The actor behind the latest twisted villain in the world of Game of Thrones opens up on what makes his character a monster!
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 3.
In every show set within the Game of Thrones universe, there has to be a twisted figure whom fans quickly love to hate. For A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the obvious contender so far is Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett). The son of Prince Maekar (Sam Spruell), next in line to the Westeros throne, Aerion is a knight who has clearly inherited the madness gene that plagues the family line.
In just two episodes, the man has proven why he’s later known as “Aerion the Monstrous.” His way of winning a joust is to spear his opponent’s horse. He brutally attacks anyone who slightly angers him such as a puppeteer and poor Tanselle. This is just scratching the surface and speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Bennett discussed how twisted the man is.
“On paper he really is all bad. I think there is canonically somewhere in the books that says he's a man with no redeeming qualities, and he is vain and cruel. So there's kind of nothing. You have to dig deeper to find something to cling on to. But I really believe that monsters aren't born, they're made."
One thing driving Aerion’s behavior is that at this point in the timeline, the once-mighty Targaryen dynasty is barely clinging to power. With dragons believed extinct, they’ve lost much of their influence and Bennett claims Aerion finds that “embarrassing” and that the tournaments are, "beneath him and his family and he is looking to gain back some fear and respect in the hearts of his subjects."
Of course, things are going to take a turn, given the big twist of episode 3.
How the Egg twist affects Aerion
Episode 3 had Aerion annoyed when Dunk (Peter Claffey) interfered in his torturing of an innocent. That led to Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) calling off the guards and revealing what readers of the novella had known: Duncan’s squire is really Aerion’s younger brother Aegon, who’s destined to become king himself.
Obviously, this is going to shake things up as Aerion may be throwing his weight around but having his brother on Dunk’s side will make it harder for him to get away with attacking the other knight. There’s also how their father feels about this and Dunk reeling from the revelation.
Bennett told EW he actually avoids reading reviews, as he prefers not being fixated on the negative talk over the raves for his performance. That’s likely a good thing, as so far, his turn as Aerion is one of the best parts of the show. He’s a reminder of how twisted the Targaryens can be and likely to continue to cause trouble. It’s also a way fans can marvel at how good Egg is compared to his sibling.
With only three episodes left in the first season, Aerion’s true dark actions will wait until season 2. But Bennett’s words prove how he’s already become a great addition to the list of Westeros villains.