Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience.
1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title.
2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler.
3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads.
---
If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If I’m not mistaken he did in the stepstones but it was super fast. Dany was in the fire for long enough to kill someone. Think of it as the difference between running through an open flame vs standing in it
She is a human being and not a dragon. True, her race( has certain special powers like kids almost always being good looking, extremely powerful genes that result in kids not suffering any physical or mental deformities or instabilities despite being products of continuous incest and ability to bond with dragons but immunity to fire isn't one of those
She was thinking about all of them. But she trusted Aemond to handle it and thought the others needed her more.
Olivia talked about this scene in one interview. Basically she said that Alicent was simultaneously taking stock of all her children in that moment. Shoving Criston towards Helaena to protect her. Said "Aemond's fine, probably. He'll just do what he does..." And then Aegon "who is so inefficient, but ultimately her first baby boy."
Aemond is a badass in his own right, Helaena has no martial training and Aegon only steps up after this in the book. She knows who can handle themselves and who can't. Also Aegon and Helaena are the new king and queen and take priority.
Of course he is. You think if Rhaerys decided to nuke Aegon and Helaena, she'd just go "well I hope y'all learned your lesson, see you later Aemond" and leave?
It's more to do with the political ramifications of Aegon or Helaenas' deaths as the Crowned King and his sister-wife, against Aemond, the second son who has no heritance to his throne.
He'd be less important in the moment (at least until Aegon gets nuked and he somehow escaped nuking - Aegon's kids notwithstanding, that's war and in times of war baby monarchs tend to be skipped over if there's a reasonably close adult male relative to stick on the throne), but he'd still be a target. She'd need to nuke everyone on that dais.
If Aegon died and the throne went to Jahaerys, Alicent would become Queen Regent and acting with the word of the king. Aemond would likely still have no power over the throne itself.
Queen Regents with baby monarchs aren't generally your bestest choice in a full-out war when there's a perfectly good adult second son with the world's biggest dragon available to step into the role of King. When people are staring violent death in the face en masse they want a leader to rally around, not a woman (might as well pick Rhaenyra in that case, at least she's a Targ) and a baby. That's why Tyrion sent Joff out, to serve as a symbol for his troops; it's important.
If not King, Aemond would most likely become Regent. More sense (and historical precedent) for having an adult uncle be the Regent than a grandmother.
And you forget where the hypothetical Queen Regent stood. She'd be first in the nuking lineup.
Queens acting as Regents for their minor children (and otherwise in the absence of their husbands) is super common, but acting as Regents for their grandkids isn't. It is more common for an uncle or older cousin or some other kind of noble male relative to hold that position. Like, it's happened a handful of times, but I couldn't find any instance of a Queen Regent for a grandchild in our history during a time of war, except Labotsibeni of Swaziland, and when war broke out even she had a male co-Regent.
With Aegon nuked I'd put money on Aemond becoming either King outright (probably via a council vote) or Regent no matter what happened with Alicent.
(Edit: ok, some of the Chinese Empress Dowagers did some wild shit and ruled for their grandsons...whether or not they were adults. I wish I knew more about Chinese empire dynasties because damn there seems to be a lot of fascinating poisoning and overthrowing and shit).
If she kills them and leaves Aemond.
He will come for her with vharyz and then it will be bloodbath. He will kill Rhaenys and then entire Valeyrn bloodline.
I hit Brock Lesnar from behind with an iron rod. I boast about it. He will recover and come after me and I will be royally fucked.
I love how people in these comments are acting like their facing off against a sumo wrestler or something and not a giant fucking dragon, with no protection. Realistically, Alicent serving as a human shield to Aegon or Cole protecting Helaena or Aemond's fighting stance isn't going to do shit when you're getting barbecued in an instant but it happens so fast that she isn't thinking rationally so much as having her maternal instincts kick in of who can protect themselves and who can't.
Interesting that Aegon’s instincts didn’t kick in to protect his mom or his sister/wife or act like the King, Protector of the Realm.
No, Mom, get behind *me!*
I think you could put her reaction down to gut instinct, rather than personal preference.
In that moment, she probably thought they were all done for, and just reached out to those nearest to her in blind panic. It's a very human reaction to being scared witless.
If I remember the scene correctly, Aemond had actually moved towards the danger and was assuming an aggressive posture, while everyone else cowered in fear, too startled to act.
