Aemond and – Ewan Mitchell says Aemond’s mother-son kiss felt “definitely weird” to read for the first time, even as he believed the character was capable. The moment arrives in the June 21 Season 3 premiere episode, as Aemond—now Prince Regent—tightens his grip on the Iro
The kiss lands with the kind of slow, deliberate weight that makes it hard to look away. In the “House of the Dragon” Season 3 premiere—now streaming on Max—Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his mother. Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). finally share a moment HBO had already teed up with a pre-episode photo release. In that teaser image. Aemond and Alicent stand in front of a fire. eyes closed. foreheads adjoined—an ominous cue for what comes in the June 21 episode.
For viewers, it’s more than a shocking scene. In Westeros, mother-son incest is officially taboo, even in a world filled with other forbidden romances. The show makes sure the audience understands the boundary—then steps across it anyway.
Mitchell said the experience of filming it didn’t feel routine, either. “It was definitely weird reading that for the first time in the script,” he told the outlet. He added that he had always suspected Aemond could go there. pointing to what he describes as the character’s “Mommy issues.” He also said he “didn’t think it was too much of a stretch.”.
The performance lands hardest because Aemond’s power shift has already moved fast. The premiere’s attention rightly stays on the cinematic “Battle of the Gullet. ” but the kiss marks another escalation for the Green side. Aemond has assumed control as Prince Regent after his older brother. King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). is missing—placing Aemond in full control of the Iron Throne.
Still, the hold he has on the throne isn’t the only thing that’s recent. Mitchell links the intensity of Aemond’s attachment to Alicent back to Season 1 trauma. when. as a child. Aemond lost his eye due to bullying. Mitchell describes how Alicent defended her son fiercely and publicly, demanding “an eye for an eye” after that childhood injury. In his account, Aemond never let it go—he “always wanted to repay that.”.
That motivation now collides with the political reality Aemond faces. He correctly fears the overpowering dragon-power of rival Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), even as he’s enjoying the perks of top leadership—including being with the Queen Mother.
“He very much wants to be the Daddy to the Green side now,” Mitchell said. He also described what Aemond’s endgame looks like in his head: settling down “far from it with his mother,” after he wins the war for the Greens—beheading rival Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) along the way.
Alicent’s role in all of this is more complicated than devotion alone. Mitchell portrays her as accepting the seven-second kiss from her warrior son in part because she needs to keep him close. Underneath. he says. the Queen is desperate for Aemond to be out of King’s Landing. tied to her “own secret plans” to have Rhaenyra take control.
To make that happen, Alicent is working on Aemond’s fears of Rhaenyra’s dragons at King’s Landing to push him out of town to Harrenhall, where she tells him he’ll be “unassailable.” Mitchell adds that this trip could also put her in a position to take down her hated uncle Daemon.
The scene itself is played with unusual tension. Mitchell said the acting duo shot variations of the moment before agreeing on an excruciatingly protracted move-in. He singled out the pacing: “There was something more unnerving with the slow draw in.” He described the way Aemond gives Alicent “the chance to pull away. ” testing the waters before he even makes contact—calling it “so brilliantly shot as well.”.
Mitchell also pointed to Cooke’s reaction after the kiss. saying her forced smile afterwards is more awkward than the preview image suggests. For him, it lands because it reads like something deeper than romance. “I love the performance from [Cooke]; she gives that awkward smile,” he said. He framed Aemond’s behavior as a kind of emotional need—“it’s like growing up. Aemond needed unconditional love and never felt it.” Mitchell added that Aemond’s way of showing it in Episode 1 is “all just very weird.”.
The premiere doesn’t slow down after that. Aemond promises to throw a feast in Alicent’s honor at Harrenhal Castle, with Daemon’s head looking on from a pike—an image that turns the story’s most intimate transgression into something like dark theater.
For audiences, the unease is the point: the Battle of the Gullet may dominate the headlines, but the kiss reframes what’s beneath the war—trauma, power, and a family bond that the show refuses to keep in bounds.
House of the Dragon Season 3 Aemond Alicent Hightower Ewan Mitchell Olivia Cooke Max Battle of the Gullet King’s Landing Harrenhall Rhaenyra Targaryen Daemon Targaryen