It's already been clearly established that Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) is a strong contender for most dramatic character in House of the Dragon.
He's sinister, he's volatile, he has a cool leather eyepatch, and he clearly takes great delight in menacing the nephews who once bullied him for not having a dragon when he was younger.
In the finale, though, he takes things to a whole other level — and in doing so he may have revealed a small clue as to the direction the show is headed.
What happens with Aemond in the finale?
When we said he takes the drama to another level, we weren't exaggerating.
It starts when poor old Lucerys Velayron (Elliot Grihault) arrives at Storm's End to try and win support for his mother Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy), only to find Aemond has beaten him to it. Realising his mission is futile, Lucerys attempts to leave — only for Aemond to make a chilling demand.
"I want you to put out your eye, as payment for mine," he says, referring to the childhood fight they had back in episode 7 that resulted in Aemond losing his left eye.
At the same time he whips off his eye patch, and – in true dramatic Aemond fashion – reveals a gleaming blue sapphire where his eye used to be.
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Lucerys refuses and leaves, and in the mid-air dragon fight that follows (resulting in Lucerys' death), it's easy to temporarily forget the sapphire beneath Aemond's eye patch.
But rather than just being more of Aemond's usual flair, is it possible the stone holds a deeper meaning?
What does the sapphire mean?
First, let's address the dragon in the room — we've seen gleaming blue eyes like that before, haven't we? Obviously Aemond's is just a stone, but the similarity he now has to this guy can't only be a co-incidence:
Yep, that's the infamous Night King, one of the main antagonists in Game of Thrones. And although Aemond doesn't exactly look like him – he's not made of ice, for one – you have to admit his shiny new sapphire eye does bear a striking resemblance to those of Westeros' most infamous White Walker.
So assuming this isn't just an accident, what does it mean? Will there end up being some connection to Aemond and the land beyond the Wall?
Honestly, probably not. We doubt it'll be that literal. If we had to guess, though, we'd say that Aemond's sapphire eye serves two purposes: 1) To emphasise that Aemond is now a cold-hearted monster, capable of terrorising his younger relatives with minimal remorse, and 2) To draw even more attention to the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy that's been hanging over Season 1 like a shadow.
Viserys is obsessed with Aegon the Conqueror's dream of "a terrible winter" — so much so that he ends up accidentally starting a war by muttering about it on his death bed. The prophecy is mentioned again in the finale by Rhaenyra, who clearly hasn't forgotten her father's warning.
Clearly, the idea of a threat beyond the Wall will play at least some role in what's to come in House of the Dragon. Is it possible that Aemond's sapphire eye is there to intentionally remind us of the icy villains from Game of Thrones? Maybe even as a way of preparing us to see them again?
We'll have to wait for Season 2 to find out.
