The truth is the fight itself was a messy event.

Still, the eye of a child seems like a high price for Alicent to request.

Related:What Happened to Laenor?

Alicent (Olivia Cooke) attacks Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) with a knife in ‘House of the Dragon’

Image via HBO

‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 7’s Ending Explained

Why Did Aemond Lose His Eye?

The truth is that Aemond knew thatVhagar was now riderlessand saw an opportunity.

He mounted Vhagar and claimed the dragon as his.

Leo Ashton as young Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon with one bloody eye

Image via HBO

Rhaena, in particular, takes this personally.

He got there first, and now Rhaena must live with that.

What comes next is where it starts to get messy.

house-of-the-dragon-steve-toussaint-shani-smethurst-eve-best-eva-ossei-gerning

Image via HBO

Rather than leaving it at the fact that Laena’s death left Vhagar free, Aemond took it further.

When Aemond tells her a pig would suit her, Rhaena loses her composer.

While Rhaena initiates the violence, Aemond did intentionally goad her into it.

House of the Dragon

When Rhaena shoves him, Aemond pushes her over.

Baela steps up to defend her sister, punching Aemond in the face.

Aemond retaliates and threatens to feed the girls to his dragon.

That’s when Jace jumps in.

They fight, but Aemond knocks Jace down.

Then Luke tries to defend his brother and gets a broken nose for his trouble.

The fight is four against one, but Aemond holds his own surprisingly well.

The others gang up on him, and eventually, Aemond takes it a step further.

The reality is that kids fight.

But this one goes too far when Aemond tries to choke Luke.

He finds a rock, ready to kill him.

When Aemond threatens once again to kill the others, he calls the boys bastards.

To Aemond’s surprise, Luke is unaware of the rumors, and Aemond takes the opportunity to gloat.

Jace is backed into a corner.

He draws a knife, whether he intends to protect his brother or defend his honor is unclear.

In the earlier fighting, he showed restraint in not using the knife.

But Aemond’s refusal to accept his win with any grace at all pushes Jace over the edge.

Once the knife is out, there is no turning back.

Aemond knocks Jace down again, and Luke retrieves the knife.

Aemond stands over Jace with a rock raised, but Jace throws dirt in his eyes.

Luke raises the knife and cuts Aemond.

Then the Kingsguard finally breaks it up.

Whose Fault Is It, Anyway?

The knife is small, and a slash to the skin would have healed.

Both sides went too far in the fight, and it’s hard to tell who initiated things.

Technically, Rhaena started the violence, but Aemond provoked her.

If left with wounds that would heal, the issue itself would be far less notable.

But as it is, someone has to be at fault.

There is blame to go around, but the bulk of it seems to be on Aemond.

But Aemond had the most opportunity to walk away.

He threatened to kill the others, and he was the first to reach for a weapon.

Like theconflict between their mothers, neither side is blameless.

These kids were always going to fight.

Their mothers' hatred for each other has seen to that.

She told Aegon (Ty Tennant) that Rhaenyra becoming queen would mean their lives would be in danger.

The kids picked up on all of that tension and take it out on the other family.

It started as bullying.

Even under supervision, Aegon happily attacks his nephew.

TheTargaryen family is so dividedthat these children think nothing of fighting each other.

Rhaenyra argues that Aemond calling her sons bastards was treason, so what could he expect?

Alicent demands Luke’s eye as recompense.Nothing can reconcile the two womenat this point.

Even with all the facts before them, Rhaenyra and Alicent would disagree.