It is well known that in Game of Thrones, brothels are just as likely to decide the fate of the kingdom as throne rooms. “The Burning Mill,” the third episode of House of the Dragon Season 2 lifts the curtain on that—literally, with the odd blowjob and multiple rooms of simultaneous fucking. But when Aemond unfurls at the end of the brothel scene in Episode 3, the flash of his penis is secondary to the change in mood in the room. And when he struts out, still naked, it’s clear that the balance of power has shifted, too.
It begins where so many of King’s Landing’s problems begin: Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is drunk and trying to impress his boys. In order to get laid with a new white coat, he takes a small group to a brothel where he swears he knows the best whoremonger in the country – only to lift the curtain and see Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) cuddling with whoremonger Sylvi (Michelle Bonnard).
Aemond is as we have seen him before in Sylvi’s presence: naked, curled up like a toddler and wrapped in her arms, intimate. This peace is immediately interrupted by the harsh, disparaging laughter of Aegon, who begins to mock Aemond for his vulnerability and affection. As his cruel chuckle permeates the rest of the scene, Aemond pulls away from Sylvi, stands and turns around, mindless in his nakedness: “One whore is as good as another.”
This is exactly what Sylvi advised him to avoid last week, when she noted that a prince who loses his temper would be more likely to harm commoners like her than a royal cause. And indeed, she is right: the camera does not linger on her reaction, but no doubt the closeness he has found at her breast will not be helped if Aemond invites other men with “Welcome to her” as if she were just an object.
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Image: HBO
But this scene, for better or worse, is about Aemond—his vulnerability, his impenetrability, his drive, his bigger plans. Fire may not hurt a dragon, but a sibling’s taunting words can cut to the core. And miraculously, this moment manages to be almost wordless. Mitchell plays Aemond’s retreat like a snake retreating just before it rears up and bites back. Unlike Sylvi, he’s capable of doing something about it, and “The Burning Mill” suggests he will.
Since he first led Vhagar to safety, Aemond was content to be a second son, while simultaneously aware that he was more fearsome and better equipped than his stupid brother. But the moment with Sylvi feels like a clear turning point. Aemond was a kind of springboard for the Greens at the beginning of the war—the anime villain who started World War I, one of their best tacticians, just waiting (or resigned) to it. And yet nothing has activated him. Even an assassination attempt left him contentedly lying in Sylvi’s arms, spouting grand speeches. Through it all, he’s supported his brother, albeit with that tight-lipped grin. And yet now, in a war between siblings, Aegon has wounded Aemond in a way no civil war ever could.
On paper, the brothel scene reads more like the game of Thrones Special nudity as a shock effect to spice up a scene that otherwise only consists of conversations. But House of the Dragon, like Aemond, this film is at a bigger game, and takes the opportunity to literally and metaphorically strip its characters bare by breaking a war down into its most basic components: people making irrevocable choices. It’s rare that tail shots are so clearly perceived as tragic, and it’s all the more remarkable that Aemond’s barely seems worth mentioning. In a moment of weakness, Aemond reared up and braced himself. We’ll see if Aegon has the balls to do the same.
New episodes of House of the Dragon Airs at 9:00 p.m. EDT on HBO and Max.
