House of the Dragon: Aemond Targaryen Will “Challenge” Audience’s Assumptions in Season 2

The first season of House of the Dragon ended on a major moment as Aemond and his dragon Vhagar gave chase to his nephew Lucerys and his dragon Arrax. Though it seems unlikely the small dragon will make it out, no one could have predicted that Vhagar would fly up and simply take a giant bite of him, ripping him to shreds and killing the second son of Queen Rhaenyra. With that moment now in the past, and widely publicized in Westeros, Aemond and his dragon are being perceived in a certain way by everyone around them. In the new episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 though, Aemond may be publicly enjoying his new standing in the world, but privately has different feelings. Speaking with ComicBook in an exclusive interview ahead of the season 2 premiere we asked star Ewan Mitchell about Aemond’s private feelings after what happened in season one. 

“I think that’s one of the beauties of the character. You’re not completely sure. You know, it’s like, you don’t necessarily what’s going on inside with Aemond, bud you do know something is going off inside. There are cogs turning behind his eyes. You’re not too sure which way he’s going to go. I love how Aemondcontinually challenges the audience of what you think about him. In those last three scenes of season one, I wanted to create a character who was just complete darkness only to contradict that at the end of the series when you see that face of regret on Aemond, and recognizing that was a mistake. Going into season two, you are gonna see other moments like that that are quite unexpected. It’s encoded in Aemond’s DNA to a certain extent to surprise people.”

These pieces of Aemond’s personality were a big draw for Ewan for his return to the character in season two, adding: “It was about exploring that shadow side, creating a more morally compromised, gray character going into season two, seeing another angle to him, you know, the three episodes that I had with Aemond (in season 1). I wanted to create him as almost like this one dimensional black cat sort of character and, and season two, you are going to see other dimensions to him for sure.”

Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood” book, House of the Dragon is set set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. In season two of House of the Dragon, Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively.The cast for House of the Dragon includes Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, and Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower.

House of the Dragon season 2 premieres Sunday, June 16 on HBO at 9 PM ET, new episodes follow every week afterward.