Aemond Targaryen is probably my favorite character in the House Of The Dragon storyline. An almost perfect opposite of Daemon, he’s one of the most cunning people in all of Westeros. And I thought we should discuss Why Aemond Will Be Important In The House Of The Dragon’s Storyline? Throughout this, we’re gonna be going over his backstory, what lies ahead with him, and why we love him so much.
Aemond stands strong as one of the most crucial characters in Game Of Thrones, and I often wonder what would’ve happened if he’d been on the throne instead. I doubt Kings Landing would’ve fallen, and then Rhaenyra couldn’t have taken over and got such a foothold there. He’s a fascinating character to watch. I think that the series is doing a great job of bringing him to life. Obviously full spoilers ahead for the book, so if you don’t wanna know, then you’ve gotta go.
Here is Why Aemond Will Be Important In House Of The Dragon’s Storyline:
Aemond And Daemon
Now, as we touched upon earlier, Aemond is the perfect opposite of Daemon on a number of levels. Not only do their names sound similar, but their brothers also end up becoming the King. In the book, Alicent puts together a plan to oust Rhaenyra after the death of Viserys, and it looks like the show is following the same route. This sets up the dynamic so that both Aemond and Daemon are very much opposites to one another, and throughout the storyline, we see them as they become bitter rivals.
Both are skilled swordsmen and brilliant strategists, and Aemond stole Daemon’s ex-wife’s dragon just to add some salt to the wound. This creates a heated rivalry between the two that we’ll discuss the outcome of later. This was teased during the banquet, and it extends far beyond just being involved in food fights.
Aemond Had To Earn Everything
As we’ve seen in the series, Aemond was often overlooked when he was younger, and the book details how, when he was born, he was half the size of his brother Aegon. Constantly being pushed around by him created a fire within him that slowly drove him to become more and more ambitious.
Whereas Aegon had everything handed to him on a plate, Aemond had to fight for everything in his life, and this carved out an incredibly fierce character who would accomplish several things in his childhood.
The books detail how he had trouble gaining a dragon and when the family traveled to Driftmark, his father said they’d then go onto Dragonstone. Here he’d be given either an egg or a recent hatchling which wouldn’t be difficult to tame. Aemond saw this as a challenge, and that night he ended up traveling out to Vhaghar, who had recently lost her rider in Laena. Vhaghar is the largest and fiercest dragon in the entire realm, and it’s a massive win for Alicent’s side to get this.
Gaining A Dragon And Losing An Eye
Now the series changes things up slightly from the book, and in that, he was spotted by a young Joffrey who, too, had snuck out to see his dragon. He tried to sound the alarm and snitch on him, but Aemond kicked him into some Dragon droppings before he took to the sky on the back of Vhaghar.
Upon his return, we had what would go on to become one of the most defining moments in his life, which was the loss of his eye. He called Rhaenyras kids Strong, and this caused Lucerys to slash out his eye. Rather than being bitter over it, though, Aemond accepted that day he lost an eye but that he also gained a dragon.
Now whilst he didn’t harbor hate over this, he did, however, still hold a grudge. Though this isn’t stated in the books, I think that this moment made Aemond realize that he had to become a fighter in case a situation like this ever happened again. Lucerys was far smaller and weaker than he was, but because he caught him off guard, he lost an eye. Thus he started to train, and the work states that thanks to Cristons help that he became a proficient swordsman.
Aemond wore night-black armor that had gold laced throughout it, and he became a standout figure amongst the crowds. He also placed a sapphire stone in place of his missing eye and wore an eye patch to cover this. However, when he went into battle, he’d often remove this to make him seem even more intimidating.
Aemond The Kin Slayer
Now Viserys ended up dying when he was 19, and after his brother was chosen to become the king, the Dance Of The Dragons began. The two sides quickly scrambled to get power, and they both sought to take as many houses as they could under them. Some would stay loyal to Rhaenyra, whilst others would fold under pressure from the Greens and also their beliefs that men should be the ones who lead.
