The climactic battle of House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4 revolves around Targaryen family members fighting each other on the backs of their dragons. While Aemond and Aegon II belong to the same side in this civil war, the former seemingly tries to kill the latter, and the viewers want to know the reasons behind it.
Here is why Aemon tries to kill Aegon in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4.
Why did Aemond try to kill Aegon in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4?
Aegon’s appearance during the Battle of Rook’s Rest seems to surprise almost everyone. The plan that Criston Cole made with Aemond evidently involved the latter showing up on Vhagar after the trap they set by attacking Rook’s Rest drew in one of the dragon riders from the Blacks’ side. Neither considered the prospect of Aegon arriving on his relatively young dragon Sunfyre and taking on Rhaenys and her battle-hardened dragon, Meleys. Aemond even calls Aegon an “idiot” while watching his older brother fly over him. However, he neither tries to intercept Aegon nor join him in the battle.
It is only after Meleys has grabbed Sunfyre by the wing that Aemond attacks with Vhagar. Meleys and Rhaenys manage to maneuver away from the infernal fire of the oldest of all Targaryen dragons, but Aegon and Sunfyre catch the full blast. Burned and broken, Sunfyre falls to the ground, and Aegon with him. Toward the end of the episode, Aemond finds the area where his brother has fallen and raises his sword purportedly to kill him. However, Criston Cole arrives and calls Aemond, prompting the younger Targaryen sibling to sheath his sword.
Aemond definitely has reasons to harbor deep animosity toward his brother. Aegon was his biggest bully while they were growing up. Even in the previous episode, the King of the Greens publicly mocks arguably their greatest asset in this war after finding him in a brothel. Further, House of the Dragon has hinted several times that Aemond is romantically interested in Halaena and hates the fact that Aegon married her. Aemond also thinks that he would make a better king for the Greens than Aegon ever can.
In George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, no sources mention that Aemond actively tried to kill Aegon during the Battle of Rook’s Rest, though the former makes his disdain and dislike for the latter clear multiple times during the Dance of the Dragons. After the Battle of Rook’s Rest and with Aegon severely burned and incapacitated, Aemond started performing the duties of the king. He wore the crown of Aegon the Conqueror and purportedly claimed that “it looked better on me than it ever did on him [Aegon].” However, he never proclaimed himself as king and used the titles the Protector of the Realm and Prince Regent instead.
By bringing in the above-mentioned changes, the series once more underscores how chaotic and destructive this war is for everyone involved, House Targaryen, and Westeros.
