A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 3 impressed most viewers with its storytelling, culminating in a big twist that revealed Egg’s secret identity.
The episode also firmly established Egg’s elder brother, Prince Aerion Targaryen, as the villain for the first season.
Despite the positive reception, fans are brutally roasting a major aspect of the episode. On social media, a post highlighting Aerion’s costume quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons. Fans were specifically unhappy with the upper part of the armor.
Highlights
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 3 introduced a new villain, but fans criticized one eyebrow-raising visual choice.
- A costume detail sparked viral jokes, with viewers arguing it looked like something that did not belong to Westeros.
- Despite the backlash and roasting, creators defended the design as intentional and symbolic.
“Looks like a Power Ranger villain,” one fan said.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fans react to Aerion Targaryen’s armor
Image credits: HBO
In episode 3, Aerion Targaryen, the eldest son of Maekar Targaryen, takes part in a jousting match, but his dishonorable actions quickly establish him as the story’s primary villain. During the battle, Aerion’s battle armor, which is modeled after a dragon, was on full display.
However, fans voiced their displeasure with Aerion’s armor on the social media platform X, criticizing the design for being impractical.
“I've enjoyed the show so far, but his armor is terrible,” one fan wrote.
Another said, “Definitely the weakest armor design in the entire show so far.”
Image credits: J0hnADouglas
Some viewers criticized the design for overexposing Aerion’s neck, deeming the armor unfit for jousting. Others felt the costume looked cheap and did not fit in with the other armors of Westeros.
“I hate seeing the exposed neck so much,” one viewer commented.
A second asked, “Why did jousting armor specifically leave the neck exposed?”
“The helmet looks so stupid. Especially the plastic-looking flame hair stuff on top,” a third person added.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms crew explains Aerion’s armor design
Image credits: Game of Thrones/YouTube
Despite criticism from fans, showrunner Ira Parker felt Aerion’s armor was “perfect.” In a behind-the-scenes look at the episode, Parker stated that the armor was designed to be “cold, intimidating, and dragonlike.”
Costume FX supervisor Simon Brindle shed additional light on designing Aerion’s armor. He shared that the outfit was rooted in real-world medieval history and based on lamellar, a type of body armor made from small rectangular plates.
Image credits: Game of Thrones/YouTube
Brindle revealed that Aerion’s armor was made from 400 individually patterned and cut lamellar panels. For the helmet, the creative team developed concept art based on every type of dragon, but ultimately settled on modeling it after a human face.
“We played with drawing every type of dragon head and found that actually the most terrifying thing is a human face,” Brindle said.
Finn Bennett opens up about playing a new Game of Thrones villain
Image credits: HBO
Actor Finn Bennett, who plays the Targaryen prince, was also pleased with the armor design, describing it as the “coolest” costume he’s ever worn on screen.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bennett reflected on playing a new villain in the fantasy franchise. The actor admitted that despite the “short-term catharsis” of playing an “angry and resentful” character, he was quite uncomfortable in the role.
He shared that portraying a bad guy often made him feel like he was “doing really bad acting.”
“You’re like, ‘God, I just feel like such a d*ck. It’s unjustified, I don’t feel like I’m believing in myself,’ and it’s like, well, maybe you’re just doing really bad things,” he added.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is currently streaming on HBO Max.