Aemond's Horrific Decision in HotD Finale Doesn't Make Sense At All
After all, isn't he the smart one in the family?
Warning: the following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon episode 10
The House of the Dragon finale turned out to be predictably dramatic, but certainly the highlight of the tenth episode was the "battle" between Aemond Targaryen and Lucerys Velaryon.
To be fair, it would be a stretch to call it "a battle", because long before the episode premiered, fans preferred to dub it "cold-blooded murder" by Aemond. Riding the biggest and most fearsome dragon in Westeros, Aemond could not have been unaware that Lucerys and his small dragon Arrax are no equal rivals.
Still, the youngest son of Alicent Hightower attacked Lucerys and Arrax, and the outcome was predictable: naturally, Vhagar ended up destroying both Lucerys and Arrax. Moreover, judging by Aemond's reaction, this outcome was not exactly what he was hoping for (although what else did he expect?).
"You get on your 50 foot long dragon to intimidate and scare your tiny cousin, that cousin *might* just *might* wind up dead. I was expecting something way softer from the way people were describing it," Reddit user SAldrius argued.
Yes, unlike in the books, Aemond did not directly intend to kill Lucerys, but people still think that he is to blame — not only for the boy's death but also for how ugly things turned after that.
"Definitely not blameless – his [Aemond's] arrogance, recklessness and pride caused Luke's death. None of the other three participants could be blamed much at all. Luke did nothing wrong, Arrax was absolutely terrified of being chased by Godzilla, and Vhagar got a dose of fire in the face from a much younger dragon. Aemond put all of them in that situation, wrongly believing that he was in control," Redditor Fit-Meet1359 said.
Why even do such a thing if you know what the possible repercussions are, fans wonder? No answer here, but the aftermath is to be handled by virtually all House of the Dragon characters in the seasons to follow.
The premiere date of House of the Dragon season 2 is yet to be announced, but HBO has already confirmed that the show has been greenlit for a second installment, coming, most likely, in 2024.