As we move closer to the final episode of House of the Dragon season 1, fans are developing all sorts of bizarre theories. First many suggested that Daemon Targaryen was the Night King. Then there was a stir around King Viserys being a White Walker. Now that those theories were shut down, a new theory regarding Aemond Targaryen as the Night King has surfaced.
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Aemond Targaryen is the second-born son of Alicent Hightower and King Viserys who lost his eye during a brawl with his nephew over the ancient dragon Vhagar.
An Expert Swordsman with a Powerful Dragon
As the last in line to succeed Viserys and with a conflict brewing between his siblings, there was no chance that Aemond would ever be able to claim the Iron Throne as his own. With nothing waiting for him in that department, he decided to train and develop his skills with a sword. As he grew older he got better and he was eventually able to defeat even Ser Criston Cole (a skilled warrior in his own right and a member of the Kingsguard who was once close to Rhaenyra).
He became the fiercest and most dangerous of all his siblings, laying waste to anyone that would dare cross swords with him. His skills and ability to command an army became a great asset to the greens during the Dance of the Dragons and even matched that of his uncle Daemon.
With Vhagar at his side, there were very few who could challenge him and come out of it alive.
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Why Aemond Targaryen Could Never Be the Night King (Spoilers!)
The most prominent reason for this is that the timeline between the two characters does not line up. The Children of the Forest had created the Night King and his White Walkers almost 8000 years before Prince Aemond was even born. In fact, the Night King was around before Aegon I Targaryen conquered Westeros.
Another reason fans can be sure that Aemond Targaryen is not the Night King is that his body had been found after the Dance of the Dragons. In the book, Aemond meets his end at the hands of his uncle Daemon after Rhaenyra sends him out to take care of her brother, who has been burning the Riverlands with the help of Vhagar.
Daemon sets out on Caraxes, his fierce and quick red dragon, and soon finds Aemond, which leads to a clash between the two Targaryens and their dragons over Gods Eye Lake. During their battle Caraxes manages to outmaneuver the larger dragon and grabs her around the neck (though he does sustain his own fatal injuries in the process).
Together the four of them plummeted into the lake, Caraxes the only one who managed to survive long enough to swim to the shore before succumbing to his wounds. It was only a couple of years after the battle that Vhagar and Aemond were found.
As entertaining as the fan theories are, it is extremely unlikely for Aemond Targaryen to become the Night King (especially since it is customary for Targaryens to bury their relatives with dragon’s fire).
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Could the Night King Be a Targaryen?
The Night King quickly established himself as a formidable foe during his reign of terror in Game of Thrones, and fans saw a lot of their favourite characters die at his hand, including one of Daenerys Targaryen’s beloved dragons, Viserion.
An Ancient Targaryen Ancestor?
There were many things about the Night King that pointed towards him being an ancestor of the beloved Mother of Dragons and fans became suspicious about his origins and who he really was beneath the frosted flesh.
After Viserion falls, the Night King raises him back from the dead and mounts the dragon, using him to head his army and go up against Daenerys and Jon in the sky. Given that dragons have only ever answered to those with Targaryen blood, his skills with dragon riding, despite never having prior practice with it, were phenomenal, but fan theories can quickly be explained away.
The undead Viserion, just like every other creature under the Night King, was a servant to him and would thus obey every command, no Targaryen blood needed.
As for his ability to survive fire, similar to the way Daenerys is able to do, the Night King is seen to possess ice magic, which we see in his ice weapons and his ability to create blizzards. It doesn’t seem like it would take much for him to use his control over the cold and ice to protect him from the fiery breath of Daenerys’ dragons.
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The Origins of the Night King
We have no idea who he was before he was turned into the Night King, but we can be sure that he wasn’t a Targaryen. During the Children of the Forest’s conflict against the First Men (which they were losing) they created the first White Walker from one of the First Men they had captured. Whether he was nobility or a random soldier, we are unsure. All we know is that he didn’t want to be the Night King.
The Children of the Forest tied him to a tree and used dragonglass to transform him into the frosted-over form the people of Westeros know now. This ultimately failed for the Children of the Forest when the Night King took over as leader of the White Walkers.
All this took place almost 8000 years before the Targaryens ventured anywhere near Westeros. They were happily living in Valyria before it fell, so it’s not possible for The Night King to be related to them in any way.
While it would have been an interesting link to bring into the story of Game of Thrones and brought on a new twist for Daenerys, I think fans are happy that the Night King has no relation to the Targaryens or their dragon riding. The last thing the people of Westeros needed was an undead ice zombie trying to claim the Iron Throne for himself.
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…the Targaryens came to Westeros way after the first men. This article is silly.
nope
Erm Game of Thrones already shows you who the night king was. Hes a first man from 8000 years before. This isnt a theory it’s just moronic.
This is dumb, aemond is no night king… the night king was created before aemond was swimming around as a tadpole… The night king is of the First Men race. The End.
Here’s my new rule. If you haven’t read the novels, stop talking. The show never knew what it wanted to be. It’s juvenile. There is no Night King.
Aemond Has 1 eye and the night king has 2.
They can’t be fans of the shows if they are coming up with these lame theories.