Aemond’s kiss – In the season 3 premiere of HBO’s House of the Dragon, Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond Targaryen plants a kiss on his onscreen mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). Mitchell calls it “shocking,” Cooke says filming the moment was difficult, and both actors describe t
House of the Dragon came roaring back on Sunday, June 21, and it didn’t ease anyone in.
In the season 3 premiere. a tense exchange between Alicent Hightower and her son—Ewan Mitchell’s prince regent. Aemond Targaryen—ends with a move that lands like a jolt: Aemond plants a kiss on Alicent’s lips. Viewers weren’t the only ones stunned. Mitchell said the moment made him react the way the scene is written to do.
“It kind of makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit,” the 29-year-old actor told People in an interview published on Sunday.
Mitchell added that the shock also carried a different kind of creative weight. “Yeah, it’s kind of shocking. But then also, I just recognized a tremendous challenge and an opportunity to show Aemond in a new light,” he said. For him, the kiss isn’t just provocative—it’s revealing.
“It’s quite a difficult pill to swallow, isn’t it?. Kissing your mom on the lips, especially in that way,” Mitchell said. He explained that Aemond, as he grows up, doesn’t feel loved enough by Alicent and the family around him. “And a kid needs that unconditional love to develop a balanced view of themselves. And Aemond. because he never had that. he’s got a very skewed perception and a very strange way of showing love.”.
Mitchell continued: “I think what you see in that scene in episode 1 is that skewed love.”
Olivia Cooke, who plays Alicent and is 32, said the scene was difficult to film. “I think it was quite odd for both of us,” Cooke said. She described an Oedipal undercurrent that existed beneath what Alicent understands in the moment. “There has been this Oedipal undercurrent — unbeknownst to Alicent. And I think it’s shocking.”.
Cooke also framed the kiss as something far more dangerous than a single shocking beat. “It’s really dangerous, because he’s a very dangerous person,” she said of Aemond. In her telling, Alicent knows the smallest misstep could be fatal. “She knows that one wrong facial expression, one perceived rejection, will cost her her life. So she’s trying to tread very, very carefully. But I do think she’s sort of stupefied in that moment,” Cooke shared.
Mitchell didn’t shy away from the character’s darker edge, either. There’s “also the small matter of Aemond being something of a psychopath,” the story notes—especially after he burned his brother Aegon (played by Tom Glynn-Carney) half to death in season 2.
Still, amid the intensity, Mitchell had praise for Cooke. “Working with Liv Cooke in that scene is just … it’s a masterclass working with Liv Cooke in any scene. Yeah, she’s a real one,” he said.
House of the Dragon has never been afraid of forbidden romances and unsettling dynamics. Aemond’s brother, Aegon, is married to his sister, Helaena (Phia Saban). Season 1 also included the taboo romance between Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy) and her paternal uncle. Daemon (Matt Smith).
Now the questions shift to what happens after the premiere’s most explosive turn—because in this version of love, one wrong reaction may already be one step away from disaster. House of the Dragon season 3 airs Sundays on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max.
House of the Dragon Season 3 Aemond Targaryen Alicent Hightower Ewan Mitchell Olivia Cooke taboo romance incest scene HBO HBO Max Game of Thrones prequel
so he kissed his mom like?? HBO is wild.
I didn’t even understand what was happening at first, thought it was some kind of political thing, but nope it’s literally on the lips?? That’s messed up. Also people are acting like it’s “creative” like… ok sure.
Wait, is this the part where Alicent like tells him something and he’s trying to prove a point? Bc I saw a clip on TikTok and everyone was freaking out, but half the captions were wrong. If it’s really that, then yeah it feels like the actor is describing his character as unloved which is just sad, but they coulda done it without the whole mouth kissing thing.
I’m sorry but kissing your mom on screen is not “unconditional love” or whatever, that’s just trauma bait. Half the time these writers just want shock value and then call it “a tremendous challenge” 🙄. Also I swear the episode started with something else, like I blinked and suddenly it was a moment. I’m confused and kind of disgusted, not gonna lie.