In A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) is doing very little to redeem the family name. He's just another arrogant, sadistic and spoilt Targaryen in a long line of them, whether that's King Aerys II 'The Mad King' Targaryen, King Maegor I 'The Cruel' Targaryen, or Viserys III 'The Beggar King' Targaryen. All things considered, there's a largely despicable bunch. Aerion fits the archetype well.
In A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, after being humiliated by Ser Duncan the Tall, Aerion sets to show his wrath to the lowly hedge knight. Before he's able to knock all of Duncan's teeth out, Egg (Aegon V) steps in to simmer things down. Duncan remains in hot water, being held captive by the Targaryens. When the time comes for his punishment, Aerion decides to invoke the age-old trial of seven, in which two teams of seven knights face each other on the battlefield. In doing this, he hopes to embarass Ser Duncan, who struggles to find enough knights willing to fight for his cause.
As Duncan pleads his case, Aerion simply sits, absentmindedly snacking on some walnuts. "Credit to Ira [Parker], who wrote in the fact that Aerion is crushing walnuts the entire time," director Sarah Adina Smith said while discussing the episode on the offical Game of Thrones Podcast. "That’s the tone of the show. Even though you’re having this life-and-death conversation and the stakes couldn’t be higher for Dunk, meanwhile this snobby little rich kid needs his snack."
Crafting this scene was pivotal in the episode, but was difficult to execute. "We played a lot with this scene to his the right tone," she added. "I think that Aerion is a guy who has everything handed to him, and more than anything he just wants to be amused by life. I think he calls for a trial of seven because that could be fun, and then Dunk can be even more humiliated."
By the end of the episode, Aerion has his team of knights assembled without effort. Duncan has to fight to get knights to join his cause. Although Aerion does get his comeuppance when none other than Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) steps into the arena, seeing Dunk's cause as just.
Given that his own uncle turns against him, it goes to show just how despicable Aerion really is. Does he have any redeeming qualities? Not particularly. "I mean, he got great cheekbones and jawline and is a great fighter," Sarah Adina Smith admitted jokingly. As for anything more noble, she adds: "If I’m going to give Aerion some credit, I will say he has a zealous family pride and a belief in the power of the dragon in a way his other family members have let go."
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 4, "Seven," is now streaming on HBO Max. The episode is currently the highest-rated installment of the series on IMDb, and one of the top-rated episodes in the entire Game of Thrones franchise.