Aemond was dispatched to Storm’s end to try and get Lord Borros to support his brother, and in exchange, he’d marry one of his daughters. However, Lucerys had been sent there too, and as we saw at the banquet, he kept provoking him.
The lad played a game of around and found out, and he chased Lucerys and his Dragon Arrax after saying that Luke owed him an eye. He and Vhaghar killed them both, removed Lucerys eyes, and from that point, he got the nickname Kinslayer. Alicent was a bit like…” f sake,” but Aegon ended up throwing a feast for him.
As I’m sure you can imagine, this also didn’t go down too well with The Blacks either, and Daemon swore to Rhaenyra that there would be a son for a son. We’ve seen throughout the series how there’s been this literal eye for an eye mentality and also how this leads to everyone losing their sight. Daemon ended up using his Mysaria connection, and she sent assassins to kill Aegon’s son Jaehaerys. They accomplished their goal, and it sent Helaena mad, which meant she could no longer ride dragons.
The Battle Of Rook Rest
The next big event happened at The Battle Of Rook Rest. This saw Aemond, Aegon, and Criston teaming up with one another, and they successfully managed to kill Rhaenys and her dragon. However, the battle came with a cost, and Aegon was severely wounded during it. Thus the spot on the throne needed someone to rule while he recovered, and Aemond took this up.
Whereas Daemon never got to sit on the iron throne, Aemond saw over the realm, and as I’m sure you can gather, the guy was a g. The man even mentioned how he thought he looked better in the crown than his brother did, and he and Criston ended up launching several attacks. This included one on Harrenhaal, which they ended up taking.
At this point, Ser Criston was the King, and after they took over, they had Simon Strong killed. This shows why Aemond was so important because, without him, a lot of these locations wouldn’t have fallen under his control. During this time, Aemond also started sleeping with Alys Rivers, whom he spared after taking Harrenhaal. It was a big win; however, it did come with a loss too.
Going there left Kingslanding open, and Rhaenyra and Daemon managed to take over that. Aemond ended up launching a massive attack at this point, and on the back of Vhaghar, he destroyed several locations overseen by the Blacks. Man reigned fire down on everything turning a lot of their land into scorched earth.
Harrenhaal was taken back for a brief time during this, but Aemond arrived once more, saved the day, and took back his lover. She eventually ended up becoming pregnant, and later in the timeline, this child would be presented as the rightful heir to replace Aegon the Younger.
Aemond vs. Daemon
And during the campaign by Aemond, Daemon was desperate to take him out because of how much s**t he’d managed to cause. After going to Harenhaal, Daemon waited for him for 13 days until Aemond showed up with his pregnant wife. Eventually, the pair took to the skies to do battle, and it was one of the most important moments in both the characters’ lives that would lead to their deaths.
As they clashed together above God’s eye, they started to hurtle into a descent, and Daemon stabbed Aemond in the eye with his sword Dark Sister. The pair both crashed into the body of water, with Aemond’s body sinking down into the lake due to being tied to the Dragon. He recovered later on with Dark Sister still embedded in his head. However, it wasn’t really a win for Rhaenyra’s side either.
Aemond seemingly managed to kill Daemon, and though his body was never recovered, he never emerged again. The series might reveal that Daemon is still, in fact, alive, but either way, Aemond also managed to take him out of the dance of the dragons. Because of this, Rhaenyra lost her loyal protector, and it became one of the key things that made the story go the way it did.
Though Aemond lived a relatively short life, he ended up becoming one of the most important characters in Fire and Blood due to how much he spun things in his brother’s father early on. He’s a character who was often overlooked, but he overcame this adversity and took out several key players on Rhaenyras side. Killing her son was one of the most devastating things that ever happened to Rhaenyra, and it made her realize that she needed to fight on the same level that the greens were.
Also Read: Aegon’s Conquest Explained: The New Game Of Thrones Spinoff
