Aemond Targaryen is really leaning into the whole kinslayer thing!
This week's fourth episode of House of the Dragon concluded with an aerial "Dance of the Dragons," and the devastating Battle of Rook's Rest claimed the life of one major character and severely injured (at the very least) another.
Riding Vhagar, the oldest and largest dragon alive, Aemond managed to take out Rhaenys Targaryen's dragon Meleys, sending beast and rider plummeting to a fiery death. King Aegon and Sunfye were engaged in battle with Rhaenys and Meleys when Vhagar attacked, and Aemond's first blast also hit his brother.
If the show follows George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood, Aegon will survive (just about) with severe burns, but it certainly looked like Aemond was thinking about finishing the job back on the ground before Criston Cole interrupted.
During an interview with EW, actor Ewan Mitchell addressed his character's decision.
"It was no secret that he felt like Aegon was inferior to himself. He felt like Aegon lacked the perseverance to be a leader. Also, it's no secret that Aegon was almost the ringleader to a lot of Aemond’s childhood torment and trauma."
"I think that maybe Aemond would never have intended to burn Aegon," he added. "But it just so happened that Aegon was there tangled with Rhaenys and Meleys when he was on top of Sunfyre. It raises the question of whether or not he would've done that or if Aegon was just collateral damage. I think that's compelling. Maybe it was when Aegon brought in the Pink Dread [as children] when Aemond was like, ‘I'm going to burn him one day for this.’ Who knows?
Director Alan Taylor also weighed in: "We wanted to sustain multiple motivations that might have happened there. It's a battle move, but he did deliberately join the battle late, and he is being a little bit indiscriminate with how he's blasting fire. So I think you can believe whatever you want to believe about his motivations there.
Whatever Aemond's intentions, there's a good chance he will be crowned king - which would not be good for anyone involved in the war.
"The prequel series finds the Targaryen dynasty at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires—real and imagined—crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins almost 193 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when King Viserys Targaryen breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm."
House of the Dragon season 2 sees Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans reprise their respective roles. Additional returning cast includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham.
The directors for the new season are Alan Taylor (Episodes 1 & 4), Clare Kilner (Episodes 2 & 5), Geeta Patel (Episodes 3 & 8), Andrij Parekh (Episode 6), and Loni Peristere (Episode 7).