Here's What Alicent Hightower's Use of Moon Tea on 'House of the Dragon' Means

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 4 of House of the Dragon.

Season 2, Episode 4 of HBO's House of the Dragon was filled with major plot moments that will likely define our perspectives on the war between the Blacks and the Greens. Amid all the dragon fire and smoke, though, there were also some quieter moments in the episode worth exploring.

One such moment comes with Alicent Hightower requests moon tea from the Grandmaester, suggesting that it is for someone else. Here's what moon tea is, and what its history is on this show.

Moon tea is an herbal abortifacient used to prevent pregnancies and for abortions in the world of Game of Thrones. Alicent's reason for requesting the concoction at this juncture is likely because of her ongoing affair with Ser Criston Cole, the newly installed Hand of the King. Alicent's affair with Cole was ongoing even before her husband Viserys Targaryen's death, and a pregnancy would make the affair obvious.

Alicent's use of moon tea is made more apparent later in the episode, when we see that she has missed a small council meeting and is holding hot coals over her abdomen, likely as a result of the induced miscarriage.

Alicent's use of moon team to cover up an affair is understandable, and it's not the first time a woman has done something similar to avoid scandal.

Even so, it may be galling to some viewers because Alicent was once incredibly judgmental about Rhaenyra's decision to do the same thing after she had sex with her uncle (gotta love this show). Now that Alicent is in a personally compromised position, it seems that she's much more willing to use the substance. Of course, both of these women have been forced into their positions in large part by the patriarchal society they're operating within.

Moon tea is not a new substance to anyone who was familiar with Game of Thrones. Characters on that show used it for similar reasons, although it was never quite as crucial to the unfolding plot as it has become at several key junctures on House of the Dragon. In a world where lineage is the crucial question, it makes sense that women would be exceptionally careful about who gets born when.

Part of the point of moon tea, though, is that it is a subtle way of achieving that end without ever revealing the truth. Of course, Laerys Strong picks up on what's going on and manages to confront Alicent about the information.

Most people, though, think nothing of the news that Alicent is ill shortly after requesting moon tea for someone else. In the halls of power, this is part of how things work. Alicent gets to bend the rules so that she can avoid an enormous scandal inside the Red Keep, where things are already fraught.