House of the Dragon Season 3 Rewriting Its Iron Throne Story Is Bad News for Team Green

If King Aegon II Targaryen gets his way, Team Green’s task is going to be a lot more difficult in House of the Dragon Season 3. The Dance of the Dragons is heating up this summer, with the Targaryen civil war set to explode into fiery, dragon-filled action. It promises to be rather epic, and also might have a few surprises, because House of the Dragon‘s third season is making several changes to the book.

The changes that we know about (and there are presumably many that haven’t yet been teased or revealed) include the omission of a dragonseed called Nettles, with Rhaena Targaryen taking her place by bonding with the wild dragon Sheepstealer, and Baela Targaryen seemingly filling in for her at the Battle of the Gullet.

There’s also a change in Daemon Targaryen’s story, as he fights with armies from the North and the riverlands, even meeting with Ormund Hightower. One of the biggest changes, though, comes with Aegon, who has vowed vengeance upon his brother, Aemond, after the blistering attack on him at the Battle at Rook’s Rest in Season 2, Episode 4. In the House of the Dragon Season 3 trailer, the king says, “I’m going to kill my brother, or die in the attempt.”

Aegon Taking Revenge On Aemond Would Be A Mistake

Setting the book aside for a moment and simply focusing on Aegon’s goal in the context of the show and character, then it is understandable. Aemond betrayed him, almost cost him his life, did cost him his penis (“like a sausage on a spit”), left him with severe burns, scars, and injuries he won’t fully recover from, ostensibly killed his dragon, and sits on his throne, wearing his crown and wielding his sword, while the king himself has been forced to flee his home. In an emotional sense – and we know that Aegon is wildly emotional – you can see why he’d not only want this, but care about it more than defeating his half-sister. But that doesn’t mean it’s logical.

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There are several problems with Aegon’s plan, not least the difficulty he’d have in killing Aemond, who is a skilled, cunning fighter in a way that Aegon is not – suffice to say, there’s a good chance he would indeed die in the attempt. But it would also mean that Aegon’s other goal, and that of his family, is doomed. If he were to somehow succeed in killing Aemond, then he’d fracture Team Green even more, weakening them considerably against attacks from the Blacks (and they’re already in a vulnerable position). Worse, he’d cost them their greatest weapon, Vhagar.

The largest, most formidable dragon in the world, she is the biggest threat posed to the Blacks right now, and even just her presence has been a deterrent to attacks on King’s Landing. If Aegon were to kill Aemond, then it’s hard to imagine the angry old dragon accepting another new rider, nor who that could even be, and that weapon would be lost. With it would go the best chance they have at winning the war, Aegon’s crown, and probably what remains of his family.

Can Aegon’s Revenge On Aemond Even Happen In House Of The Dragon? (Major Book Spoilers Ahead)

Going back to the book and what we know is supposed to go down based on Fire & Blood, then Aegon’s quest for revenge might be a little moot. No such plot line exists in the source material, and the way events play out doesn’t really allow for it to do so. Aegon’s journey takes him to Dragonstone, where, eventually, he kills Rhaenyra, who is devoured by his (surprise, still-alive) dragon, Sunfyre. Aemond, meanwhile, heads to Harrenhal, and his destiny is a clash with Daemon, where both men and their dragons (Vhagar and Caraxes) die.

There shouldn’t be room for it in the story, but then… if not, why include that line in the show? If Aegon’s number one goal, the thing he is willing to risk everything for, is attempting to kill his brother, and he’s putting that before defeating Rhaenyra and keeping the Iron Throne and everything else, then there ought to be some kind of payoff or conclusion to it. Considering he’s a Targaryen, it probably won’t just be to forgive and forget. I don’t really know how that could be worked in, but it’s a bold statement, and so deserves a greater sense of justification.

In the book, Aemond is already dead by the time Aegon returns to King’s Landing. The king even plans for a statue of his brother to be built, which presumably won’t be the case in the show. It might simply be that Aegon bides his time, and there’s then a slight tragedy to him spending being so twisted by thoughts of hate and revenge, only to learn that someone else killed his brother before he could, which could be what it’s heading to. Hell, maybe it’s nothing more than a single line, and Larys Strong talks him out of it. But given the show is happy to take major swings and deviate from the source material, there might be bigger things planned.

House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres on June 21st on HBO and HBO Max.

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