House of the Dragon makes me like the new Joffrey and I’m going crazy

For the return of House of the Dragon, I first have to sort out who is who in the great Targaryen family tree. This also includes remembering who I last gave my sympathies to and who I with devotion despisedThe disinterested heir to the throne, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), who in the past was mainly noticed masturbating at the castle window, clearly belonged to the second category. At least until the start of season 2.

The Season 2 premiere was full of shocking moments, but the biggest shock aside from dead children and kicked dogs is probably that King Aegon is suddenly incredibly… sympathetic?

House of the Dragon surprise: Aegon II is not the new Joffrey

In the series’ predecessor, Game of Thrones, Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) was probably the character most of us loved to hate. The young blond king vacillated as a spoiled mama’s boy between self-pity and cruelty. Aegon II, who was crowned king in Season 1 of House of the Dragon, brought with him similarly negative traits at first glance.

Almost as young and blonde and mother-oriented Like Joffrey, Aegon was already a boy and played nasty pranks on his younger, dragonless brother. Later, he slept his way through the slums of King’s Landing, fathered bastards, and treated his sister-wife Helaena (Phia Saban) with contempt after the birth of her two children. His political interest was well summed up by the masturbation scene at the window. Aegon’s accession to the throne as rival king to Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) was therefore not a promising one.

But now House of the Dragon is back and shows in episode 1 a new page of King Aegon II. He is still the young man with the condescending expression on his face who had no desire for the throne at the end of Season 1 and only found a cautious liking for it in the midst of the cheering of the masses. Now, however, he has accepted the task and is trying to do it to the best of his ability. And even if these abilities are not worth mentioning, the will to improve is evident. Joffrey wanted power, Aegon accepts it reluctantly.

In addition, we see Aegon as a father for the first time. In the making-of video for episode 1, actor Tom Glynn-Carney explains: “I think Aegon is the Kind of father who encourages bad behavior because he finds it funny. I don’t doubt that he loves his children. But he doesn’t discipline them. He rather has competitions with them to see who is more rebellious.”

In theory, this sounds reprehensible because it means that Aegon is essentially a child on the throne himself. In practice, however, we see him as a loving father who takes his 4-year-old son “to work” to prepare him for royal duties (according to showrunner Ryan Condal in the featurette) – something his own father Viserys (Paddy Considine) never did for him. This does lead to an awkward moment when Aegon offers council member Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) as a mount for his son. But unlike Joffrey, who would have insisted on implementing his humiliating idea, Aegon does not insist on his suggestion, which more out of humor than cruelty was born.

House of the Dragon shows in season 2: Aegon’s loveability lies in his weakness

Condal sums up Aegon’s incompetence as follows: “He finds humor where none existed. […] He is completely overwhelmed and wants to do everything well, but cannot make the right decisionno matter what he does.” This is particularly evident during the audience in episode 1, where Aegon II wants to make amends to a petitioner for the loss of his sheep. If he did, all the farmers would soon be lining up to demand something for their animals that had been eaten by dragons. Aegon’s sheepish question as to whether at least this one farmer could be paid in secret still earns the young king sympathy points.

Interestingly, the new sympathy from Aegon’s weakness feeds. Rather than heroic deeds or steadfast morals, this green king stands out for his softness in the midst of tough decision-makers. He wants to please everyone: his subjects as well as his Hand Otto (Rhys Ifans) and his mother Alicent (Olivia Cooke). In the ruthless world of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, this makes him unsuitable as a king. But his slowly decaying father Viserys was such a lovable character because he only wanted to bring his family together and rule in peace.

As ridiculous as the royal nickname “Aegon the Magnanimous” (Aegon, the Magnanimous) sounds like this: In the end, he could hit the mark against all expectations… or bring down the young king, because even the gentle Viserys cut himself on the Iron Throne and whisperers like Larys (Matthew Needham) are never far away.

House of the Dragon can repeat a feat from Game of Thrones with Aegon

My reluctant surprise that Aegon in season 2 is no longer just the obnoxious brat with a crown that I expected brings us full circle to the parent series. Game of Thrones was characterized by its complex characters who rarely fall entirely into the spectrum of black or white (or green). They are characters who are allowed to develop over the seasons. How else could Jamie “the one who throws children out of windows” Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) have become one of my favorite characters in season 3?

House of the Dragon is well on its way to repeating this feat with Aegon II Targaryen after episode 1. This may drive me crazy at first because I have my preconceived Questioning character preferences But at the same time, that’s what makes the journey to Westeros so exciting: not just the unexpected deaths, but also the unexpected character twists that await me here.

Season 2 gave the audience a choice between Green and Black, i.e. between the camps of Queens Rhaenyra and Alicent. But loyalty is not quite that simple. If I give my loyalty to the Blacks, I can still despise them for murdering children and, conversely, find sympathy for representatives of the Greens. That is exactly the delightfully tormenting ambivalencewhich Game of Thrones has already mastered excellently. Because here noble knights can turn out to be whores, small heroes with sharp tongues can rule the world and masturbating heirs to the throne can turn the helm of sympathy around.