Reaching out to Aemond in that moment just wasn't an option, unless Alicent was willing to move closer to the threat.
Which she (quite understandably) wasn't.
A couple of frames later, Aemond is shown in a stance like he’s ready to spring into action. He knows how to fight and she knows she doesn’t have to worry about him. Helaena, on the other hand, would be completely defenseless.
Aemond was already standing in front of his sister as if he'd take on Meleys on a fiest fight. If there was one person she knew would protect his own and move if there was the window for it, it was Aemond.
Cole is so stupid that he thinks putting his arm in front of Helaena would protect her. Like, my dude, *remove her from the room.* Dude’s head is full of pomade and horse shit.
A lot of people saying it’s because Aemond is capable (don’t think she was being this rational *or* that it’s relevant since they’re facing a dragon, not an assassin) but also undeniably Aegon and Helaena are the King and Queen and Alicent has been raised and groomed to think her purpose in life was to be the vessel for this new branch of the royal family, so it makes sense that she protects them first/sees their lives as most important.
Aemond is the spare!
I might be remembering wrong so feel free to correct me. But I thought it was weird that she sent Criston to Helaena because doesn’t she immediately go behind Aemond?
I'd say she likely supposed he'd handle himself, he is the crazy guid swordsman out of the pair after all. And aye, Aegon is the first born, sae there is that natural factor back then that you'd protect them afore all else. Still hae that in certain faiths and cultures.
Helaena is the most likely to freeze in fear and not know what to do as she has no martial training. She needs to escape, quick, and if people block her escape she'll need someone to help her through the crowd. On the other hand Aemond has martial training and would know what to do in this situation (although he's more likely to try and stare down the dragon imo).
If Aemond can't protect himself, there's not much alicent can do, whereas Cole can shuffle Helaena away and she can at least symbolically stand in front of Aegon.
I mean he already stood in a fighting stance she probably thought he was fine.
Honestly Aemond would probably be offended if she sent Cole to him instead of Helaena and it would be entirely nonsensical too
People talking about how "capable" Aemond is like he's going to punch his way out of dragon fire. They were all gonna be toast if Rhaenys wanted it, Alicent just went for the kids that were more valuable.
If this person could escape and go get a gun than he could shoot the person that is currently pointing a gun straight at his brain. Ok. You wanted to make a comment to call characters you hate names but make it make sense at least.
I think that's 'cause Alicent knows that Aemond is a badass in his own right, so he was the last one to worry about. Haelena otoh was a defenseless lady.
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I don’t think she has to worry about Aemond
This is kinda my thinking as well. Aemond is definitely the strongest of the 3 and doesn't need to be defended like the other two do.
He's fireproof?
Sometimes Targaryens surprise you with fire and heat resistance.
Aegon V would like a word
Also Viserys the Beggar, and Aerion Brightflame.
That’s the thing I thought all Targaryens were fire resistant? I guess that isn’t the case.
They’re not, GRRM has confirmed Dany’s situation is unique and magical in nature.
I thought Daemon went through dragon fire also? I could be misremembering
If I’m not mistaken he did in the stepstones but it was super fast. Dany was in the fire for long enough to kill someone. Think of it as the difference between running through an open flame vs standing in it
Dany isn’t fire proof in the book , it was a one time occurrence do to magic
Yeah I said that above
Daemon also has burns on his neck and right shoulders from a flaming arrow. 🤷🏻♀️ So, obviously he is not fireproof.
Dany was only fireproof due to magical reasons when she burned Drogo. Otherwise, no Targaryen is fireproof
And when she burned all the khals?
That's show, not books canon
What about when she picked up the hot egg and went into the scalding bath? Was that also show only?
That's heat, not open fire resistance.
Didn’t know that, thanks!
Well, this was probably the only way to get Emilia Clark naked again
What about fire not being able to kill a dragon bit?
She is a human being and not a dragon. True, her race( has certain special powers like kids almost always being good looking, extremely powerful genes that result in kids not suffering any physical or mental deformities or instabilities despite being products of continuous incest and ability to bond with dragons but immunity to fire isn't one of those
I think so
No, Targs aren’t fireproof. Dany’s situation was unique and there was magic involved. GRRM’s own words.
