House of the Dragon star Ewan Mitchell says incestual kiss scene with his mother made him 'want to throw up'

It's been two days since THAT House of the Dragon scene - and fans still can't get over it.

For those who are saving the episode for a rainy day, or have been living under a rock, the Game of Thrones prequel series returned after two years for Season 3 on Sunday night (June 21).

Viewers sat down with their popcorn, but were left horrified with an incest kiss scene between Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke).

Mother Alicent was of course, shaken by the encounter, but not enough to pull away.

Like any TV show, fans ran to X, - with many of them expressing their disgust.

"This is definitely the most disturbing scene in House of the Dragon," said one, while another fuming fan simply penned: "That was f*****g gross and unnecessary."

Ewan Mitchell said the scene was a 'throw up in your mouth' moment (HBO)

It's not only fans who felt that way, however, as stars of the 'incestual scene', Mitchell and Cooke, have also spoken out.

Opening up about the controversial moment to PEOPLE, the actor said it 'kind of makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit'.

"Yeah, it's kind of shocking," he added. "But then also, I just recognized a tremendous challenge and an opportunity to show Aemond in a new light."

He also said Aemond's 'got a very skewed perception and a very strange way of showing love', due not being loved enough during his childhood.

Meanwhile, Cooke called her onscreen son 'f***ed'.

"I think it was quite odd for both of us," she added of the scene.

Cooke went on to say: "There has been this Oedipal undercurrent - unbeknownst to Alicent. And I think it's shocking."

The actress noted that the smooch is 'really dangerous, because he's a very dangerous person'.

"She knows that one wrong facial expression, one perceived rejection, will cost her her life. So she's trying to tread very, very carefully," Cooke said. "But I do think she's sort of stupefied in that moment."

Of course, show creators have seen the backlash, who hasn't?

Cooke called the kiss 'really dangerous' (HBO)

However, show runner Ryan Condal has defended the moment, explaining that it was meant to be read as a as a window into Aemond's damaged psychology.

"He's somebody that was traumatized at an early age by his brother by taking him to a brothel long before his brain could probably process what was happening," he explained.

Condal confirmed that Aemond was in fact, not in love with his mother. In fact, he's 'not able to separate the feelings that he has for her from these other male feelings that he experiences', due to his 'early trauma'.

He's not the only one, however, as Alicent also had a troubled upbringing, as she was groomed by her father in the show, and 'married off to a much older man at such an early age'.

Condal concluded by saying the kiss was Aemond 'assuming control of the family'.

It's probably not the weirdest thing to happen in the family however, Aemond's brother Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and sister Helaena (Phia Saban) being married with kids.

Who knows what will happen next week...

House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO.