House of the Dragon Showrunner Says Aemond Targaryen Is “Not a Psychopath”

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from House of the Dragon’s Season 1 finale… The first season of House of the Dragon concluded on Sunday night, ending with a chilling murder high above the clouds. Aemond tried to exact his revenge on Lucerys for cutting out his eye when they were kids, and he chased him through a storm on dragonback to try and prove a point. What he didn’t plan, however, was the great dragon Vhagar having a mind of his own. Despite Aemond telling the beast to stop. Vhagar killed Lucerys and his dragon, sending them falling back down to Earth.

While Aemond has been ruthless and evil throughout the series, it was clear he didn’t intend on killing Lucerys in that moment. For showrunner Ryan Condal and the House of the Dragon creative team, that was an important moment. They wanted to show that Aemond wasn’t truly a psychopath just yet, but that his actions all have consequences.

“Aemond is definitely not blameless in what happened to Luke. But Aemond was also a kid who was bullied and was made a mockery for part of his life for not having a dragon,” Condal told The Hollywood Reporter. “Now he does, and he rides the biggest dragon in the world. I think he was showing his rival that he will not be intimidated and trifled with is probably more in play there than trying to become a kinslayer – that would be very un-calculated and stupid of Aemond to do at the outset when the pieces are moving about the board and loyalties are being set and figuring out who is going to make marriage pact to guarantee whose army … for Aemond to launch nukes right out of the gate and go for an all-out dragon war would be very foolish, but that’s exactly what he ends up doing because things get out of hand and out of control. It’s a complex scene. Aemond is not blameless, but he’s also not a psychopath without a logical line of thinking.”

What’s Next for House of the Dragon?

Aemond killing Lucerys will push Rhaenyra past the point of no return. She wanted to find a peaceful solution to things, but the death of her son is likely the last straw. That means House Targaryen is about to embark on a full-on civil war.

Production on House of the Dragon Season 2 will begin early next year, so it will still be a little while before we see any new episodes on HBO.