Viewers of House of the Dragon were taken aback by a controversial exchange between Prince Aemond Targaryen and his mother, Dowager-Queen Alicent Hightower, in the Season 3 premiere.
The HBO fantasy series, a prequel to Game of Thrones that debuted in 2022, returned on Sunday, June 21, 2026, following a long hiatus. The new season opener picked up in the aftermath of the Battle of the Gullet and immediately resumed the Targaryen civil war in earnest.
Even so, the scene that sparked the biggest reaction was not one of warfare. Instead, fans focused on a private confrontation between Aemond, portrayed by Ewan Mitchell, and Alicent, played by Olivia Cooke, which ended with Aemond kissing his mother on the lips as Alicent appeared rattled and did not pull away.
Social media reaction was swift, with many viewers describing the moment as deeply unsettling.
One fan wrote on X that it was “the most disturbing scene in House of the Dragon,” while another admitted it was ‘very awkward to watch’ and left them ‘speechless.’
Showrunner Ryan Condal has since addressed the backlash, arguing that the scene was not intended to suggest romance. Instead, he said it was designed to reveal the emotional damage and confusion driving Aemond.
“He’s somebody that was traumatized at an early age by his brother by taking him to a brothel long before his brain could probably process what was happening,” Condal explained.
He added that this early trauma “manifests a certain way in his behavior as an adult,” and that while Aemond is not in love with his mother, he is “not able to separate the feelings that he has for her from these other male feelings that he experiences.”
Condal also linked the moment to Alicent’s own history, saying she too had been shaped by manipulation and an unhealthy upbringing.
Condal also pointed to Alicent’s own troubled upbringing as part of the wider picture, noting she was “groomed by your father and married off to a much older man at such an early age.”
Mitchell shared a similar view, saying the kiss reflects Aemond’s need for dominance rather than affection.
“In Aemond’s head, it’s like he’s assuming control of the family,” the actor said, comparing his character to Ray Winstone’s role in the 1979 film Scum. “He’s the new leader.”
He also referenced several events that helped shape Aemond’s personality, including childhood bullying over not having a dragon, the loss of his eye while claiming one, and the unresolved emotional baggage connected to the Flea Bottom brothel madame introduced in Season 2.
Mitchell said Aemond’s inability to express affection stems from never feeling loved as a child, quoting the proverb, “the child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
According to Mitchell, Cooke made the difficult sequence easier to film, and the two experimented with multiple versions before agreeing on the one that appeared in the episode.
Cooke, he added, “really looked after me” while filming the scene, with the pair testing several variations before settling on the final cut.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.