It is well known that in Game of Thrones, brothels are just as likely to decide the fates of the kingdom as throne rooms. “The Burning Mill,” the third episode of House of the Dragon season 2, pulls back the curtain in this regard — literally, on stray blowjobs and several rooms of simultaneous bonking. But as Aemond unfurls himself at the end of episode 3’s brothel scene, the flash of penis is ancillary to the vibe shift in the room. And as he stalks out, still naked, it’s clear the power balance has shifted as well.
It starts where so many problems in King’s Landing do, with Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) drunk and trying to impress his boys. In an effort to get a new White Cloak laid, he’s brought a small group to the brothel where he swears he knows the best madam in the land — only to pull back the curtain on Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) snuggling with Madam Sylvi (Michelle Bonnard).
Aemond is like we’ve seen him before in Sylvi’s presence: naked, coiled like an infant and wrapped up in her arms, intimate. It’s a peace immediately punctured by the harsh, deprecating laughter of Aegon, who begins to taunt Aemond for such vulnerability and affection. As his cruel giggles pierce through the rest of the scene, Aemond withdraws from Sylvi, stands and turns, unthinking in his nakedness: “One whore is as good as another.”
It is exactly what Sylvi advised him last week to avoid, when she noted that a prince lashing out was more likely to harm commonfolk like her than a royal target. And indeed she’s right: The camera doesn’t linger on her reaction, but no doubt Aemond inviting other men as “welcome to her” as if she’s just an object isn’t going to be good for the closeness he found in her bosom.
But this scene, for better or worse, is about Aemond — his vulnerabilities, his impenetrability, his drive, his greater designs. Fire may not hurt a dragon, but a sibling’s taunting words can cut to the core. And, miraculously, the moment manages to be almost wordless. Mitchell plays Aemond’s withdrawal the way a snake draws back just before it rears up and bites back. Unlike Sylvi, he is able to do something about it, and “The Burning Mill” suggests he will.
Since he first secured Vhagar, Aemond was content to be a second son, all while aware that he was more formidable and equipped than his dunce of a brother. But the moment with Sylvi feels like a distinct turning point. Aemond has been a bit of a spring trap for the Greens at the outset of the war — the anime villain starting World War I, one of its best tacticians waiting (or resigned) to the wings. And yet, nothing has activated him. Even an assassination attempt left him content to nestle in Sylvi’s arms, talking a big game. Throughout it all, he has supported his brother, albeit through that pursed smirk. And yet now Aegon has wounded Aemond in a war between siblings in a way no civil war ever could.
On paper, the brothel scene reads like more of the Game of Thrones Special, nudity used as shock value to fluff up a scene that’s otherwise talky. But House of the Dragon, like Aemond, is onto a bigger game, seizing the opportunity to strip its characters down literally and metaphorically as it breaks down a war into its most basic parts: people making irrevocable decisions. It’s rare that dick shots so clearly read as tragic, and all the more remarkable that Aemond’s feels barely worth mentioning. In a moment of weakness, Aemond reared up and armored himself. We’ll see if Aegon has the balls to do the same.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO and Max.
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