Waking the Dragon: Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond Gives Full Frontal in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Episode 3

Like Game of Thrones before it, HBO ‘s House of the Dragon has never been a show that shied away from sex or nudity. We’ve seen men castrated, incestuous hookups on a dimly-lit beach, and Alicent Hightower ( Olivia Cooke ) and Ser Criston Cole ( Fabien Frankel ) go quickly from slapping to sex . Now, in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 “The Burning Mill”, we get to see a completely stripped down Aemond Targaryen ( Ewan Mitchell )…and we mean completely .

**Spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 “The Burning Mill”, now streaming on Max**

In House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 “The Burning Mill”, Aemond goes full frontal in a scene that starts off as a moment of deep embarrassment for the one-eyed Targaryen prince, but ends on what can only be interpreted as a sinister note. Last week we learned that Aemond had rekindled a connection with the brothel madam (Michelle Bonnard) he had coincidentally lost his virginity to as a boy. The intimacy of their relationship, as seen in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 2 “Rhaenyra the Cruel,” is more emotional than sexual. A naked Aemond likes to lay in the madam’s arms while he opens up about his true feelings about Daemon’s (Matt Smith) attempt on his life and Luke’s (Elliott Grihault) regrettable murder. In turn, the madam boosts his esteem while advising Aemond how the smallfolk are the ones who suffer when nobles go to war.

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However, that safe space for Aemond is shattered in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 “The Burning Mill”. That’s because his brother, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), gets the great idea to take one of his new Kingsguard’s virgin squires to the same madam for the boy’s first time. As soon as a drunken Aegon bursts into his naked brother in the sex worker’s arms, he dissolves into cruel hysterics.

“Aemond, the fierce!” He sarcastically mocks. “You have come so far and yet you still lie with your very first. What a fine, sweet thing.”

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While Aemond laughs and jeers, everyone else — his Kingsguard cronies and the madam — have the good sense to show some uneasiness.

“Did you fuck her like a hound?” Aegon asks before barking.

Aegon then turns to his entourage and jokes that he wasn’t boasting about the madam’s prowess. “Even now, my brother will not sample another.” When Aegon says, “Tough luck for your squire, though,” something changes in Aemond’s eyes. They grow flinty, not shamed.

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Aemond then proudly stands up, totally nude, and declares that the boy is welcome to the madam. “One whore is as good as another,” he says, before walking away, still without anything on, not even his eyepatch.

The scene is fascinating because, sure, a lead actor for a Game of Thrones property went full frontal on HBO, but what does that tell us about Aemond himself? We know from House of the Dragon Season 1 that Aemond is a deeply sensitive person. Luke bullied Aemond as a boy, but instead of shaking the memory off, he clings to the bitterness like a miser hoards gold. Indeed, Aemond’s inability to move on from the wounded boy explains the armor he wears as a full-grown man. He’d rather be feared than bullied…and his brother has just made the mistake of bullying him.

Aemond initially coils up in shame when Aegon stumbles upon him with the madam, but he ultimately decides to stand up tall, confident in his skin, suggesting he is not the one who should feel shame. They should. Coincidentally, in doing so, he also severs the single emotional connection he has with someone, by shaming the madam as just another “whore.”

When Aemond was nude in last week’s episode, it represented emotional vulnerability. Here, the nudity becomes an ironic sort of armor. Unlike Aegon, who needs to dress up in the armor of the Conqueror to feel powerful, Aemond doesn’t even need clothes to convey his strength.

It will be fascinating to see how this moment further calcifies Aemond’s single-mindedness towards victory or if he’ll let Aegon off easier for mocking him than he did Lucerys.

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