How Did Aemond Targaryen Lose His Eye?

Back in episode 6 of House of the Dragon, we met Aemond Targaryen, who is the second son of King Viserys Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower and was the only one of the boys that didn’t have his own dragon. Of course, he was able to see an opportunity to have his own dragon when he realized that Vhagar was ripe for the taking because she didn’t have a rider anymore due to Laena’s death. But after doing so, he ended up losing an eye. So, how did Aemon Targaryen lose his eye in House of the Dragon?

Aemond Targaryen lost his eye when, after claiming Vhagar, the group of Jacaerys, Lucerys, Baela, and Rhaena confronted him. A fight broke out, but Aemond, being the bigger and the better fighter, was about to bash Jace’s head with a rock before Luke grabbed his brother’s dagger and took Aemond’s eye out.

The fact that Aemond lost an eye but gained a dragon in the form of Vhagar was one of Helaena’s premonitions back in episode 6 when she said that “he’d have to lose an eye.” Nevertheless, this only made Aemond more resentful of his nephews, who he learned to hate despite the fact that he grew up with them. And losing an eye only turned him into a more spiteful man.

How Did Aemond Lose His Eye?

Episode 7 of House of the Dragon allowed us to see a more tragic and emotional event in the form of Laena Velaryon’s funeral, which House Targaryen and House Velaryon attended in full force. This, of course, included the children that we were introduced to back in episode 6. And throughout the entire funeral scene, the one thing we could notice about Aemond Targaryen was the fact that he was seemingly quite alert to where Vhagar was because he now understood that she no longer had a rider after Laena’s death.

Of course, we learned in episode 6 that Aemond was the only one of the boys present in the dragonpit scene that didn’t have his own dragon. In fact, he was made fun of by his brother and nephews when a pig was brought out to act as his dragon. This only made him more determined to claim his own dragon.

During the night of Laena’s funeral, Aemond snuck out of bed and was seemingly looking for Vhagar, who he saw was sleeping somewhere on the shores of Driftmark. That was when Aemond approached the dragon and tried to mount it. At first, Vhagar was apprehensive and was about to burn the boy alive, only for Aemond to shout out orders in Valyrian. As such, Aemond was able to mount Vhagar successfully and even fly with her all over Driftmark.

When that happened, Baela and Rhaena Targaryen woke up as they saw Vhagar flying. They also woke Jacaerys and Lucerys up and told them that someone stole Vhagar. And they were quite concerned because Rhaena, who didn’t have her own dragon, was supposed to claim Vhagar for herself.

After taking a joyride on the world’s strongest and largest dragon, Aemond went back to the castle, only to see his cousins and nephews confronting him. He had a smug tone in his voice when he boasted about the fact that he claimed Vhagar ahead of Rhaena, who was furious about the fact that Aemond “stole” the dragon from her.

This led to an altercation where Aemond beat Rhaena up, as Jace and Luke had to step in, especially after they were called bastards. Being the bigger and older boy that had proven himself as a good fighter, Aemond was able to beat all of the other kids that ganged up on him. Jace proved to be the most challenging out of all of the kids because he had a knife with him. But Aemond was still able to pin him down and was about to use a rock to bash his head in.

However, Luke found his brother’s knife and used it against Aemond. He slashed the left side of Aemond’s face as he did so across the eye. The Kingsguard came just in time to tend to the prince as he was attended to a maester in the great hall of Driftmark, all while all of the parties involved were present there. 

While King Viserys tried his best to pacify the situation and get the truth out of the kids, the maester patched up the large gash on Aemond’s face while also telling the bad news that his eye would never heal. As such, Aemond lost an eye after he gained a dragon.

Why Did Aemond Have To Lose His Eye?

After Aemond lost his eye, an angry Alicent tried to exact revenge on Rhaenyra by demanding that Lucerys’s eye be taken from him as well. Everyone involved was not willing to cede to Alicent’s rule, as the queen even ordered Ser Criston Cole to intervene by taking the boy’s eye. However, no one wanted to take a young boy’s eye away from him, as Alicent took Viserys’s knife and tried to attack Rhaenyra with it.

While Rhaenyra got wounded, Alicent was eventually pacified as everyone in the hall saw her for who she really was. Meanwhile, Aemond told his mother that losing his eye was a fair trade because he acquired Vhagar, the biggest and strongest dragon in the world at that time. He felt that the eye that he lost was payment enough for gaining a dragon, as that was what Otto Hightower also told Alicent. For them, the power of the world’s biggest and strongest dragon was more than enough to compensate for Aemond’s eye.

However, there is something deeper here, and it involves Helaena, who her brothers have always thought was weird and unusual. We already saw hints of Helaena’s unusual personality back in episode 6 when she was playing with her insect pets in front of an uninterested Queen Alicent. And that was the very same scene that allowed us to see Alicent scolding Aemond for going in the dragonpit because he wanted a dragon.

When Alicent told Aemond that he would have a dragon, Helaena was still playing with her centipede-like pet when she said, “he’d have to lose an eye,” as she was seemingly referring to her pet. But that was a premonition to what was going to happen to Aemond if he wanted a dragon, as he did lose an eye in the process of obtaining the most powerful weapon in the world.

This also bolsters the possibility that Helaena could have the power of a dreamer, as she was able to foretell Aemond losing an eye. On top of that, she was always an odd one ever since she was introduced, as it is more than possible that she is a dreamer, which is something that Viserys always wanted to be.