House of the Dragon Digs Itself Major Plot Hole by Not Addressing This Issue
Aemond is still yet to pay for his crime.
While no one really expected House of the Dragon to keep its characters safe and sound after the way Game of Thrones killed off half its cast, many viewers were still shocked by the gruesome season 1 finale that captured the death of young Prince Lucerys Velaryon at the hands of his uncle, Prince Aemond Targaryen.
Of course, the death was accidental, but the haunting chase that preceded it was not. Planned or not, Aemond must have known about the nature and power of his dragon but chose to ignore it to satisfy his ego. However, viewers have yet to see him face any consequences for his actions.
Why Was Aemond Named the Kinslayer?
One of the greatest and most despised crimes in Westeros is the murder of a member of one's own family, also known as kinslaying. There are several examples of this crime in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, as well as in its screen adaptation, Game of Thrones.
The concept is not new, but House of the Dragon seems to bend it to benefit one side of the war and not the other. After the horrific events of Blood and Cheese and the death of Prince Jaehaerys, Team Green was quick to make a spectacle of it and get the attention of the smallfolk by naming Rhaenyra the Cruel and making her a Kinslayer.
However, Prince Aemond Targaryen, who ended Lucerys' life, continues to roam the lands of Westeros. Not only that, but he is hardly looked down upon in the castle, with Otto Hightower calling the murder 'the caprice of youth' and King Aegon welcoming his brother back as if nothing had happened.
On the one hand, this perfectly illustrates the hypocrisy of Team Green and the way they are willing to bend the rules and morals they claim to uphold as long as it benefits them. On the other hand, it creates a major plot hole, as Aemond never faces the consequences of his actions, neither from his family nor from the commoners.
The people, either blind or simply unaware of his crime, let Luke's murder slide, but now make it twice as hard for Rhaenyra to support her claim. If this storyline doesn't return in future episodes, it risks becoming one of the show's most annoying dropped arcs.
To see how House of the Dragon will deal with Aemond the Kinslayer in the future, be sure to tune in to HBO or Max every Sunday to avoid missing another episode.