House of the Dragon star says wild mom and son scene was 'just another day at the office'

If viewers thought the opening episode of House of the Dragon Season 3 was bad, episode 7 gave it a run for its money.

House of the Dragon fans were left open mouthed and hiding behind their pillows at the same time, as it first appeared that Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) was having intercourse with his on-screen mother, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).

However, it was later revealed it was actually a hallucination, and Aemond was, in fact, sleeping with his lover, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), although disturbingly, thinking about his mother.

It's not the first scene in the HBO series that's raised eyebrows between the two characters. Last month, when the Game of Thrones prequel returned for its third season after two years off screen, viewers were left horrified when the mother and son shared a kiss on the lips after a tense conversation.

HBO viewers were left in shock over the scene (Image: HBO)

Although Alicent looked freaked out, she didn't push Aemond away - giving her son an awkward smile as he stepped back - but the episode 7 scene seems to have gone even further, as Rankin opened up on what it was like to film between the three actors.

“It was very intimate and very odd but very professional,” Rankin told Variety. To minimize any awkwardness, Rankin revealed the actors tried to make jokes to keep it light hearted,' confirming that scenes like that are 'not easy'.

"They’re complicated and very technical," she added. "So it was also just like it was another day at the office for being like a very odd, f****d-up scene.”

As expected, the scene got extremely strong reactions on X, formerly known as Twitter. "This story already has a lot of incest, why they feel the need to add more is beyond me. I can accept incest shown for political purposes (still disgusting but makes sense) but the amount of extra incest added out of lust is really unnecessary," one wrote.

"Aemond getting turned on by his mother... I know incest is normal on this show but euuwwww," said another.

Aemond and Alicent previously shared a kiss (Image: HBO)

"I get that we’re watching a show where incest is the order of the day but Alicent and Aemond is taking it too damn far," wrote a third.

She's not the first actor to speak about filming 'awkward scenes'. Following the ending of episode one, Ewan Mitchell, who plays Aemond, spoke about what it was like to kiss his on-screen mother in the HBO series.

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

"It's quite a difficult pill to swallow, isn't it? Kissing your mom on the lips, especially in that way," he added.

Explaining why his character did what he did, or does what he does, Mitchell said his character 'never felt like he was loved enough by his mom and his family around him,' adding that 'it's what a kid needs to develop a balanced view of themselves'.

Rounding up the scene in one phrase, Mitchell called it 'skewed love'.