Aemond’s vengeance: when old wounds flame anew.

Episode 4 of House of the Dragon left viewers shocked and in tears, especially those who were on Team Black. During a fight at Rook’s Rest between Aegon, Aemond, and Rhaenys, Rhaenys’ dragon is killed and the Queen That Never Was plummets to her death while Aegon’s fate remains undisclosed.

Rhaenys falls to her death in House of the Dragon season 2 episode 4 | HBO
While the promo of episode 5 shows the people of King’s Landing hailing Aegon as the one who slays the dragon, it is actually Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond who is responsible for the death of both Rhaenys and Meleys. In a recent interview, Ewan Mitchell opened up about how this act was linked to the time he lost his eye to Team Black.

Ewan Mitchell On How Aemond Losing his Eye Affected Him

Leo Ashton as Aemond in House of the Dragon Season 1 | HBO

In season one of House of the Dragon, Aemond (Leo Ashton) bonds with dragon Vhagar after Laena’s funeral and takes to the skies for his first flight. Seeing this, Laena’s daughters, Baela and Rhaena take the news to Lucerys and Jacaerys, the sons of Rhaenyra and Laenor.

The sisters accuse Aemond of stealing the dragon and thus, an altercation takes place between him and his cousins/nephews, all four of them on Team Black. During the fight, Aemond calls Jacaerys a “Strong,” insinuating that he and his brother are bastards. Angered, Lucerys slashes Aemond’s face with a dagger and damages his eye irreparably. This is why Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond wears an eye patch in the show.

In a recent interview with Total Film, Mitchell opened up about how all of this tied to season 2 episode 4 where he killed Rhaenys. The actor stated that everything goes back to the time he lost his eye and all of the adults remained silent through it all instead of reprimanding Lucerys.

According to Mitchell, Aemond had forgiven Lucerys but he wasn’t okay with the fact that he got away with the act.

It goes back to episode 7, when Aemond is being fixed up by one of the maesters after having his eye taken from him. Aemond had forgiven the fact that Luke took his eye out, he just wasn’t over the fact he got away with it. And that’s not partly down to Lucerys, that’s partly down to that scene, when a lot of adults held their silence in that scene, including the Sea Snake, including Rhaenys.

Since then, revenge had been brewing in Aemond, a thirst he finally quenched in episode 4.

How Everything Ties into Aemond Killing Rhaenys

Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon | HBO
Continuing, Mitchell went on to state that while Aemond may forgive people for wronging him, he won’t forget that he had been wronged. The actor stated that everything could have been settled easily with a simple apology but since none came his way, things kept escalating within him.

Aemond kept pushing everything aside but in the end, it exploded in the worst way possible.

And so, Aemond forgives, but he does not forget. What could have been resolved with simple words of apology was allowed to fester, it was pushed aside. Like a lot of problems that are pushed aside, it often exacerbates it. And over the years, it’s grown and grown and grown.

In the finale of season 1, Aemond’s dragon Vhagar devours both Lucerys and Arrax but Aemond doesn’t believe the deaths were on his shoulders. He told Total Film, “Luke and Arrax, that wasn’t Aemond’s fault, that was all Vhagar.”

However, killing Eve Best’s Rhaenys was all Aemond, sound in his mind, and in full control.

The intent this time around in episode 4, I think it was a lot more intentional. He very much knew what he was doing. He was in control of his dragon, and he knows the consequences of that going forward.

And this is how Aemond finally got his revenge on Team Black after losing his eye.

You can stream House of the Dragon on Max.