House of the Dragon defies Game of Thrones by breaking one established rule from the parent series’ timeline.

House of the Dragon represents a duality at its core. In-universe, the HBO show is set during a far more brash and uncouth era of the Continent. But off-screen, the prequel series is set in a more safeguarded period in the industry that sees advancements like intimacy coordinators on sets and a more equitable, progressive, inclusive era in Hollywood reflected in all its projects.

House of the Dragon [Credit: HBO]

However, the HBO prequel looks to rectify that error with a much more aggressive take on this generation of silver-haired contenders to the Iron Throne. With character arcs and storylines coloring the Targaryen dynasty nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, it is understandable that some aspects of the narrative would be somewhat different from what its parent series.

Aemond Targaryen is the King We All Deserve

House of the Dragon S02 – Fabian Frankel (L) as Ser Criston Cole and Ewan Mitchell (R) as Aemond Targaryen [Credit: HBO]

Ewan Mitchell first took the audience by surprise in his role as Aemond Targaryen when he swooped in on Vhagar and erased Lucerys from existence in the blink of an eye on the stormy skies above Storm’s End.

However, it is encoded in Aemond’s DNA to be shocking to the senses of the viewers, be it in his claiming of Vhagar, the oldest, largest, and strongest dragon in existence, or his ability to outwit, out-maneuver, and outshine anyone who stands against him.

In his guarded cruelty, Aemond possesses skills in politics and with the sword that outranks his own brother, the king, and his vicious and sociopathic uncle, Daemon Targaryen. While the other two act impetuously on their impulses while abusing their power and authority over those they can control, Aemond Targaryen quietly studies and charts out the best way to manipulate the situation to its best advantage in the long run.

Aemond Targaryen Breaks an In-Universe Rule in House of the Dragon

As a spare to the heir, Aemond Targaryen possesses all the qualities that Aegon does, in a much more refined, graceful, and intelligent arc. So it is only fair that one of the first honors to break free from the prudish traditions of the Game of Thrones universe would start with him taking the first step.

In the latest Episode 3 of House of the Dragon Season 2, Aemond appears in a full frontal scene — the first of its kind — in the entirety of HBO’s Game of Thrones lore. Sure there were characters like Alfie Allen‘s Theon Greyjoy whose gruesome torture scenes at the hands of Ramsay Bolton portrayed him naked, but even those scenes were covered in shadow.

Aemond Targaryen in the brothel scene in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 2 [Credit: HBO]

Speaking of how the actor decided to take such a drastic step, Ewan Mitchell revealed in an interview with Vulture:

Scenes like this start with a conversation about how far you’re prepared to go. It wasn’t a choice we made lightly. But it’s true to Aemond that he shocks the audience. Weakness is not part of Aemond’s vocabulary.

In the scene, Aemond is found cradled in the arms of the brothel’s madam, in a scene that reflects a nurturing relationship between the two rather than a sexual one, the actor finds his rare moment of vulnerability immediately exposed, mocked, and laughed at. Refusing to be a spectacle, the walls that he built up around himself start to go back up, and in a flash, he transforms into the cold and ruthless persona that the people know and fear.

Moreover, the director of those scenes, Geeta Patel, attests to the scene in an extensive interview with Variety, saying:

Ewan knew his character so well that I was listening to him and walking with him as we went through every episode before this. What we came to is that Aemond was hurt. He was bullied when he was little. Since he was hurt, he had created this persona that was the exact opposite of how he was feeling. He created a persona of someone who doesn’t give a f–k.

That shift, from someone who’s vulnerable to literally watching him put on his armor, was what we were going for in that scene. It’s one of the few times you see the young child in him and you see the pain in him. Slowly he starts putting on his armor and when he stands up, the fact that he doesn’t care that you see his p–is is such a strong visceral shift.

Despite all of the exploitative and shocking nudity that clouds the overarching arc of Game of Thrones, it never subjected the men of the universe to a similar position of vulnerability and exposure. Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond Targaryen breaks the rules that tie down subjective creativity in television, no matter how explosive or shocking it may be to one’s senses.

House of the Dragon is currently streaming on Max.