Everyone on House of the Dragon is a total freak show — this is a series where people marry their siblings, after all — but few characters can compete with Aemond Targaryen, played by English actor Ewan Mitchell.
With this eye patch, enormous dragon and complete disregard for human life, Aemond is a total menace, but thanks to Mitchell’s searing performance, he’s also kind of … hot.
Fans got more than they bargained for during House of the Dragon season 2, episode 3, which aired on June 30 and showed Mitchell’s Aemond in a brothel. And, yes, he was fully naked.
“He needs a bit of love. He’s a broken boy, needs someone to fix him. Season 1, it was a rich show full of morally compromised gray characters,” Mitchell, 27, explained to Variety just after the episode aired. “I wanted to present a character who, in those three episodes, that time in his life was just complete darkness.”
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As for the big question: Does Aemond have “mommy issues”? Mitchell doesn’t think so.
“I don’t know if he had mommy issues or rather, he just wanted to be loved by his mom a little bit more. Growing up, he never really felt that unconditional love,” he continued. “He had to find surrogates elsewhere. He sort of found it in his dragon, Vhagar, this older she-dragon, and he’s also found it with the madam. But whether or not it’s enough, if it’s a worthy enough surrogate, is questionable.”
The episode’s director, Geeta Vasant Patel, offered Mitchell the opportunity to make the final call about going nude.
“When I spoke with him originally about the nudity, I said to him, ‘Let’s just go through the story. If you don’t feel comfortable being nude, then you’re not going to be nude,’” Patel shared in that same Variety interview. “We were both on the same page in that way. We started walking through, and he walked me through his character.”
Ultimately, Mitchell told her: “That’s what he would do.”
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House of the Dragon viewers started thirsting over Mitchell — and his character — as the show’s first season came to a close. However, things have really ramped up this summer.
Mitchell joked it was “a shock to the naked body” when filming his nude scene because the studio was freezing cold.
“I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope my mother is OK with it,” he joked while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this month. “It was crazy.”
House of the Dragon airs on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
Read more about Mitchell in this week’s relaunch issue of the brand-new Us Weekly, featuring 12 additional pages, a redesigned look and new franchises you’ll love — on newsstands now.
