This piece contains spoilers for House of the Dragon.
The characters who inhabit the world of House of the Dragon are hardly bastions of good behavior, which makes them all the more fun to watch. It’s also blessed us with some iconic villains to add to the Game of Thrones canon. The war heating up — literally, thanks to the dragons — and there are only two episodes of the series left. So, as we head into the battlefield of the finale and penultimate episode, let’s rank the most villainous figures in House of the Dragon.
7. Alys Rivers
Yep, this newcomer is rising up the ranks of the House of the Dragon villains, but only because it seems like she’s plotting alongside Daemon and, like him, her agenda is decidedly murky. She’s clearly an impressive witch who is already manipulating one of the most powerful men in Westeros. And it looks like that’s for Daemon’s own good as after Daemon’s breakdown the head of the Tully Clan mysteriously passed away. The implication is that the witch of Haranhall has chosen to help Daemon, which puts her on the villainous side right now. Especially as Daemon has been committing war crimes and losing his mind as he attempts to supplant his wife Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) on the throne. Perhaps Alys will steer him in the right direction, but it feels more likely that she has her own agenda for messing with his mind and pushing him into the coming war.
6. King Aegon II
Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) was once one of the most feared figures in Westeros, especially to the young serving women that he assaulted and abused in the Red Keep. But after his brush with death at the hands of his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his dragon Vhagar, he’s struggling to survive and poses less of a threat than he previously did. Another reason that Aegon ended up at the low end of the list is, despite his cruelty and violence, he was also a loving father who has shown that he can be thoughtful about the common folk and members of the Kingdom throughout the series. He still makes it onto our villain scorecard, but feels unlikely to make any especially evil moves in the remainder of Season 2.
5. Otto Hightower
Sure, he’s out of the picture currently chilling in Old Town with his grandson Daeron but,with Aemond calling him back to act as his new hand, there’s a chance we could see the series’ original schemer, Otto (Rhys Ifans), return before the season finale. Ever since he manipulated his young daughter Alicent (Emily Carey) into being a child bride for a Viserys (Paddy Considine) — who was literally rotting from the inside out — it was clear he was a villainous man desperate for power. While Aegon’s friendship with Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) ended his role as hand for a little while, Aemond wanting him back in the picture changes things. We’re sure he’s ready to arrive and put paid to any forward movement the Black faction have made in his absence.
4. Daemon Targaryen
Since he stormed off to claim Harranhall, things haven’t been going well for Daemon. Yeah, he’s gained an army, but that’s thanks to literal war crimes. And while his friendship with the witchy Alys Rivers is proving a nice diversion, he’s generally going through hell in his haunted home. Even with all that, though, we had to include him on our ranking as his behavior has only been amplified by his new creepy home. Seeing as he already sent assassins after a literal baby, it feels unlikely that we’ll see him make another move that nefarious. But, if he really is planning to usurp his niece/wife — which seems likely — that’ll be up there with the most villainous things we’ve seen during any season of House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones.
3. Criston Cole
Yes, I did once say that Criston Cole was House of the Dragon’s biggest villain. But that was directly in the context of his role as Alicent’s lover and his recent promotion to Hand of the King. Alas, he has lost that cushy job and that even cushier bed thanks to his misguided loyalty to Aemond, who fired him this episode and basically told him to go and get killed on the battlefield. He still breaks the top three, however, as one of the slimiest, least trustworthy people on the show. His betrayal of Rhaenyra after she refused to run away with him set him up as Westeros’ nastiest lothario, especially when he has been playing paramour to Alicent in the decades since with no complaint. Now, though, he’s vulnerable, and he betrayed Alicent (Olivia Cooke) in order to support Aemond as regent. Expect to see some scheming coming into play here as he struggles to survive his supposed allies.
2. Larys Strong
The Machiavellian moves of Larys Strong put him in an impressive second place. While his scheming isn’t always subtle, it is for the most part effective. Whether he’s blackmailing Alicent with information in return for some foot fetish play to switching on a dime from loyalty to Aemond to Aegon depending on what serves him best, Larys is a survivor who’ll do anything to keep himself adjacent to power. With his newest plan — getting Aegon on side — in motion, it seems likely he’ll have a villainous role to play in the final two episodes. If you’re thinking that this quiet background player is ranked a little too high, then may we remind you that he killed members of his own family with zero remorse simply to move himself up the social ladder!!
1. Aemond Hightower
While he was more of a background player in Season 1, he did kill Luceyrs and his dragon while chasing his cousin down on his uncontrollably large beast, Vhagar. That giant red flag was enough to put him up there with the most legendary of House of the Dragon villains. Since then, he’s fried his own brother (adding to his Kinslayer reputation) and most recently was seen torturing his poor not-yet-dead brother in order to force him into silence. Plus, there’s the fact that he’s now essentially the King and if he gets Otto to join and advise him, he really could be the most powerful man in Westeros. So, yeah, when we’re going into the final couple of episodes we’re betting that Aemond is going to be the biggest of the bads. The question is… for how long?
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.
