Spoiler ahead for House of the Dragon. After season 1 of the successful HBO spinoff prequel, many fans took notice of this one appearance of a famous Targaryen.
When Aemond Targaryen took off his eye patch, he revealed that he had his eye removed and the sapphire eye glistened blue. Fans took to Twitter (now X) to notice the blue-eyed similarities between him and another Game of Thrones villain, The Night King. “WHY IS AEMOND’S EYE BLUE LIKE THAT IS HE THE NIGHT KING?!” one fan wrote. Another wrote, “the moment i saw aemond there i was reminded of the night king but we all know they aren’t the same.” So what is the truth?
Related: A Complete Guide to All the Targaryens in House of the Dragon
Is Aemond Targaryen the Night King?
No, Aemond Targaryen doesn’t turn into the Night King—nor are they remotely related. In fact, we see the creation of the Night King and the White Walkers in season 6 of Game of Thrones.
In Bran’s vision, the Children of the Forest drive a dragon glass into a human’s chest while he is tied up to a tree. “Somebody made him the Night King,” The Night King actor Vladimir Furdik told Entertainment Weekly. “Nobody knows who he was before—a soldier or part of [nobility]. He never wanted to be the Night King.” Also safe to say, that the Night King was created more than 1000 years before the events of Game of Thrones, while House of the Dragon only takes place about 100 years before the main show’s events.
White Walkers are mentioned briefly in the season 2 premiere, when Jacen asks Cregan what lies beyond the wall, he responds, “Death.” So while it doesn’t strike out the opportunity of White Walkers in the prequel, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll appear.
In the books, Aemond dies at the hands of Daemon. The two fight it out as Aemond chains himself to Vhagar, while Daemon does not chain himself to Caraxes. Daemon gives a devastating blow to Aemond as he plunges his sword through Aemond’s eye (yes, the one that looks like the Night King’s) while the dragons continue to fight each other. The two dragons crash into the lake and the two men are presumed dead. Aemond’s body is recovered while Daemon’s is never found.
While their epic fight might not be in the cards for a while in House of the Dragon, Ewan Mitchell talked to Polygon about Daemon and Aemond’s dynamic in season 2 of the show. “I’ve always thought Aemond is Daemon’s biggest stan; so much of the image Aemond has curated over the years, it is almost like a homage to his hero,” he said. In the fog of war, Aemond sees Daemon as the adversary he’s staring down across Targaryen family lines. “Aemond idolizes Daemon; there’s almost this romantic quality that Aemond feels that Daemon got this close — or, rather, he sent people to end Aemond’s life, but he didn’t want to do it himself. […] So Aemond likes being noticed by his idol.”
House of the Dragon airs on HBO and is available to stream on Max every Sunday.
