I’m 💯 on Aemond’s side though. I know the writers tried to make him seem all insecure-man-goes-and-rage-kills-people, but all it does is remind me of what the showrunners did with Aegon’s introduction. Try to make them cartoonishly evil. And people just ignore it because it’s dumb AF.
With Aemond I see a desperate person cracking under pressure, while struggling to keep his family and himself alive. He is literally the ONLY one on the side of the Greens who is keeping them afloat.
Even if he hadn’t burned Aegon at RR, it’s not like Aegon was a competent combatant anyway. Helaena would rather sit around and drink tea and guide her son’s murderer through her dreams. His mother is off on her touch-grass walk, busy betraying the whole family. Criston Cole is monologuing in the woods with his uncle and his youngest brother is still not available for him to take to battle. Who else is doing it, if not him?
I’m about to get called a “big old mean internalized misogynist” for dragging Sara Hess’s public statements again but the contrast between saying “a character being fat is just negative biased propaganda against them” …VS… GRRM’s recent statement where he said being “fat is not offensive” publicly… couldn’t be more chef’s kiss for me.
⚠️HOTD2 SPOILERS (25 GIFs)
plz tap on the gif for better quality
Aemond Targaryen — House Of The Dragon S2E6
one day I’ll finally write that ridiculously elaborate fanfiction that I’ve been carefully constructing in my daydreams for months and then you’ll be sorry. you’ll all be sorry.
having one faction being written as only heroic and awesome and the other being written as only villainous and awful negates the original message of grrm’s original work, btw. it’s kind of interesting to see how these characters are written (the greens being a dysfunctional family who don’t seem to like each other vs the blacks being given positive traits that belong to the greens in the books, or simply not writing things if the source material that could make the blacks seem not heroic) and how fans take this very seriously. it’s partly a result of the marketing strategy for season two, the whole “everyone much choose a side thing” because that’s… not the point of this war, at all. but it’s also the writing and it’s very deliberately very obviously pro targaryen, especially with the whole “aegon conquered westeros for the good of the world” thing they have going on. which is an incredibly strange take. i think it’s really telling when you compare how the tragedies are written. rhaenyra’s loss of her children is obviously and rightfully tragic. her journey in episode one of season two was so tragic and so beautiful because you don’t hear her speak until the end of the episode, when she finally realizes her son is gone. but you also have her riding a dragon immediately after giving birth to her stillborn daughter, who is never mentioned again, if i recall correctly, and that doesn’t seem… possible. but with the greens, you have a very horrific and traumatic event via the brutal murder of jaehaerys being reduced to two silly men committing a crime, when that crime was the beheading of, like, a five year old. you then have his grandmother having sex while this is happening, in an attempt to blame her for it, which is genuinely so infuriating. idk why i made this post, i saw that season two wasn’t even nominated for best television drama and i was just like. yeah i know that’s right. you cannot expect an show adaptation of a very well-known series from a very well-known author to do well when you completely ignore the original source material and then claim your interpretation is better or the truth. it’s simply insisting on itself and it’s simply pissing on the tragedy of the dance of the dragons and it’s simply exhausting.