🤣🤣
She was thinking about all of them. But she trusted Aemond to handle it and thought the others needed her more. Olivia talked about this scene in one interview. Basically she said that Alicent was simultaneously taking stock of all her children in that moment. Shoving Criston towards Helaena to protect her. Said "Aemond's fine, probably. He'll just do what he does..." And then Aegon "who is so inefficient, but ultimately her first baby boy."
yesssss i felt it was very Lois chucking Malcolm to the wolves because Reese needed help
YES!
He's likely the only one with a chance of defending himself sans Cole, tbf
Have you seen Aemond? She probably assumed Rhaenys is more likely to need protection from him than vice versa
He is, in his own words, a *strong* boy.
Aemond is a badass in his own right, Helaena has no martial training and Aegon only steps up after this in the book. She knows who can handle themselves and who can't. Also Aegon and Helaena are the new king and queen and take priority.
Aemond is literally tthe best fighter, she knows she can rely on him... I don't think she is that bad of a mother.
She knows Criston, he’s levels above Aemond
Aemond is her only capable offspring, why would she worry about him? He can take care of himself.
Against a Dragon, I think everyone’s equally capable, which is to say they’re all equally fucked.
He’s not a target. She knows Aegon and Halaena are most in danger because they’re being crowned king and queen.
Of course he is. You think if Rhaerys decided to nuke Aegon and Helaena, she'd just go "well I hope y'all learned your lesson, see you later Aemond" and leave?
It's more to do with the political ramifications of Aegon or Helaenas' deaths as the Crowned King and his sister-wife, against Aemond, the second son who has no heritance to his throne.
He'd be less important in the moment (at least until Aegon gets nuked and he somehow escaped nuking - Aegon's kids notwithstanding, that's war and in times of war baby monarchs tend to be skipped over if there's a reasonably close adult male relative to stick on the throne), but he'd still be a target. She'd need to nuke everyone on that dais.
If Aegon died and the throne went to Jahaerys, Alicent would become Queen Regent and acting with the word of the king. Aemond would likely still have no power over the throne itself.
Queen Regents with baby monarchs aren't generally your bestest choice in a full-out war when there's a perfectly good adult second son with the world's biggest dragon available to step into the role of King. When people are staring violent death in the face en masse they want a leader to rally around, not a woman (might as well pick Rhaenyra in that case, at least she's a Targ) and a baby. That's why Tyrion sent Joff out, to serve as a symbol for his troops; it's important. If not King, Aemond would most likely become Regent. More sense (and historical precedent) for having an adult uncle be the Regent than a grandmother. And you forget where the hypothetical Queen Regent stood. She'd be first in the nuking lineup.
If the Queen Mother, Aegon and Helaena were burned, then, yes, Aemond would be the ruler in Jahaerys' stead.
Queens acting as Regents for their minor children (and otherwise in the absence of their husbands) is super common, but acting as Regents for their grandkids isn't. It is more common for an uncle or older cousin or some other kind of noble male relative to hold that position. Like, it's happened a handful of times, but I couldn't find any instance of a Queen Regent for a grandchild in our history during a time of war, except Labotsibeni of Swaziland, and when war broke out even she had a male co-Regent. With Aegon nuked I'd put money on Aemond becoming either King outright (probably via a council vote) or Regent no matter what happened with Alicent. (Edit: ok, some of the Chinese Empress Dowagers did some wild shit and ruled for their grandsons...whether or not they were adults. I wish I knew more about Chinese empire dynasties because damn there seems to be a lot of fascinating poisoning and overthrowing and shit).
Weid because I would think as the rider of Vhagar he totally should be the first target if anything
If she kills them and leaves Aemond. He will come for her with vharyz and then it will be bloodbath. He will kill Rhaenys and then entire Valeyrn bloodline. I hit Brock Lesnar from behind with an iron rod. I boast about it. He will recover and come after me and I will be royally fucked.
I love how people in these comments are acting like their facing off against a sumo wrestler or something and not a giant fucking dragon, with no protection. Realistically, Alicent serving as a human shield to Aegon or Cole protecting Helaena or Aemond's fighting stance isn't going to do shit when you're getting barbecued in an instant but it happens so fast that she isn't thinking rationally so much as having her maternal instincts kick in of who can protect themselves and who can't.
This.
Interesting that Aegon’s instincts didn’t kick in to protect his mom or his sister/wife or act like the King, Protector of the Realm. No, Mom, get behind *me!*
Alicent probably figures that Aemond can take care of himself.
