Ewan Mitchell Opens About Aemond’s Nude Scene and Its Meaning in ‘House of the Dragon’
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HBO’s House of the Dragon is a spin-off series related to Game of Thrones. It premiered back in 2022 and the series, whose first season consisted of 10 episodes, was welcomed by both critics and fans. Because of that, it was soon renewed for a second season, which finally premiered Sunday, June 16, 2024, to great reviews as well.
The second season of the House of the Dragon series has been expanding the story, of course, but it has also been providing us with some interesting moments, among them some very shocking ones. The most recent episode provided us with the latter, which we are going to discuss here.
The scene from the latest episode we are going to talk about showed actor Ewan Mitchell, who plays Aemond Targaryen, in the nude with his penis on display. And while we’ve seen everything and anything from the Game of Thrones series, this scene still managed to shock fans, so much that even Mitchell himself decided to comment on it.
We have already reported on the fan reactions, but now it is time for us to see what Mitchell himself said about the scene, its importance, and its relation to Aemond’s character development as a whole. In a talk with Variety, Mitchell explained that the scene is very important for understanding Aemond’s character:
“He needs a bit of love. He’s a broken boy, needs someone to fix him. Season 1, it was a rich show full of morally compromised gray characters. I wanted to present a character who, in those three episodes, that time in his life was just complete darkness. Someone asked me the other day whether or not I thought Aemond had mommy issues, and I don’t know if he had mommy issues or rather he just wanted to be loved by his mom a little bit more. Growing up, he never really felt that unconditional love. He had to find surrogates elsewhere. He sort of found it in his dragon, Vhagar, this older she-dragon, and he’s also found it with the madam. But whether or not it’s enough, if it’s a worthy enough surrogate, is questionable.”
Source: Variety
When talking about why the character was actually nude, Mitchell compared this moment with a line from a famous movie, which seemingly inspired this scene on one level. Here’s what Mitchell said:
When he gets up and walks out without bothering to dress first, so sure of himself even in the face of that humiliation, he seems scarier to me than when he’s riding on Vhagar.
I love that line from Michael Mann’s Heat, when Bob De Niro’s character says, “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” That’s the code his character utilizes so he’s able to maneuver around this world without getting caught by Al Pacino.
Aemond has a similar code that stops him from being hurt like he was as a kid. That’s why he’s able to walk out on the madam in that scene. He’s humiliated by his brother and all his crew, and it’s like this switch flips. The madam is no more. All of these people in front of him? They mean nothing. He stands up, he owns it. “Yeah, I’m bulletproof. Anything you say, it will not work.” Like you say, it’s scary.
Source: Vulture
In that same interview, Mitchell reflected on the possible (and expected) reactions to his nude scene by saying the following:
It’s also a nude scene, and I have a feeling you’re about to get a reaction at a volume few people on this show have seen before. Did you have that in mind while shooting it?
Source: Vulture
Scenes like this start with a conversation about how far you’re prepared to go. It wasn’t a choice we made lightly. But it’s true to Aemond that he shocks the audience. Weakness is not part of Aemond’s vocabulary.
What did you think of the scene? Was it too much or something normal? Let us know in the comments below!
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