Ok so Aemond Targaryen is probably my favourite character in the House Of The Dragon storyline.
An almost perfect opposite to Daemon he's one of the most cunning people in all of Westeros
and I thought I'd make a video discussing why he's so important. Throughout this video
we're gonna be going over his backstory, what lies ahead with him and why we love him so
much.
Obviously full spoilers ahead for the book so if you don't wanna know then you've gotta
go. If you enjoy the video then please hit the thumbs up button and also don't forget
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With that out the way, thanks for clicking this, now let's get into House Of The Dragon.
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Now as we touched upon earlier, Aemond is the perfect opposite to 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 as they become bitter rivals.
Both are skilled swordsmen, brilliant strategists and Aemond stole Daemons ex wifes dragon just
to add some salt in the wound. This creates a heated rivalry between the two that we'll
discuss the outcome of later in the video.
This was teased at during the banquet and it extends far beyond just being involved
in food fights.
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 pushed
around by him this created a fire within 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 travelled 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 travelling 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 Alicents side in getting this.
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 onto 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 that day he lost an eye but that he also
gained a dragon.
Badass.
Now whilst he didn't harbour 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 realise that he had
to become a fighter incase 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 nightblakc armour that had gold laced throughout it and he became a standout
figure amongst the crowds.
He also placed 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.
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 out to take as many houses
as they could under them. Some would stay loyal to Rhaenyra whilst others would fold
under the pressure from the Greens and also their beliefs that men should be the ones
who lead.
Aemond was dispatched to Storms 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 like we saw at the banquet he kept provoking
him.
Lad played a game of f**k around and find 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**ks 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 Aegons son
Jaehaerys.
They accomplished their goal and it sent Helaena mad which meant she could no longer ride dragons.
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 whilst 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.
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 fell under
his control. During this time Aemond also started sleeping with Alys Rivers who 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
turninga 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.
However that's a video for another time and during the campaign by Aemond Daemon was despearte
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's one of the most important
moments in both the characters lives that would lead to their deaths.
As they clashed together above the Gods 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 Aemonds body sinking down into the lake due to being tied into
the Dragon. He was recovered later on with Dark Sister still embedded in his head, however
it wasn't really a win for Rhaenyras side either.
Aemond seemingly managed to kill Daemon and though his body was never recoevered he never
emmerged again.
The series might reveal that Daemon is still infact 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 would become 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 father early on. He's a character who was often over looked 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 realise that she needed to fight on the same level that the blacks were.
Aemond stands strong as one of the most crucial character in Game Of Thrones and I often wonder
what wouldve happened if he'd been on the throne instead. I doubt Kings Landing wouldve
fallen and then Rhaenyra couldnt have taken over and got such a foothold there.
He's a fascinating character to watch and I think that the series is doing a great job
of bringing him to life.
Obviously I'd love to hear your thoughts on Aemond so make sure you comment below and
let me know.
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With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll
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