Two messy bitches who love drama
The Good:
- Aegon and Tom Glynn Carney. Aegon is the one compelling character this season, and his arc is great. He tries to be a good King but can’t protect his son. He tries to get Alicent’s love, but can’t no matter what. He tries to save his people but he gets destroyed in the process. He trusts his brother who betrays him. And Tom acts with his whole heart and soul. They’re truly the only good this season and the only reason I’ll keep watching
- Larys, Matthew Needham, and his relationship with Aegon. Just *chef’s kiss* The best relationship on the show. So much manipulation but genuine growing fondness too. Can’t wait to see Tom and Matthew inevitably do press for season 3 together and talk about the relationship in depth
- Ramin’s score. He is the only thing that’s consistent through GOT and HotD
The Meh:
- Rhys Ifans is a great Otto, but they criminally underutilized them
- Rook’s Rest was an amazing episode but they still had Rhaenyra be the hero by giving her a “divine” reason to go to war
- Episode 1 also was meh because Blood and Cheese being botched ruined what would otherwise be a great episode
- Ep 2 is similar to Ep 1. LOVED the Green scenes and the Twin scene, but they had Rhaenyra feel bad about what happened which is SO out of character. I also don’t like the propaganda angle they took with Blood and Cheese with Otto
- Aemond becoming his book self was great, but it was done rushed and sloppily. They underutilized both Aemond and Ewan
- Phia and Helaena are also great but again, criminally underutilized
- Olivia is a fantastic actress, despite what they did to Alicent
- The Dragon seeds being burnt by Vermithor would be in the Good if they didn’t try to brush it off and still claim Rhaenyra’s innocent
- Daenon and Alys scenes were either incredible or a total snooze fest. No inbetween. They were repetitive and not all the Daemon haunted scenes were necessary. Matt and Gayle are great though
- Criston and Fabien are underutilized, especially post Rook’s Rest
The Bad:
- What they did to Alicent. It is unforgivable. They threw her character away in favor of Rhaenyra. They can’t stand the thought that a woman doesn’t worship Rhaenyra
- Everything with Team Black. This is not hyperbole. The scenes were dull, designed to sanitize them so they are the Good guys and destroy them in the process. The actors, I’m sorry to say, are not on the level of the Green actors. Even the better Black actors (Emma and Steve) have stiff moments through the season
- Sexual humiliation and degradation of the Greens. This isn’t the place to get into it, but people have talked about it elsewhere
- Sanitizing Rhaenyra still, even after episode 7 and trying to make her a hero
- Sanitizing Viserys. The man raped Alicent and abused his children that weren’t Rhaenyra. Why are the Greens holding him in high regard?
Overall, I’d say a 5/10. All it took was the show having Black centered episodes to descend into GOT season 8 levels, since the Green episodes are SIGNIFICANTLY better
New stills of Aemond Targaryen S2
"[aegon and aemond] need each other in their own way. they have a weird love for each other. both of them would stab each other in the back just for self-gain"
— tom glynn-carney
Alicent Hightower: Artwork by Ertaç Altinöz in TWOIAF, The Princess & The Queen by GRRM, Artwork by Douglas Wheatley in Fire and Blood, The Princess & The Queen by GRRM, Olivia Cooke portraying Alicent Hightower in Season 1 of House of the Dragon, The Princess & The Queen by GRRM, Leo Ashton portraying young Aemond Targaryen in Season 1 of House of the Dragon, Phia Saban portraying Helaena Targaryen in Season 2 of House of the Dragon, The Princess & The Queen by GRRM, Olivia Cooke portraying Alicent Hightower in Season 1 of House of the Dragon.
The city is yours, Princess. But you will not hold it long. The rats play when the cat is gone, but my son Aemond will return with fire and blood. - Alicent Hightower (Fire & Blood)
Rhaenyra rejected her stepmother’s proposal with scorn. “Your sons might have had places of honor at my court if they had kept faith,” Her Grace declared, “but they sought to rob me of my birthright, and the blood of my sweet sons is on their hands.“Bastard blood, shed at war,” Alicent replied. “My son’s sons were innocent boys, cruelly murdered. How many more must die to slake your thirst for vengeance?” - Alicent Hightower (Fire & Blood)
Queen Alicent, beloved of the smallfolk, placed her own crown upon the head of her daughter, Helaena, Aegon’s wife and sister. After kissing her cheeks, the mother knelt before the daughter, bowed her head, and said, “My Queen.” (Fire & Blood)
Alas, the king was not of a forgiving mind. Urged on by his mother, the Queen Dowager Alicent, Aegon II was determined to exact vengeance upon those who had betrayed and deposed him. (Fire & Blood)
Aemond and little Aenyra (he is 42 and she is 3)
I think Aemond loves his children very much. If he had a loving family, he would be able to replenish the love he lost in childhood already in adulthood. As it usually happens "i will be another parent, better than mine".