House of the Dragon, season 2: Is Aegon II the new Joffrey?

Actor Tom Glynn-Carney responds and defends the new ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.

King’s Landing has seen its share of tyrants. But the one that especially marked the fans of Game Of Thrones, it is undeniably Joffrey, horrible sadistic offspring of Cersei. And season 2 of House of the Dragon begins with a vicious little blond Targaryen on the Iron Throne. A ruler too young to rule wisely and quickly intoxicated with power. But the actor Tom Glynn-Carney rejects the comparison:

“He’s a multi-faceted character. He’s not all darkness” confides to Première the actor of House of the Dragon, who plays Aegon II, Alicent’s eldest son. He even finds explanations for his odious behavior: “He’s a spoiled, rotten boy, full of insecurities. He’s a boy who needs to be loved. I actually tried, at times, to bring out his humanity because he’s not not just a bad guy… His problem is that he wants to be feared and loved at the same time. And that’s complicated.”

It is true that Joffrey seemed much more twisted, taking pleasure in the suffering of others. A real difference for Tom Glynn-Carney :

“I don’t think he’s the new King Joffrey. In any case, I don’t see him like that. Joffrey was a cold, calculating, even sadistic character. Jake Gleeson did a wonderful job of giving him those traits. Aegon is more complicated than that. He doesn’t want to be bad. He doesn’t like to do harm, but it’s the only way he knows to be respected, to not seem weak. does anything to show his authority and his power and that is how he intends to gain the respect of his subjects.”

Still, the character risks being hated quite quickly by fans. And when we know how Jake Gleeson was targeted personally after his fantastic performance in Game Of Thrones… “I don’t care what people say about Aegon or me.” assures us Tom Glynn-Carney, not worried about the fallout. “I don’t take things personally. On the contrary. I tell myself that it’s because they are very invested in the series and that’s basically a good thing.”

Season 2 of House of the Dragon is currently running on Max.