Is Aemond now the big bad of House the Dragon?

Victim or sociopath? Actor Ewan Mitchell deciphers Alicent's second son for us.

“He has to make a choice at the end of Season 1: either he returns to King's Landing with his tail between his legs, or he fully accepts what he has done.“

As summarized Ewan Mitchell For Premiere, Prince Aemond Targaryen began Season 2 of House of the Dragon with “a target on the back”. Never mind! Spoiler alert…

After killing young Luke with his dragon Vaghar in the season 1 finale, Aemond Targaryen set the 7 Kingdoms alight. With a mischievous eye and a little smile on his lips, Alicent's son has chosen to embrace his position as the ugly duckling of the family, while his big brother plays the capricious young King like Joffrey. So is he a sociopath? The big villain of this season 2? Ewan Mitchell is more measured and explains his character as follows:

“In the last few episodes of season 1, he was really dark. Then he kills Luke and you can see on his face that he really regrets it. But in season 2, you see other sides to him. Now, I think Aemond is not just evil. Aemond is a product of his environment! He was treated differently than others as a child when he was little. He didn't have a dragon egg. He was bullied by his brothers and cousins.”

The English actor also explains to us that Aemond is, deep down, lacking affection. And his great tragedy has always been not being the eldest: “He is the second boy but he would have loved to be the eldest. In this sense, Aemond has long idealized Daemon and has always seen him as a role model.” But Ewan Mitchell also explains how the young boy spends his time “to seek his mother's approval and love. He never gets enough love from Alicent.” Cracks that are shown in episode 3, when Aemond seeks maternal comfort from a prostitute.

So when Aemond takes Vaghar, “the biggest and strongest dragon, it's a way of sticking one's tongue out at destiny”, concludes the English actor. “Aemond has this insolence about him and that's also why we love to hate him.”

Season 2 of House of the Dragon will continue this Monday in France on Max.