The Seven Kingdoms have a new king – Aegon II Targaryen, thanks to the ninth episode of House of the Dragon (HOTD). But as the series showcased in its episodes so far, Aegon was not all excited for the crown or the Iron Throne. However, he ultimately accepts it and becomes the king. So why was he so reluctant on becoming the king and what changed his mind, let’s find out.

Childhood

Aegon is the eldest son of King Viserys Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower. He has three younger siblings – Aemond (brother), Halaena (sister), and Daeron (brother). As per Targaryen’s culture of keeping their bloodlines pure, he marries his own sister, Halaena, and fathers three children – Jahaerys, Jahaera, and Maelor (yet to be born in series). When he was born, King Viserys loved him a lot. On his second nameday, Viserys along with his soldiers and family went out for a hunt. During the hunt, Viserys tries to hunt for a White Hart, a rare animal that is considered “a regal portend for Prince Aegon’s name day” if hunted. But, his men manage to capture just a normal stag, which the king then kills.

Prior to Viserys’s marriage to Alicent, he had already declared Rhaenyra (his daughter from his first wife, Aemma Targaryen) to be his heir, as he had no other male heir. However, as soon as Aegon is born from his second wife, every house and kingdom starts rooting for him to become Viserys’s successor instead. This puts Viserys in a very difficult position. Otto, the Hand of the king, goes so far as to suggest Rhaenyra’s marriage to the infant Aegon. Viserys angrily shrugs him off. This, in turn, grows into a permanent rift between Rhaneyra and Alicent.

Irresponsible and Carefree behavior

Once an adult, Aegon grows into an irresponsible and wicked boy. Along with his brother Aegon, they humiliate his cousin brother – Lucaerys (second son of Rhaenyra) for not having a dragon of his own. Growing up further, he starts misusing his ‘Prince’ status by sexually offending many handmaidens of the castle and goes so far as to masturbate from his room’s window. He even starts drinking a lot, as that is the only thing he seemed to be doing during Laena Velaryon’s funeral at Driftmark.

All along Aegon seemed to have been enjoying this life of having no responsibilities. He never bothers to participate in council matters, learn the history of his ancestors or Westeros (as opposed to Rhaenyra’s Jacaerys), work on his fighting skills, or show his abilities to become a future king in any form. This greatly worried his mother Alicent Hightower as well as his grandfather Otto Hightower. In one instance, Aegon says that if it comes to it, he would not challenge the throne from his aunt Rhaenyra.

Father’s lack of affection

With Viserys always being firm on his decision of Rhaenyra being his heir and not Aegon, Aegon starts feeling that his father does not find him suitable enough for the throne. Viserys did love him very much when he was born, after all, he finally had a son after so much waiting. But with time, with the birth of his siblings, his growing leprosy, increasing turmoils between Alicent and Rhaenyra and their children, his drinking, and continuous whispers of naming Aegon his successor, somehow drifted Viserys from Aegon. Aegon started feeling unloved by his father.

That is why after the death of King Viserys, the Peaceful, Aegon hid in Sept. When his brother, Aemond, found him, Aegon asks him to get him a ship and he would sail afar, leaving all of this behind, as he loved that free life. He tells his brother, “Let me go! I have no wish to rule! No taste for duty! I’m not suited. You’ll get no argument from me. You let me go, I will find a ship and sail away, never to be found.”

Change of Mind

However, when Alicent tells him that Viserys has wished him to be his successor before his death, Aegon does not believe his mother. He tells his mother, “And my father never wanted this. He had 20 years to name me heir and never did. Steadfastly, he upheld Rhaenyra’s claim.” Alicent confronts him by saying that Viserys did change his mind before his death. Aegon to this says, “He could have, but he never did because he didn’t like me.” This shows how broken he was by his father’s behavior toward him. Alicent later confronts his son by saying that, his father did love him.

Alicent even makes him understand that once he becomes the king, he “must not rule with cruelty with callousness.” However, once crowned, Aegon seems to have been enjoying it. When Alicent gives him the Velarion dagger and when he enters Dragonpit for the coronation, he realizes all the prowess that the Kingship shall bring to him. Finally, he can have all the power, attention, and free will that he so long felt deprived of.

What kind of ruler he will eventually become, is left to be seen in future episodes. But with a king having such a greyish and gloomy past, the future of the kingdom he rules may not be a cheerful one.