House Of The Dragon's Olivia Cooke And Ewan Mitchell Are As Grossed-Out By That Premiere Kiss As You Are

This post contains spoilers from the Season 3 premiere of "House of the Dragon." Please proceed accordingly.

Targaryens gonna do what Targaryens gonna do.

During Sunday's "House of the Dragon" Season 3 premiere, Aemond Targaryen stayed true to his incestuous family's lineage by planting a romantic kiss on his mother, Alicent. Was the dowager queen, who'd been trying to cajole her son into leaving King's Landing, at all prepared for the smooch?

"F**k no!" Olivia Cooke, who plays Alicent, tells TVLine in the video above. 

In case you missed the episode, or need a quick refresh: Alicent returned from a clandestine meeting with Rhaenyra and learned that, while she was gone, Aegon had fled the Red Keep. So Aemond had assumed the Iron Throne, and therefore didn't plan to leave King's Landing to fight like Alicent expected he would. 

Given that Aemond's absence was key to the takeover pact Alicent had worked out with Rhaenyra, the Green queen realized she'd have to make that happen a different way. So she assured Aegon that it was natural to be scared of facing Daemon, but then promised him that he would persevere if he'd only fly to Harrenhal and confront Rhaenyra's uncle/husband.

"You are so courageous," she said, drawing near as she stroked his ego. Then he leaned down and, to Alicent's horror, put his lips on hers. She managed to school her features before he pulled back, though. And hey, at least by the end of the scene, he'd decided he would go to Harrenhal after all. (Read a full recap here, then check out our interview with the actor behind the episode's major fatality and our deep dive into a blink-and-you-missed-it hint in the premiere.)

"I don't know if any mother is expecting their son to have romantic feelings for them. It's so shocking," Cooke continues. "Sometimes I'm reading these scripts, and I'm like, 'What has [showrunner] Ryan [Condal] and [executive producer] Sara [Hess] got for me this season?!'"

Aemond's move, she continues, is "completely out of left field for Alicent, of course, and terrifying — because this man sits on top of the Iron Throne, and she has to tread very carefully from there on out."

Meanwhile, Ewan Mitchell would like everyone to know he is not on board with his character's actions. "I'm surprised Alicent didn't throw up in her mouth when it happened," he says, laughing. "I certainly did when I watched it."

Mitchell points out that Aemond has always been the Targaryen boy on the outs, going back to when he was bullied as a child for not having his own dragon. Therefore, "He has a very skewered perception of love, so to speak. He doesn't necessarily know how to show that, or show it to other people, and that's kind of what you see in that moment," the actor says. "Maybe it is sprinkled in with a bit of the Oedipus complex, and this striving that he has for always finding a maternal figure in his life."

He smiles. "But yeah, I think the way that Liv Cooke played it was just a masterclass... it's an absolute gift to be able to work with Liv Cooke."

Press PLAY on the video above to hear Cooke and Mitchell — as well as co-stars Fabien Frankel and Gayle Rankin — discuss the premiere, then hit the comments with your thoughts!