Aemond Targaryen kissed Alicent Hightower in the “House of the Dragon” Season 3 premiere, creating a tense Team Green scene between Ewan Mitchell and Olivia Cooke’s characters.
The scene showed Alicent standing stiffly after Aemond kissed her on the lips. The episode framed her reaction as uncomfortable, with Alicent giving him a tense smile afterwards.
The moment came as Alicent tried to convince Aemond to leave King’s Landing and fly his dragon to Harrenhal. She told him he should have been born first so he could have been king.
Alicent was trying to salvage her secret agreement with Rhaenyra Targaryen. Under that plan, Alicent would open King’s Landing’s gates so Rhaenyra could take the Iron Throne without more bloodshed.
ALICENT AND AEMOND KISSED IN THE HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 3 WTF???
This can't be in books, right and also she's technically a hightower not Targaryen so how does this work wtf is going on here 😭😭😭#HouseoftheDragon #HOTD pic.twitter.com/esm1PRA73j
— Hakuna Matata (@Abhi48441070) June 22, 2026
The plan was weakened after King Aegon went missing. Aemond then became the de facto ruler of Team Green, making Alicent’s arrangement with Rhaenyra harder to carry out.
The episode also placed the scene within House Targaryen’s long history of incest. Aegon and Helaena are married siblings, while Rhaenyra is married to her uncle, Daemon Targaryen.
Read: Rhaena Targaryen Claims Sheepstealer in HBO Twist
Parent-child incest remains taboo even within the Targaryen family. Alicent also married into House Targaryen and did not grow up with its customs.
“House of the Dragon” is set more than 100 years before “Game of Thrones.” The HBO series follows the Targaryen civil war between Rhaenyra’s Team Black and Alicent’s Team Green.