‘House Of The Dragon’ Viewers Were Torn Over That Betrayal In ‘A Dance Of Dragons’

(Spoilers from HotD and George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood will be found below.)

Some might say that House of the Dragon took too long to get to the airborne acts of war in the second season, although I feel as though this phase started a bit too early in Season 2, Episode 4, “A Dance Of Dragons.” I simply wasn’t yet prepared to see Rhaenys and Meleys perish in the Battle at Rook’s Rest (at the hands of Aemond and Vhagar), and their deaths will be addressed by colleague, Jessica Toomer, in post-episode analysis that will be published separately.

Here, our focus is the near-fatal clash between Aemond and Aegon, the result of a years-long rivalry that has been exacerbated in recent weeks by Aegon ascending to the throne and having no clue how to lead the realm. Last week, Aegon made matters more tense by bullying his nude brother in a brothel, and this week, the obnoxious young king was dressed down by Aemond for “naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.” That Aemond delivered these words in High Valyrian makes them even more cutting:

One of those “lickspittles,” Criston Cole, happens to now be the King’s Hand despite leaving Aegon’s wife and children unguarded while getting busy with Alicent. It was this omission that made the Blood and Cheese attack possible, although this didn’t seem to register with Aegon. (Meanwhile, Criston is attempting to rally parts of Westeros by shouting that Rhaenyra is the “whore of Dragonstone,” and man, he simply will not get over that rejection, right?)

Within the brotherly quarrels, Aemond is absolutely correct that his brother is not fit to lead, although what materializes at the Battle at Rook’s Rest is far less clear cut. Clearly, Aegon grew frustrated after Alicent told him to simply “do nothing” as king and hopped on Sunfyre to join the battle. Predictably, Aegon and Sunfyre were soon in peril at the claws of Meleys, and Aemond seized the chance to set brother ablaze while Sunfyre was tangled up with Meleys during mid-air combat. (And it looks as though the book will follow what happened in GRRM’s Fire and Blood and allow Aegon to survive, although he was badly burnt and incapacitated in the process.)

This outcome follows shortly after Aegon humiliated Aemond in the brothel:

As Jessica Toomer described last week, Aemond has become “a coiled snake” full of resentment for over brother’s tormenting, and he did not hesitate to unload on his brother in a situation where he surely cannot be blamed for fire exchanged in the sky. Arguably, Aemond might have also meant to finish the job with Aegon’s life when Criston Cole approached.

With that said, viewers are decidedly torn. Some are aghast at Aemond’s betrayal, especially after Aegon was so relieved to see his brother:

Although others remain on mini-Daemon’s side no matter what:

House of the Dragon airs new episodes on Sunday nights.