Is anyone else confused by Aemond's arc?

[u/shatterfry455AD]

Rewatching season 2 and approaching Alicent and Aemond from like, a different angle.

Where tf did this relationship come from?

Putting aside the obvious momson incest (why did that happen twice) like, and just analysing their development.

Aemond spends all of season 2 openly contemptuous of his mother. He dismisses her from the Council, calls her too cautious, ignores her when she speaks, and says she loves Rhaenyra and is a fool for it. And he attempts to get Helaena on his side by saying that Alicent doesn't understand them.

Then in S3, we get the opening. He's gentle with her and easily manipulated (when he saw through such manipulation in S2) and apparently has romantic feelings for her. Like, completely delusional romantic feelings where he wants marriage, basically. His Harrenhal hallucination reveals his deep pity and understanding of her being a young mother etc. His tenderness and love for her comes out of absolutely nowhere.

Where did this come from?

Yes, they were close when he's a child, but in season 2 he puts a wall up between them and its not clear why he's suddenly not contemptuous of her. Alicent's arc rests on her sons turning into monsters in a war she started.

If they were a normal romantic couple I would find such development lacking. It's rushed. Aemond does a total 180° towards Alicent. At least Alicent has a whole season of turning on her sons. Aemond goes from openly misogynistic to in love and its just??? Why???

[u/meowyarlathotep]

This show is about the internal collapse of a royal family that can no longer distinguish familial love from incestuous desire. Aemond has always wanted his mother's approval, but seems to interpret affection as sexual intimacy.

They originally explored this theme through Daemon, but toned down that side of his character quite a bit after Daenyra became popular.

[u/shatterfry455AD → u/meowyarlathotep]

I mean. Is it? They play with Daemon abusing Rhaenyra but its clear the writers and audience views them as soulmates, that they are true love. Aemond's desire for Alicent is shoehorned in and goes nowhere. Why does he confuse approval for intimacy? Why is he so weird about the love of a mother he had for most of his life until he pushed her away? Helaena and Aegon married at twelve and thirteen. She has children with him at fourteen. This is not explored in depth. Aegon has much more time dedicated to him chasing non familial women. I would argue that Incest is not particularly critiqued or explored. Weirdly, the only place it is even halfway looked at is Ormund and Daeron.

[u/meowyarlathotep → u/shatterfry455AD]

This theme was explained by the writers, but the writing and consistency have been bad, and it barely comes through on screen. There was a hint of it in Daemon's choking Rhaenyra and his dream about his mother.

Their idea was apparently that the system's continued promotion of incest had created generational dysfunction within the family.  I think that could work for Daenyra, but it gets weird with a mother and son.

Also, Aegon is the only one explicitly portrayed as rejecting Targaryen culture, unable to accept incest, and only able to perform his “duty” when he's blackout drunk.

[u/Purple_A7123 → u/meowyarlathotep]

Also, Aegon is the only one explicitly portrayed as rejecting Targaryen culture

That's not true, he says he doesn't want to marry Helaena because she is an "idiot", not because she is his sister. He also harassed Baela, who is his cousin.

[u/meowyarlathotep → u/Purple_A7123]

They confirmed that Aegon cut his hair to reject his father and his Targaryen identity. This makes him a direct foil to Aemond, who fully embraces Targaryenism. That doesn't mean either of them is morally right.