SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for HBO’s “Home of the Dragon” Season 2, Episode 6, titled “Smallfolk,” now available on Max.
King’s Touchdown is a far cry from the Metropolis of Brotherly Love.
Aemond Targaryen’s (Ewan Mitchell) rule as Prince Regent has begun, and things aren’t looking good for Westeros or its wounded king, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney). Aemond takes the lead on the small green council, and immediately makes some big moves by dismissing his mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) as the Dowager Queen. After being reprimanded by Alicent for being overly bold, he also summons his grandfather Otto Hightower to return as Hand of the King.
In some of the episode’s dramatic scenes, Aemond and Aegon have their first meeting after Aemond severely burned his brother in the Battle of Rook’s Respite. Lying helpless on the mattress and unable to speak, Aegon lies helpless as his younger brother presses his hand painfully to his broken chest. Aemond admonishes Aegon for foolishly becoming a member of the battle and asks how much he remembers of Rook’s Respite, to which Aegon replies “nothing”.
Outside the Crimson Keep, the residents of King’s Touchdown are growing increasingly stressed. Rhaenrya Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) have conspired from Dragonstone to ship meal rations on boats, all flying their black flag, to the starving people. The master plan works to get aid from the slums of King’s Touchdown and incite a riot. The Kingsguard escorts Alicent and her daughter, Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) from the keep and protects them from the violent rioters, but Alicent receives a nasty cut. Also, during the commotion, spymaster Larys Sturdy (Matthew Needham) makes an alliance with Aegon and leads him away from the Crimson Keep.
Followers can examine what happened with Rhaenyra’s dark faction and her fiery kiss with Mysaria in Selection interview with D’Arcy and Mizuno. Here, Mitchell talks about Aemond’s rise to power, his crumbling relationship with Aegon — and the way he’s the biggest “stan” to Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen.
After the Battle of Rook’s Relaxation, where does the relationship between Aemond and Aegon stand?
It’s not been great between these two. Aemond has always seen Aegon as someone who is inferior and doesn’t have the dedication and persistence to be king, while Aemond has always seen himself as someone who — even though he’s the backup — should have been treated as the firstborn son. Aegon himself even says in episode 9 of season 1 that he has no desire to rule. You get the idea that he has no political ambition whatsoever. You can see how that might come across to the members of the small council, because he’s someone you might be able to control and have some influence on your route. You couple that with Aemond, who you could argue has a political agenda and has his own ambition, and you can see how that might not be as lucrative for the small council because he might be a wild card — someone you might not be able to control as much.
I like that scene after they vote Aemond into power, and he goes from one side of the table to the other as a result of this huge shift. Aemond has been serving the battle on that side of the table. He goes to the opposite side, and he sees all these different characters in a new light. How can they serve Aemond now? It’s a lot like the connection with Aegon. How can he serve me now that he’s in his bed, and he’s terribly crippled by what Aemond did to him in the skies above Rook’s Rest?
It begs the question of how much of an obstacle he can be to me in the state he’s in, and now with Aemond’s newfound energy, will he get in the way? Is he still on my side? I like all the changes in Episode 6.
What political agenda and ambition does Aemond have now that he is on the Iron Throne?
He doesn’t even need to sit on the throne. Aemond recognizes that whoever sits on the Iron Throne in the end is probably the most sought-after man in the realm. Aemond already has a pretty big goal on his plate. Part of Aemond is aware that whoever sits on the Iron Throne is unwittingly cutting themselves. Heavy is the top that wears the crown. Aemond might be happier working as Prince Regent.
Or maybe he needs the throne! Maybe he needs absolute power. That’s what I like about Aemond, that ambiguity. You don’t know what scope he serves, what he’s ultimately after. It doesn’t matter, it won’t be fair.
Aemond and Aegon finally discuss this episode after the Tower’s Relaxation. Aemond asks his brother how much he remembers of the battle, and Aegon says “nothing.” However, it seems that Aemond is coercing him into silence, and he gives him the small council ball apparently as a bribe or a risk. How should we interpret this scene?
You’ll have to watch it and see. I like this scene because it’s almost like Stephen King’s “Distress.” It’s like a spider leering at its prey on the internet. You’re right there in the palm of my hand. This is really a new dynamic for Aemond, in addition to his brother, who is now physically inferior to him. I can’t wait to see where this goes. If I give all the solutions, people will stop asking questions. That’s a really cool way to look at it. It’s the king marker. Maybe Aemond is giving it back to his brother, maybe he’s trying to reassure him that everything will be okay — “You’ll be king after you get better” — maybe lull him into this false sense of security.
