In a few short days, HBO will premiere A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, its brand new spinoff of Game of Thrones. Detailing the adventures of an earnest young knight named Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his precocious squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), this new Westeros series is set smack dab in the middle between the original show and House of the Dragon. As such, don't expect to see any dragons — or armies, for that matter, since it's a much smaller-scale affair than either of its predecessors.
However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't expect to see another staple of the Game of Thrones franchise: villains who are so loathsome that you root for horrible things to happen to them, even as you can't look away from their riveting performances. The book that the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on, "The Hedge Knight," features one such villain, and I have no doubt that he's going to hit that same sweet spot as Viserys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, Joffrey Baratheon, Ramsay Bolton, and Ser Criston Cole.
Yes, I'm talking about Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen. He may not get the same sort of depth as the villains from Game of Thrones thanks to the shorter nature of "The Hedge Knight," but don't expect him to be any less despicable because of it.
Who is Aerion Targaryen in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
In the HBO show, Aerion Targaryen is played by Finn Bennett, who viewers may recognize from True Detective: Night Country. Aerion is the second son of Maeker Targaryen, who is in turn the youngest son of King Daeron II and Queen Myriah Martell. Because of how big the Targaryen family is at this point in Westeros' history, that actually means Aerion is very far down the line of succession at the time of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1. He's a Targaryen who has all the royal trappings of a prince, but very little power within his own family.
Perhaps this is part of why Aerion grew into a cruel, dangerous man. He likes to style himself as Aerion "Brightflame," but others whisper a different moniker for him: Aerion the Monstrous. And as readers know from "The Hedge Knight," he very much earns the latter name with his vicious actions and callousness toward others.
The best comparison I can make for Aerion is that he's reminiscent of Daenerys' older brother Viserys from Game of Thrones; a Targaryen supremely confident in his station, but who is prone to lashing out because of his own insecurities. Expect a similar sort of pathos and loathsomeness from Finn Bennett's Targaryen prince in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Now, let's talk a little about how Aerion fits into the overall narrative of the show. There will be SPOILERS from the book.
What role does Aerion play in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
In "The Hedge Knight," Aerion Targaryen goes to Ashford Meadow along with his father Maekar, uncle Baelor Breakspear, and cousin Valarr. He's keen to enter the lists and prove himself, but quickly proves just how cruel he can be when he causes unnecessary bloodshed.
That trend continues when Aerion witnesses a puppet show involving a dragon slaying, and takes it very personally as a slight against House Targaryen. He raises his hand in violence against Tanselle, a painter involved in the puppet show who Dunk is fond of, and our stalwart hedge knight rushes to her defense. But at the end of the day, Aerion is a prince and Dunk is peasant-born. Striking royalty lands him in serious danger, and ultimately, thanks to another cruel maneuver from Aerion, in an archaic form of trial by combat which is rarely ever practiced in Westeros.
Aerion Targaryen isn't quite so much of a pervasive threat as the villains of Game of Thrones, but once Dunk gets on his bad side, there's no way out but through. It's going to be thrilling to watch Peter Claffey and Finn Bennett portray these two iconic characters in the series.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres its first episode on January 18 at 10:00 p.m. EST on HBO and HBO Max. Our spoiler-free review for the series is live now, so you can read and get hyped. We'll be covering the show extensively here at the site, so check back and come along with us on the journey!