Is Aemond Targaryen the Night King from Game of Thrones? Could He Really Be the Ice King

House of the Dragon is all about the different members of House Targaryen, and we also know that some of them turned into the antagonists of the series. One such antagonist that has already made himself known is Aemond Targaryen, who is the best warrior among his siblings. Of course, we also know another antagonist in the form of the Night King, who was the biggest threat to the world during the events of Game of Thrones. So, is Aemond Targaryen the Night King from Game of Thrones?

There is no way that Aemond Targaryen is the Night King from Game of Thrones. That’s because their timelines are totally different. Aemond was born nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. On the other hand, the Night King was created more than 10,000 years before Game of Thrones.

Even though there may be some fan theories about who the Night King really is and whether or not he is a long-lost Targaryen, the fact is that he had existed long before the Targaryens even settled in Westeros. That is why there is no way Aemond could be the Night King. Now, let’s talk more about these two characters.

Aemond Explained

We know for a fact that House of the Dragon is a series that tells the infighting between the different members of House Targaryen as they wage war against one another to determine who has the right to sit on the Iron Throne. On paper, the war is about King Aegon II and Princess Rhaenyra. But we also know that it is more about Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra. Meanwhile, there are also secondary players that end up having huge roles in the storyline.

One such character is Aemond Targaryen. He is the second son of King Viserys Targaryen with Queen Alicent Hightower. Aemond has two older siblings from the same mother, as Aegon and Helaena were born ahead of him. And because of the fact that he is only the second son, he is behind his half-sister Rhaenyra and his older brother in terms of his status as one of the heirs to the Iron Throne.

However, Aemond became the fiercest and strongest among his siblings, as he trained as a swordsman to the point that he was able to defeat Ser Criston Cole, a great fighter, in a spar. Back when he was also younger, he was able to claim Vhagar as his dragon, even though he did lose an eye after when he got in a fight with Jacaerys and Lucerys. Nevertheless, the fact is that he is the strongest out of all of his siblings when it comes to an outright fight.

In the book, this became apparent when Aemond was the most dangerous out of all of the members of the Green faction because he was the strongest swordsman and had the world’s largest and strongest dragon at his command. As such, he became a huge asset to the Greens in the book because he was the only one that could match Daemon’s ability to fight and command an army.

It was also the fact that Aemond was basically Daemon’s counterpart in the Greens that got them to clash with one another during one of the best moments of Fire & Blood. In the middle of the Dance of the Dragons, Rhaenyra sent Daemon to search for Aemond, who had been burning the Riverlands using Vhagar. This led to a clash that took place in the Gods Eye lake.

In that battle, Daemon and Caraxes were able to match Aemond and Vhagar. Caraxes was able to outmaneuver Vhagar and grab the bigger dragon by the neck. Daemon immediately jumped out of his saddle to get to Aemond and stabbed him with Dark Sister right through his blind eye. The four crashed into the lake, and Caraxes was able to swim to the shore before dying.

It was only a few years later that the bodies of Aemond and Vhagar were found. Dark Sister was still lodged in the skull of Aemond. On the other hand, the body of Daemon Targaryen was never found.

The Night King Explained

During the events of Game of Thrones, there were several enemies that the protagonists found themselves clashing with. However, the biggest threat was the Night King, who led the White Walkers and was the one who commanded the Army of the Dead that was marching all the way to the south. In that regard, Jon Snow and the northern houses had to enlist the help of Daenerys Targaryen to fight the White Walkers.

The Night King is a powerful entity that is basically immortal and cannot be killed by fire. He has the ability to create more White Walkers and can instantly raise the dead to turn them into undead soldiers that form part of his Army of the Dead. 

In terms of his history, the Night King used to be one of the First Men. He was captured by the Children of the Forest more than 10,000 years ago and was turned into what he is so that the Children of the Forest would have a weapon that they could use against the First Men, who were far too strong and numerous for them to defeat. However, the Night King turned on them and started creating an army that he used to kill all of the living things in Westeros, including the Children of the Forest.

That was why the Children of the Forest had to work with the First Men to drive the Night King far into the north. Meanwhile, the Wall was created to protect the rest of Westeros from the Night King’s Army of the Dead. This happened thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones.

Is Aemond Targaryen The Night King From Game Of Thrones?

Based on what we know about the individual timelines of both Aemond Targaryen and the Night King, it is quite obvious that they are not the same person. That’s because they both existed during different periods in the history of Westeros.

Aemond was born nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones. Meanwhile, he died on 130 AC, which is still nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, which takes place around 300 AC. However, the Night King was created more than 10,000 years before Aegon the Conqueror even united the Seven Kingdoms.

After the Night King was first driven back, he was biding his time in the far north while waiting for the Long Night to come so that he could once again launch his army at the world of the living during one of the longest winters in history. And while he was biding his time, Aemond was in King’s Landing.

On top of that, when Aemond was killed, his body was found years later, and that means that there is no way that he could be the Night King, as it is likely that his body was burned after it was found, as that was customary among the Targaryens. As such, there is no way that he could be the Night King, on top of the fact that his timeline is totally different.