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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ New Targaryen Villain Explained by Actor: “He’s Embarrassed by the State of House Targaryen”
From Viserys Targaryen in Game of Thrones to Aemond Targaryen (and many others) in House of the Dragon, HBO’s fantasy franchise has no shortage of members of the powerful family who are capable of real cruelty. And from King Aerys II Targaryen to the aforementioned Viserys and even Daenerys Targaryen in Season 8, there are those touched by madness as well. Fire and blood isn’t just a saying, they’re words to live by, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has introduced the saga’s latest Targaryen villain, Prince Aerion.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has cast Finn Bennett as the character (he debuts in Episode 2), who is the son of Prince Maekar and the primary antagonist of Season 1, which adapts George R.R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight. Aerion is someone who is, like Viserys (the one from Game of Thrones) callous, vicious, and arrogant, calling to mind not only other Targaryens, but also villains like Joffrey Baratheon as well.
In a roundtable interview that included ComicBook‘s Chris Killian, Bennett spoke about his approach to the character, how he tried to find the humanity within him, and whether he was inspired by any other Targaryen actors, saying:
“I think [Aerion] feels embarrassed by the state House Targaryen is in, they’ve kind of lost a grasp on power and he thinks it’s time for them to be taken more seriously. And then there’s a Peter Claffey-sized spanner in the works.”
“I think he really feels the weight and lineage of House Targaryen. It’s impossible to watch Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon and those great performances without wanting to take away aspects from it. But when you do get cast you think ‘what can I do to make this original? What can I find that I can leave my mark on this?’”
Aerion Targaryen Is Exactly The Villain A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Needs
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a show with much smaller stakes than Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, and a main character of far less noble birth in Dunk. He’s from the slums of Flea Bottom, but that’s exactly what makes Aerion the perfect villain for the series, as he’s the exact opposite. Where Dunk is good-natured, decent, and true, Aerion is ill-tempered, wicked, and a liar. He’s a great example of why the saying “Every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land” exists, contrasted with Dunk striving to uphold the honor and valor of a real knight.
There’s also an interesting juxtaposition in why both characters are at Ashford Meadow. Dunk is there to prove himself as a knight, while Maekar wants Aerion and his other sons to prove themselves better than the son of his brother, Prince Baelor (who is heir to the Iron Throne). That’s ostensibly the idea, and where Dunk acts as he thinks a knight should, Aerion acts as he thinks a Targaryen should: that is, someone who is far above the others, and above this tourney.
Bennett’s comments on his being embarrassed by the state of House Targaryen are interesting and make perfect sense: they don’t have dragons, and in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ timeline, they’re only just over a decade removed from a rebellion that hinted at their fallibility. The purpose of being at Ashford is to remind the realm of who the Targaryens are, and Aerion is doing that in his own deranged way, making him the latest in a long line of fascinating Westeros villains.
New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms release Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.
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