bitter rivalries.

Blair and Serena were incredibly close before Gossip Girl even picked up in the pilot episode.

We found out early on that Serena betrayed Blair in the worst possible way by hooking up with Blair’s boyfriend, Nate Archibald.

And even worse? Serena dipped out of New York City and went off to boarding school without saying goodbye to Blair.

Their friendship absolutely suffered because of Serena’s actions. And when Serena returned, Blair didn’t make it easy on her.

They went through their fair share of highs and lows, and a lot of viewers would probably classify them as frenemies more than best friends.

But you can’t deny that they experienced both the closeness of being best friends and the bitterness of being rivals throughout the course of Gossip Girl.

And that’s definitely something we also saw between Rhaenyra and Alicent.

In season one, when we were introduced to the younger versions of them, they were incredibly close.

They always had each other’s backs, trusted each other with secrets, and felt emotionally connected while navigating such a complicated world.

But they eventually hurt each other through a series of betrayals.

Rhaenyra lied to Alicent’s face about her hookup session with Criston Cole. And Alicent eventually married Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.

Their rivalry only grew from there and became worse throughout the events of House of the Dragon.

Men are at the center of their biggest betrayals (Viserys/Nate)

The next similarity I have to call out is the fact that men are at the center of both friendships’ biggest and most dramatic betrayals.

The fallout between Blair and Serena initially happened because Serena secretly hooked up with Nate at the Shepherd wedding while he was dating Blair.

He had promised to save his virginity for Blair, so that betrayal cut even deeper.

It took Blair a long time to rebuild her trust in Serena.

And although Blair and Nate ultimately broke up for different reasons because they simply outgrew each other, it’s safe to assume his willingness to cheat on her played some role in the eventual breakdown of their relationship.

Nate was at the center of the biggest betrayal between Serena and Blair.

For Rhaenyra and Alicent, King Viserys was at the center of the greatest conflict they faced.

Rhaenyra felt incredibly close to her father. She respected him as both her dad and her king.

But after her mother died during childbirth, Viserys chose to remarry. And he chose Rhaenyra’s best friend, Alicent, as his new queen.

You can only imagine how painful that realization was for Rhaenyra when she realized her friendship with Alicent was never going to be the same.

Alicent went from being the one girl who deeply understood her emotionally to becoming her stepmother. Talk about awkward and uncomfortable.

Their friendship undeniably suffered with Viserys at the center of it all.

All four have major daddy issues

A massive similarity between Serena and Blair, compared to Rhaenyra and Alicent, is the fact that all four of these characters struggle with intense daddy issues that seep into their friendships in many different ways.

Starting with Serena and Blair, Serena’s daddy issues stem from the fact that she struggled with abandonment after her father left the family with little to no regard for Serena or her younger brother, Eric.

Serena started acting out in an attempt to get her dad’s attention because she knew the paparazzi would publish photos of her partying and behaving recklessly.

Prior to all of that, her immaturity and self-destructive behavior led her toward drinking, partying, and casual hookups as distractions from the pain of feeling abandoned.

Blair became far more motherly than she should have had to be because she constantly found herself taking care of Serena while Serena was in her party-girl era.

And the fact that Serena was so desperate to feel loved by a man because of her daddy issues is probably one of the reasons she hooked up with Nate behind Blair’s back.

Serena’s daddy issues absolutely impacted her friendship with Blair.

In Blair’s world, her father cheated on her mother with another man and chose to restart his life outside the country, far away from Manhattan.

Blair’s entire world was flipped upside down by her father’s decision, and her daddy issues left her feeling angry, rejected, and completely confused.

When she didn’t have Serena to lean on during all of that chaos, it only intensified the resentment she already felt toward Serena.

Their friendship was absolutely impacted by Blair’s daddy issues as well.

The same thing can be said about Rhaenyra and Alicent. Rhaenyra always loved and respected her father, especially as a ruler.

She viewed him as someone who sat on the Iron Throne with kindness and compassion.

But her perception of him definitely shifted after watching him marry her best friend while both she and Alicent were still teenagers.

She still loved her father after that decision, but it undoubtedly gave her the ick while simultaneously destroying the friendship she once had with Alicent.

Alicent’s daddy issues also negatively impacted her friendship with Rhaenyra for the most obvious reason of all.

Alicent’s father, Otto Hightower, is the one who instructed Alicent to pursue and seduce Viserys in the first place.

Alicent likely never would’ve pursued Viserys if Otto hadn’t pushed and encouraged her to do so. That’s because Otto cared more about using his own daughter as a political pawn than protecting her happiness.

Again, all four of these girls had major daddy issues, and all of their daddy issues directly impacted their friendships.

They hook up with the same guys

A super awkward comparison I’ve drawn between Serena and Blair versus Rhaenyra and Alicent is the fact that, in both of their universes, they’ve hooked up with the same men.

The same pattern plays out across both Gossip Girl and House of the Dragon, which is pretty fascinating.

