Showrunner Ryan Condal has been treating fans to some wild pairings in House of the Dragon Season 2. From Criston Cole’s (Fabien Frankel) unexpected relationship with Olivia Cooke’s Dowager Queen Alicent to Alicent’s own surprising reunion with Emma D’Arcy’s Queen Rhaenyra in Episode 3, House of the Dragon’s sophomore season is doubling down on some of the series’ most complicated couples, and this week’s release hones in on a pairing that’s drawn frequent comparisons in the past. By contrasting the current hauntings of Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) at Harrenhal with the bloody strategies of Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) in the Crownlands, House of the Dragon explores the connection between two of Westeros’s most dangerous Targaryens, ultimately establishing Aemond as the show’s most cunning rogue.
Season 2, Episode 4, “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” pushes both princes’ stories forward while also demonstrating Aemond’s decisive instincts in the battle of Rook’s Rest. Daemon is left grappling with nightmares even more potent than those he suffers in Episode 3, confronting the witch of Harrenhal herself, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) while attempting to raise an army in the Riverlands, while Aemond joins Cole’s army as the Greens continue their opening campaign against Rhaenyra’s allies. Each mission gives the Targaryen princes their own opportunity to accumulate power for themselves, but Aemond’s ability to outmaneuver the will of his brother, King Aegon II, (Tom Glynn-Carney), in King’s Landing largely overshadows Daemon’s own faltering attempts at aggressive diplomacy.
House of the Dragon
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The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys.
Release DateAugust 21, 2022CreatorRyan J. Condal, George R.R. MartinCastPaddy Considine , Olivia Cooke , Rhys Ifans , Matt Smith , Eve Best , Steve Toussaint , Emma D’Arcy , Milly Alcock , Emily CareyMain GenreDramaSeasons4DistributorHBO‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 4 Depicts Aemond and Daemon’s Fraught Relationship With the Iron Throne
As second sons born to the ruling family of Westeros, Aemond and Daemon’s most crucial similarity is their tantalizing proximity to power. Both princes grew up in high enough places at court to observe the Iron Throne’s brutal influence on characters firsthand, and both young men were subsequently denied the opportunity to rule by older brothers whom they considered either too soft or incompetent to lead the realm. As a result, House of the Dragon’s most recent episode delves further into how each prince copes with the frustrating reality of their rank by forcing each Targaryen to confront the current royals standing in their way. Daemon’s visions in the Riverlands force him to contend with his conflicted feelings over Rhaenyra’s succession, while Aemond undermines his brother in order to assert his own authority within the Red Keep.
Although Rhaenyra accuses Daemon of using her to cling to the throne throughout the beginning of House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 4 gives viewers clearer insight into Daemon’s true feelings about his niece and wife. His vision of a young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) mocking him stirs Daemon into such a rage that he impulsively beheads the apparition, but whatever resentment he harbors towards Rhaenyra for supplanting him as heir is quickly overtaken by Daemon’s persistent guilt. The prince’s meeting with the Blackwoods is subsequently sidetracked by Daemon hallucinating Laena (Nanna Blondell), causing Daemon to falter at the memory of his second wife and illustrating how Daemon’s shame is holding him back from pursuing his goals.
Aemond, on the other hand, has never looked so confident at a war council. His scenes with Aegon’s small council demonstrate his ability to guide the realm’s strategy more effectively than his brother, underscoring the influence Aemond has been able to achieve for himself at Aegon’s court. Mitchell’s character quickly overrules Aegon’s desire to attack Harrenhal directly in favor of supporting Cole’s attack on Rook’s Rest, and when Aegon protests, Aemond embarrasses his brother by challenging him with fluent High Valyrian that Aegon hopelessly fails at matching. In contrast to Daemon’s preoccupied thoughts and distracting ghosts, House of the Dragon’s Aemond has never felt as focused as he does during this episode, allowing this royal spare to make a more direct move against his brother than Daemon has ever entertained himself.
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Aemond’s willingness to challenge his brother on the small council is a departure from even Daemon’s younger days in House of the Dragon Season 1, painting a stark portrait of the differences between two of House Targaryen’s most belligerent sons. While serving as the Lord Commander of the City Watch, Daemon often finds his brash actions challenged by Viserys’s (Paddy Considine) counselors, especially Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). However, Aemond’s close relationship with Ser Criston Cole enables him to cut his brother out of the decision curve, undermining his king’s authority directly. This practical solution to Aemond’s lesser status is more effective than how Daemon handles his Season 1 frustations–mainly by mocking Viserys’s stillborn son in a Flea Bottom tavern–and prefaces Aemond’s willingness to take his revenge against Aegon directly.
When Aegon becomes so irritated by his brother’s posturing that he joins the battle of Rook’s Rest in this week’s episode, Aemond finally uses the opportunity to take his revenge. House of the Dragon has alluded to Aemond’s desire to possibly supplant his brother before, most notably when Aemond agreed with Aegon’s reservations to assume the throne in Season 1, Episode 9, “The Green Council,” but Rook’s Rest marks the first time Aemond attacks his brother outright. Waiting to join the fray until Aegon is already grappling with Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her dragon, Meleys, Aemond exploits his brother’s vulnerability to bathe both of his enemies in dragonfire. Aegon and Sunfyre subsequently crash into the forest in a ball of fire and smoke, and Aemond is ultimately able to come out of the battle on top.
The episode’s final scene makes it unclear whether Aemond actually kills his brother, but the fact that Aemond outright attacks Aegon demonstrates how Aemond’s nature is much more wild than how the show depicts Daemon. The rogue prince and Viserys may have had their disagreements, but Daemon refused to ever go to war against his own brother. In Season 1, he escapes to Dragonstone and Pentos when Viserys challenges strips him of his place at court, and his stay at Harrenhal, as Alys Rivers points out, is to escape from Rhaenyra. Yet, while House of the Dragon’s Daemon buries his problems in wars and regrets, Aemond uses the war in front of him to make a play for his own succession, cementing his place as the more dangerous prince by going to extreme lengths to further his own claim.
House of the Dragon’s latest episode, therefore, serves as much as a character study for the series’ second sons as it does an introduction to the Targaryen civil war. Daemon is tortured by visions of a throne he can never quite grasp and the specters of his past, while Aemond is taking advantage of his youth to secure more influence in King’s Landing than Daemon was able to steal from Viserys during times of peace. Likewise, Daemon’s unsteady hold in the Riverlands is contrasted by Aemond’s decisive strike against his despised older brother, though who knows if Aemond’s gamble will pay off in the long run or whether Aemond will even be able to live long enough to earn demons of his own.
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House of the Dragon is currently streaming on Max. New episodes air every Sunday night.