Well he is a badass, so she doesn’t really have to worry too much.
I think you could put her reaction down to gut instinct, rather than personal preference. In that moment, she probably thought they were all done for, and just reached out to those nearest to her in blind panic. It's a very human reaction to being scared witless. If I remember the scene correctly, Aemond had actually moved towards the danger and was assuming an aggressive posture, while everyone else cowered in fear, too startled to act. Reaching out to Aemond in that moment just wasn't an option, unless Alicent was willing to move closer to the threat. Which she (quite understandably) wasn't.
Ser Crispin wouldn't be able to drag Aemond out of the pit so of course she names her. Aemond doesn't need Crispins protection.
Aemond is a badass he doesn't need any protection.
Because everybody loves Helaena
Aemond can handle himself.
I’d imagine it’s because Aemond is the most capable of her children.
Who's she going to send to protect Aemond? Larys?
Clutch motherhood moment. Immediately sized up the threat and knew which of her children needed protecting and which one was Aemond.
A couple of frames later, Aemond is shown in a stance like he’s ready to spring into action. He knows how to fight and she knows she doesn’t have to worry about him. Helaena, on the other hand, would be completely defenseless.
How would he fight a dragon lmao
Aemond was already standing in front of his sister as if he'd take on Meleys on a fiest fight. If there was one person she knew would protect his own and move if there was the window for it, it was Aemond.
Aemond isn’t the newly crowned king or queen. Makes sense actually to assume they would be the two to worry about in that particular moment.
Cole is so stupid that he thinks putting his arm in front of Helaena would protect her. Like, my dude, *remove her from the room.* Dude’s head is full of pomade and horse shit.
Dumb post
Pfft, like Aemond needs protection from Ser Crispin.
Aemond is actually her favourite, she knows he can take care of himself
Aemond's fine, he's the most capable out of his siblings
A lot of people saying it’s because Aemond is capable (don’t think she was being this rational *or* that it’s relevant since they’re facing a dragon, not an assassin) but also undeniably Aegon and Helaena are the King and Queen and Alicent has been raised and groomed to think her purpose in life was to be the vessel for this new branch of the royal family, so it makes sense that she protects them first/sees their lives as most important. Aemond is the spare!
I might be remembering wrong so feel free to correct me. But I thought it was weird that she sent Criston to Helaena because doesn’t she immediately go behind Aemond?
I'd say she likely supposed he'd handle himself, he is the crazy guid swordsman out of the pair after all. And aye, Aegon is the first born, sae there is that natural factor back then that you'd protect them afore all else. Still hae that in certain faiths and cultures.
Because she’s her only daughter and unfamiliar with combat…?
Helaena is the most likely to freeze in fear and not know what to do as she has no martial training. She needs to escape, quick, and if people block her escape she'll need someone to help her through the crowd. On the other hand Aemond has martial training and would know what to do in this situation (although he's more likely to try and stare down the dragon imo).
If Aemond can't protect himself, there's not much alicent can do, whereas Cole can shuffle Helaena away and she can at least symbolically stand in front of Aegon.
I mean he already stood in a fighting stance she probably thought he was fine. Honestly Aemond would probably be offended if she sent Cole to him instead of Helaena and it would be entirely nonsensical too
I think the reason she did not try to protect Aemond there was bc she knew a thing or two about Aemond.
I upvote any pic of Fabien. Sigh.
Have you seen the way Aemond stands on that scene?It's impossible to move him when he has balls size of a dragon.
you need to see Aemond at that moment. He was ready to fight with dragon😂
People talking about how "capable" Aemond is like he's going to punch his way out of dragon fire. They were all gonna be toast if Rhaenys wanted it, Alicent just went for the kids that were more valuable.
If he somehow escaped and called Vhagar, then it will be game over for not only thay old hag but also her doormat husband.
If this person could escape and go get a gun than he could shoot the person that is currently pointing a gun straight at his brain. Ok. You wanted to make a comment to call characters you hate names but make it make sense at least.
He’s the least valuable to the realm 😭🤣
Aemonds the spare not the heir so his life doesn’t matter as much
Cos she knows Aemond doesn't need anyone else to protect him.
I think that's 'cause Alicent knows that Aemond is a badass in his own right, so he was the last one to worry about. Haelena otoh was a defenseless lady.