Will Aemond hand over the throne once Aegon recovers?
Aemond has a number of motivations. One of them is that he wants to be the hero of the battle, and to be seen as this near-immortal power, similar to the Rebel Prince, the young Daemon Targaryen. Particularly because Aemond wields the most important singular power on Vhagar, with that power comes an incredible responsibility. He needs to be seen as someone who can manage that power competently. Ultimately, that means in his mind he needs to be the one who wins the battle for the Greens. He’s willing to do the obligatory evil. That’s the thing with Aemond, he doesn’t really consider the opinions of other people in the setting. He has his own singular vision. He sees the world through a very black and white filter. You’re either with him or you’re against him, and if you get in his way, he’ll tear you down.
Aemond and Daemon have so many parallels, aside from their names sounding nearly identical. They’re each other’s second sons with bigger political ambitions who hate each other. Where do you see their relationship going after they inevitably reunite?
I feel like they would actually be really good friends. Aemond wants to be his uncle, but he also wants to be bigger than him. To realize that, he has to do more than he did, which is an incredible feat in itself. A lot of Aemond’s attire lends itself to the idea that he idolizes Daemon so much. He’s Daemon’s biggest fan. From the Targaryen blacks to the long hair, it’s so reminiscent of a young Rogue Prince. It’s an homage to his idol. I don’t want to spoil anything, but when these guys end up getting together in a room somewhere, every familiar object would be transformed into a dangerous weapon.
Have you and Matt Smith ever talked about how similar your characters are?
One of the first choices I made on my first day of shooting was this concept that I could stay away from Matt Smith’s eye contact and just see Daemon. I was a huge Doctor Who fan growing up, and Matt Smith had this electric energy and this helpful vibe that was much more accessible to a younger kid. I dreamed of going on adventures with him, similar to how Aemond would probably dream of going on adventures with his idol. So I thought there was something interesting about keeping Matt Smith at the podium, keeping Daemon Targaryen on that platform, as long as he was okay with it and Ryan Condal, our showrunner, was okay with it. That was definitely the route I wanted to go. I wanted to save that eye contact for a very specific moment in Season 1 where these characters finally come face to face at the banquet table and save the eye contact for that moment. It was just pure electric energy in the room, seeing only Daemon and not seeing Matt. For those who can maintain the same relationships off set that their characters have on set, that can pay huge dividends.
What would Aemond have been like if he hadn’t lost his eye as a baby?
After losing his eye, he’s in a completely different place physically and psychologically between episodes 7 and 8 of season 1. He’s developed into a weapon. I take a line from M. Night Shyamalan’s “Break Up” where “the damaged are the most developed.” Since he had his eye ripped out and was injured and abandoned for years as a child, he thought, “I’ll never be damaged like that again. I’ll train with Criston Cole relentlessly and become a deadly weapon.” If he hadn’t lost his eye, maybe he would have been a maester. I think he would have been a maester at the Great Sept in Oldtown.
However, he would still have Vhagar. You could argue that if he hadn’t declared Vhagar, he wouldn’t have lost his eye, possibly. That’s one of the really cool questions about the present, going back to when the Dance of Dragons began. You could say it was when Aemond killed Lucerys in the skies above Storm’s End, or when Lucerys took Aemond’s eye—or when Lucerys and Aegon brought the Pink Dread Pig out, and bullied him relentlessly. It’s a really gray area, and that’s what I find really compelling.
After I spoke to director Geeta Patel, she stated that Aemond has some “mommy points” and that’s why he has a detailed relationship with Vhagar, the oldest female dragon, and the brothel’s madam. Do you agree with that?
I don’t know if he has any mother points. He just wanted to be loved by his mother a little more; he never really got that. He’s the backup son, and he felt like he should have been treated like the main one. He felt like he needed to find substitutes in other areas, like this dragon. He found that in the madam, but are they enough? Children want that unconditional love to develop a balanced view of themselves. If a baby isn’t welcomed by the village, they’ll burn it to truly feel its warmth. Aemond will seek validation in other ways, and through battle.
In the end, one of the many different motivating elements that Aemond craves is his mother, the one thing he’s always craved. He craves her affection. I don’t think there was anything more that Aemond wanted at the end of Season 1 Episode 10 than to just be held by his mother, and he wanted to say, “I’m sorry. I messed up. I made a mistake. I let my feelings get the better of me.”
He has this code that prevents him from doing that. He should be seen as a near-immortal, Terminator-like figure who feels nothing because love is a weakness, and “weak” is not in Aemond’s vocabulary.
This interview has been edited and condensed.