Aemond's Betrayal

I was on the main sub (it's basically TG sub 2.0 now), and saw a post about Aemond.

When looking at the comments, anyone who suggested that Aemond turning on Aegon was a natural progression of his character were being downvoted to oblivion.

OK, just wanted to preface that I am aware the writing wasn't perfect (which is a general consensus for all characters). Maybe a couple of more scenes could have helped set it up more. However, I still think they did adequately set up his resentment for Aegon from season 1. For crying out loud, he even had a whole speech on how he should be king in season 1. And was drilling into Aegon's head with a look of jealousy during the coronation scene. How much more obvious do they need to be for the foreshadowing?

Then there's the book. The only argument I have seen that they were close was because Aegon ordered a statue of Aemond. That can be interpreted as a tool of propaganda. Otherwise, at least for me, GRRM purposely never described them as close. I thought the Rook's Rest scene was odd with how he smashed into both Sunfyre and Meleys, seemingly not caring if Aegon got hurt. And how Aemond was described as the only one who came out unscathed, it felt like that line was written on purpose to make you question if something more sinister happened but was lost to history. Then that comment about how the crown looked better on him.

In the show, I actually interpreted the scene similar to the book - he was targeting Meleys and Rhaenys, but didn't care if Aegon got caught in the crossfire. Except the difference was that he burned Aegon.

Also, I know TG tries to say that it was dumb of him to take out another dragonrider on his team. First of all, Aemond was never a smart guy and has been shown to be impulsive. Him going after Luc in season 1 was an example of that. Secondly, how was he supposed to know that Rhaenyra would get commoners as new dragonriders, something no one has done before? And MOST IMPORTANTLY, do they forget that Sunfyre was finished either way? The poor baby was suffering and bleeding out, because his rider decided to go into battle drunk and try to fight against an experienced dragonrider. If anything, Aegon was more of a liability and I have a feeling Aemond would have asked Helaena to ride into battle either way, because of how incompetent Aegon is.

Anyway, I just want to know if I am the crazy one? I find it surprising that they were saying that his betrayal was shocking and came out of nowhere. Like were you watching the show with your eyes closed? Are you even more blind than Aemond's half blind ass?

And then the whole "it doesn't give him depth". I argue it does - it helps explain why he became power hungry in the book. And why he ultimately abandoned his family at King's Landing because he was always Team Aemond and his family never really gave him a reason to be loyal. Especially with what happened in the finale with Alicent betraying them and Helaena basically telling him he will die, but do nothing to change the future. If he remained the loyal attack dog they wanted, it would have been more out of character if he abandoned his family out of nowhere next season and refused to march with Criston Cole, and instead had that weird relationship with Alys (really curious how they will portray that in the show).

Ironically, I find he is one of the more consistent characters than Aegon. You give some vulnerable scenes and a sympathetic backstory to Aemond so that he isn't completely one dimensional, but he is ultimately still a bad guy. I like that more than making Aegon one dimensional in season 1, and then trying to reverse that through some sad sob story in season 2 that fell flat (at least for me, I know some people enjoyed his storyline, which is totally okay. Everyone have different preferences). I think this one of the few changes, if you can even call it that, that the writers made that make the most sense.

Anyway, just wanted to know if it's just me who thinks this didn't come out of nowhere like some TG fans claim.