House of the Dragon fans left with ‘second-hand embarrassment’ after watching ‘painful’ moment in new episode

Warning: Contains spoilers for House of the Dragon: Season 2, Episode 4.

House of the Dragon fans have been left cringing over an awkward moment in the latest episode as King Aegon learned he was being left out by his own council.

Viewers were gripped by the latest episode of HOTD - potentially the most intense episode so far, as Aemond and Vhagar wreaked havoc in an epic dragon sequence.

But it wasn't all dragons and fighting, as the episode also proved to be a notably embarrassing one for King Aegon Targaryen, played by Tom Glynn-Carney.

During a meeting of his Small Council, Aegon learned Aemond and Ser Criston Cole had been coordinating the war effort without him.

Desperate to take back control, he tried to prevent the attack against the castle on Rook's Rest for favor of taking Harrenhal from Daemon Targaryen - only to be shot down by Aemond.

Making sure no one else would understand them, Aemond spoke to his brother in clear and fluent High Valyrian.

It wasn't a good episode for Aegon. (HBO)

It was in the midst of this grab for power that Aegon uttered the line that caused viewers' toes to curl: "I can have to... make a... war?"

The sentence is one that wouldn't sound out of place coming from a vengeful toddler who's just had their favorite toy taken from them, and as a result, Aemond mocked his brother, making clear he was the one actually having an impact.

Aegon's efforts to respond in High Valyrian resulted in a lot of second-hand embarrassment from viewers, with many taking to Reddit afterwards to try and cope with the moment.

"Me in school Spanish class," one person joked as they shared a meme of Aegon's words, while another wrote: "I had 2nd hand embarrassment from that scene ngl [sic]."

Many viewers also pointed out how Aegon's stilted sentence was an indication that he's not really cut out to be a king.

Aegon's attempts at High Valyrian left people cringing. (HBO)

Sharing their thoughts on the scene, one fan wrote: "The contempt that Aemond shows him with his crisp smooth Valyrian while Aegon stutters out a jumbled mess.

"Aegon was never prepared for this, and this may be the biggest damnation on Otto’s plans since we know he wanted this from the outset, they did not prepare the heir supplantant at all."

Another viewer agreed, writing: "I like how Aegon understood that he's clearly underqualified for the job."

Aegon didn't make things much better for himself when he ran to his mom to tell her that his council wouldn't 'listen' - a move which led to her putting him in his place yet again.

“Do you think wearing the crown suddenly imbues you with wisdom?” she asked him.

Ouch. Best to him to lay low for a while I'd say.