The Last Kingdom star plays Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon

The other day, we noted that a star from Netflix’s excellent medieval drama The Last Kingdom was spotted on the set of House of the Dragon, HBO’s upcoming prequel to Game of Thrones. Ewan Mitchell, who plays Osferth (aka Baby Monk) on the Netflix show, is coming to Westeros, and now we know who’s playing.

Ready? Okay. As you can see in this set photo, Mitchell is playing none other than Aemond Targaryen, a fairly important player in the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.

Who is Aemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon?

Aemon Targaryen is the second of three sons born to King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and his second wife Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). The birth of Aemond and his brothers caused consternation in King Viserys’ court, since he continued to maintain that his eldest child from a previous marriage, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), was his heir, even though he now had sons. The court divided into itself into camps, including those loyal to Rhaenrya and those who favored Alicent and her sons. Likewise, the sons of Alicent and Rhaenrya developed a bitter rivalry, with the former thinking the latter had usurped their birthright.

Deepening the resentment of Aemond and his brothers was the rumor that Rhaenrya’s sons were  not the biological children of her husband Laenor Velaryon but the bastard children of her lover Harwin Strong. The rivalry between the boys reached a nadir when a 10-year-old Aemond, known to be the most hot-tempered of Alicent’s sons, got into a fight with all three of Rhaenyra’s kids. The secondborn, Lucerys, slashed out Aemond’s eye with his dagger, which did not help ease tensions between the factions at court. That’s how we could tell Mitchell was playing Aemond in that set pic; note the eyepatch.

Aemond went on to become an excellent swordsman and a fierce warrior. He rode the dragon Vhagar, the oldest and biggest of the Targaryen dragons around at that time. Eventually, a proper war breaks out between Team Rhaenyra and Team Alicent, and Aemond is a major players. He has a rematch with Lucerys, this time on dragonback, sits the Iron Throne for a spell, and is involved in probably the coolest one-on-one fight of the entire war, which I won’t spoil here, but it’s a doozy.

Who is House of the Dragon star Ewan Mitchell?

Anybody who’s seen The Last Kingdom knows that Ewan Mitchell is a good actor; as Osferth, he’s charming and likable. He also starred alongside Robert Pattinson in the 2018 film High Life as a monstrous character named Ettore, so he has range. Acting-wise, I’m sure he can pull off Aemond’s story.

His age raises some questions. Mitchell is in his ’20s, probably not that far apart from Olivia Cooke who plays his mother Alicent. So I guess Cooke will play older than she is and Mitchell will play younger; Aemond is 19 when the Dance of the Dragon kicks off.

House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max in 2022.

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