u/La_Villanelle_

If she had stood by and allowed Helaena to continue refusing food until she starved herself, Rhaenyra would have been condemned as cruel and uncaring for doing nothing to protect her.

But when she intervenes and has Helaena force-fed because she is literally trying to stop the woman from starving herself to death, she is still treated as cruel and uncaring.

What exactly was she supposed to do? Just watch Helaena slowly die so that no one could accuse her of being too harsh? Rhaenyra was put in an impossible position where every choice could be used against her, even when the entire point of her intervention was to keep Helaena alive.