Aemond Targaryen’s arc in season three of House of the Dragon turns a malicious wannabe Daemon into a tamed boy with mommy issues. He could almost be pitied.
Unfortunately, House of the Dragon season 3 is slowly coming to an end, and in episode seven, it gets quite beautifully … Game of Thrones-like with drama, murder, and death, but above all, with a healthy dose of incest.
Because Aemond Targaryen, the Temu-Daemon, suffers hard from his mommy issues, he gets caught up in a completely twisted Oedipus dream and doesn’t realize that mom is not well-disposed towards him at all. Alicent, on the other hand, is behaving far from subtly.
And the worst part is that Aemond seems to be one of the few in House of the Dragon who truly has the potential to turn the war in his favor.
Aemond could win the war – If the Oedipus complex wouldn’t kick in so hard
Aemond Targaryen has already proven in seasons one and two that he can be absolutely ruthless and cruel. The death of Lucerys Velaryon, Rhaenyra’s second son, may have been an accident. But by now Aemond himself has admitted that the attack and mutilation of his older brother Aegon was entirely intentional.
He probably wanted to take revenge on Aegon for all the years of torture: First he bullied Aemond for not having a dragon. Then for losing an eye to the Strong Boys
. In season two, Aegon discovers that Aemond seeks his peace in the arms of an older prostitute – for which he humiliates his younger brother in front of everyone.
At the start of season three, our young wannabe Daemon – because that is how Aemond sees himself: Like Daemon, only better (but he isn’t) – is manipulated by the other important person in his life. Namely his mother Alicent. It should be clear to this young, clever man by now that mom really has nothing good in mind.
At first, he lets her send him away from King’s Landing to Harrenhal, which was actually meant to be a trap. It might have snapped shut if Ulf, Hugh, and Adam hadn’t been sent to battle by Alys Rivers.
Instead of strategically supporting his own armies from there and continuing the war for the greens, he gets stabbed and has to be nursed back to health by Alys Rivers. She almost plays him like a flute and presses all the right buttons: She has long dark hair, is older
, and treats him with a mixture of indifference and care. Just like his mother.
As far as everything goes, it wouldn’t have happened if Aemond hadn’t let himself be influenced by mom Alicent. Alicent even allowed herself to be kissed by her son so that he would truly believe her good intentions of protecting him.
This is finally pushed to the limit in episode seven: Aemond’s scene begins with a conversation he has with Alicent in Harrenhal. But the situation spirals out of control, and Aemond suddenly finds himself in bed with his mom having sex. Probably a big dream for Aemond, even if he is reluctant to admit it to himself.
At least it quickly becomes apparent that he only dreamed of the incest and was actually involved with Alys.
But just moments later, his real mother stands before him, and Aemond seems once again not to understand due to the post-coital fog in his brain that Alicent is not there with good intentions.
If the Oedipus complex weren’t kicking in so hard with Aemond, he might pose a few more questions: How did my mother manage to escape from King’s Landing? Why does she have a protector with her who is loyal and whom Rhaenyra didn’t find during her cleansing action? Why is my mother so nervous all the time while she is here safe with me in Harrenhal?
Alicent has her son’s full trust for reasons that should not appeal to any mother. And Alicent is aware of her son’s feelings. Accordingly, she exploits these and tries to poison Aemond. Probably unsuccessfully, as Alys Rivers is very familiar with antidotes.
But whether Aemond will finally be able to break away from his mother is, I think, questionable. The complexes run far too deep.
Temu-Daemon will accomplish nothing more in this war
Aemond has maneuvered himself into a corner with his unfounded, blind trust in mom Alicent: His dragon Vhagar is gone and does as it pleases, he lives in a damp and decaying castle, and his only companion likely has her own agenda.
In fact, Aemond and Alys’s plan is absolutely absurd: They want to set several new dragon riders in the world, hatch the five dragon eggs found in Harrenhal, and secure the seven kingdoms. Not to mention how long it takes to conceive, raise, and train young dragon riders…
Aemond seems so fixated on his mother that even the point of conception raises a big question mark. When the young Targaryen realizes that he’s with Alys and not Alicent, he immediately ends the affair.
Moreover, the war is currently raging – Rhaenyra against Aegon. Or rather Rhaenyra against Ormund Hohenturm, who makes her life difficult with highly effective intrigues. For Aemond to become a relevant player in the Dance of the Dragons, he would need to finally leave Harrenhal and go look for his dragon.
I don’t see that happening – after the attempt on his life with Nightshade, he will have to recover for a while longer. Moreover, he is so isolated in Harrenhal that he receives no news about the war itself.
Aemond is basically taking an involuntary offline vacation and is completely oblivious to the chaos around him at work. Meanwhile, he rides the largest and most dangerous dragon in the series.
If the wannabe Daemon really wants to intervene effectively again, he must finally start acting for himself in the upcoming final episode and determine his actions. But because he does not have the willpower of Daemon, I don’t believe in it. Aemond will sit out the rest of the war in Harrenhal, dream of disturbing mother fantasies, and let Alys Rivers manipulate him.
Very unfortunate, actually. He had a lot of potential.
With episode eight, the third season of House of the Dragon will soon come to an end as well. What will happen next is still up in the air. Ulf’s betrayal must still be revealed and the situation in Stolperstadt resolved. Everything about when the next episode is expected can be read here: House of the Dragon Season 3: When does Episode 8 come out? – All dates for the new season
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