House of the Dragon’s King Aegon is far more than just Joffrey 2.0

polygon.com:

The Game of Thrones TV universe has had its fair share of childish, petulant, fair-haired kings. And at first, House of the Dragon season 2’s addition to that lineup, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), seemed like he could end up just a slightly less evil rehash of Joffrey, like the series taking its foot off the gas and playing the hits. But in the first two episodes of the season, Aegon has already proven that there’s plenty to separate him from Game of Thrones’ greatest villain.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2. It also contains spoilers for Game of Thrones, if that’s somehow a concern for you.]

Joffrey is, by necessity, a pretty simple character. In season 2 of Game of Thrones, when he first really steps into power, the show is introducing half a dozen new factions and twice as many characters. Joffrey’s immature, cruel, violent, impulsive, and generally thoughtless in most of his actions. That isn’t to say his character is bad because it’s simple, just that he fills in a very necessary role. The season is a maelstrom of morally gray characters with Joffrey in the center to give the audience an anchor, like a measuring point to judge the comparative evil of every other king; when everyone else is morally complex, it helps to have a villain to orient ourselves around.

But like most of the characters in House of the Dragon, Aegon is far more nuanced than his closest Game of Thrones counterpart.

In his earliest moments this season, Aegon gets a similar setup. We see him at a small council meeting, acting like a brash child, pushing for war in an instant, furious that anyone would question his claim to the throne. But his humanity doesn’t take long to emerge. During his time seeing to the concerns of his lowborn subjects, it becomes clear that Aegon wants to be a good king. He tries to loosen the livestock tax on farmers, only to be told that it would cripple his dragons, and he clearly wants to give the smiths the money