On Gossip Girl, Blair and Serena shared several romantic partners, starting with Nate Archibald.

Blair’s high school sweetheart relationship with Nate was forever tarnished by Serena’s decision to hook up with him at the Shepherd wedding.

But they both also dated Dan Humphrey, with Serena and Dan’s relationship dominating much of Gossip Girl.

They spent most of the series getting together, breaking up, and getting back together before ultimately ending the show as husband and wife.

During one of Serena and Dan’s breakups, however, Dan pursued a very serious relationship with Blair Waldorf.

He genuinely fell head over heels in love with her.

In fact, a large portion of the Gossip Girl fandom still believes Dan should’ve ended up with Blair instead of Serena.

Beyond that, Blair and Serena were both romantically involved with Carter Baizen.

Blair’s fling with Carter was casual and far more toxic than romantic.

But Serena actually dated Carter, fell deeply in love with him, and genuinely wanted their relationship to last.

Sharing romantic partners was never really that unusual for Blair and Serena.

On House of the Dragon, it’s revealed that both Rhaenyra and Alicent become romantically involved with Criston Cole.

Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Criston during season one after experiencing a sexual awakening with Daemon Targaryen at the brothel.

She wasn’t looking for anything serious or long-term with Criston.

She was simply acting on impulse in the moment.

By season two, we discover that Alicent has entered her own secret affair with Criston following Viserys’ death.

Criston becomes the first man Alicent is genuinely attracted to since we know her marriage to Viserys was built entirely on duty and obligation rather than romance.

Regardless, both Rhaenyra and Alicent know what it’s like to become involved with the same man.

Jealousy poisons both friendships

Another unfortunate similarity I’ve noticed between Serena and Blair compared to Rhaenyra and Alicent is that jealousy slowly poisoned both friendships.

Between Serena and Blair, the jealousy is incredibly obvious and almost impossible to ignore.

Some people would argue the jealousy went both ways, with Serena occasionally feeling jealous of Blair because Blair had a stronger sense of self and seemed to have a clearer direction in life.

But for the most part, Blair was always the one who felt overshadowed by Serena.

Blair constantly felt like she was living in Serena’s shadow and could never quite measure up to her.

The trauma of knowing Serena hooked up with Nate behind Blair’s back was definitely a factor.

But you also have to remember the time Blair’s own mother, Eleanor Waldorf, chose Serena to model for Eleanor Waldorf Designs instead of Blair.

There were several moments throughout the show that reinforced Blair’s belief that Serena effortlessly received opportunities Blair had to fight for.

Blair always felt like she had to overperform, overextend herself, and strive for perfection just to compete with Serena.

Meanwhile, things often seemed to fall into Serena’s lap naturally.

Between Rhaenyra and Alicent, I noticed more jealousy coming from Alicent toward Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra had far more freedom and privilege than Alicent ever did.

As the king’s daughter and named heir, Rhaenyra had opportunities Alicent could never imagine having.

Meanwhile, Alicent sacrificed her youth and freedom to become a wife and mother while she was still incredibly young.

She spent years sacrificing her own happiness while watching Rhaenyra continue living with a level of freedom she never had.

Alicent constantly sought validation, recognition, and respect through duty and obligation.

Rhaenyra never had to go to those same extremes because her father was the king, and she had already been named his heir.

They maintain love for each other through all the chaos

The last major similarity I can call out between Blair and Serena’s friendship compared to Rhaenyra and Alicent’s friendship is that, somehow, they all continue to love each other despite everything they’ve been through.

There has been so much chaos on both Gossip Girl and House of the Dragon, yet these friendships have somehow stood the test of time.

The deep-rooted love they share for one another never completely disappears, even after all the rivalry, betrayal, jealousy, heartbreak, and resentment they’ve been through.

On Gossip Girl, it’s obvious Blair and Serena still love each other because of the way they continue showing up for one another during life’s biggest moments.

Obvious giveaways proving this are that Serena stood beside Blair during her wedding to Chuck. And Blair stood beside Serena during her wedding to Dan.

It’s very clear to me that they spent years working through their differences, healing from some of the most painful betrayals imaginable, and eventually rebuilding their trust.

For Rhaenyra and Alicent, they’ve both had countless opportunities to betray each other throughout House of the Dragon.

With war looming over Westeros, both women have repeatedly found themselves in positions where they could’ve directly caused the other’s death.

Yet because of the deep friendship they shared as young girls, they’ve repeatedly hesitated when given those opportunities. They’ve repeatedly figured out ways to protect each other and preserve each other’s lives. Season 3 isn’t over yet, and I’m well aware that might change. But for now, this point definitely stands.

Even after everything that’s happened between them, there still seems to be genuine love underneath all the pain.

I’m sure there are even more similarities between these friendships, but these are the biggest ones that stood out to me while brainstorming this list.

Gossip Girl and House of the Dragon are definitely two of my favorite shows, so I always have a lot of fun making crossover content like this.