Warning: this article contains spoilers for House Of The Dragon episode one and two.

Sex, blood, violence, gore – Game Of Thrones fans know what to expect from the fantasy series franchise by now. And to be honest, House Of The Dragon has lived up to expectations.

As well as beheadings, one hell of a brutal childbirth scene and, of course, sex in pleasure houses, House Of The Dragon’s first episodes have also provided us with an unexpected nugget that has quickly become the talk of the series so far.

We know, we know. Your mind has likely turned to Queen Aemma’s horrific caesarean section scene or the awkward King Viserys and Laena Velaryon walking ‘date’ scene. But, perhaps in a bid to try and erase those moments from our minds, we found ourselves honing in on Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) throughout episode one and two.

For now, we know her to be the well-meaning daughter of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the Hand of the King. She reads history books to Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and they share moments of teenage female friendship that many of us can relate to. While we won’t say much about how her character progresses in the series, in the first two episodes, she continued to do something that has resonated with a lot of women: nervously picking at her cuticles and nails.

Sky’s House Of The Dragon: how Alicent Hightower’s anxious skin picking became the relatable scene for women everywhere