What is in Aemond Targaryen’s eye on House of the Dragon?

The season finale of House of the Dragon features a thrilling showdown between Aemond Targaryen and Lucerys Velaryon…well, maybe “showdown” is a stretch. Lucerys arrives at the castle of Storm’s End on his dragon Arrax to try and win the lord over to his mother’s side in the upcoming war of succession. But Aemond is already there…and he brought his much, much bigger dragon Vhagar. Aemond has never forgiven Luke for slashing out his right eye when they were kids. Once Aemond chases Luke into the storm outside on dragonback, there’s little doubt what’s going to happen.

Before the chase, though, Aemond takes off the eyepatch he wears over his missing eye to reveal something underneath, something glittery and sparkling. What was it?

In George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, Aemond wears a sapphire eye in place of the one he lost. We don’t know when or why he got it made, but it’s pretty cool, no?

HBO cut Euron Greyjoy’s eyepatch out of Game of Thrones, but kept Aemond Targaryen’s eyepatch in House of the Dragon

I suspect that Martin didn’t put a ton of thought into why Aemond chose a sapphire in particular; the way Fire & Blood is structured, we never actually get into Aemond’s head. But maybe we’ll learn why he chose that particular gemstone on House of the Dragon, since it will get more up close and personal with the characters.

Aemond’s sapphire eye reminds me of another ocular quirk from a George R.R. Martin book; in his Song of Ice and Fire series, the character of Euron Greyjoy has mismatched eyes, one black and one blue. He wears a patch over the black one, which is said to shine with malice. They cut that detail out of Game of Thrones on HBO, but Aemond’s sapphire eye remains.

Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing more of Aemond for quite a while. Our best guesses put the premiere of House of the Dragon season 2 sometime in 2024.

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