Lucerys Murder Was Aemond's Fault By All Accounts
Don't rush to Aemond's defense.
The House of the Dragon finale was an extravaganza of tragic mistakes, with the biggest one undoubtedly being Aemond chasing Lucerys and Arrax on Vhagar.
Aemond, who rides the biggest and by far the scariest dragon in all Westeros, does not seem to properly realize the responsibilities that come with Vhagar. Over the course of the season, Alicent's youngest son touted himself as someone who studies hard and practices enough to be a decent heir to the throne.
However, he fails to properly control Vhagar, and she ends up tearing Lucerys and Arrax apart, effectively kickstarting the violent war between Greens and Blacks — the two factions of the Targaryen house who clashed over the succession issue.
Despite the fact that Aemond clearly did not intend to kill Lucerys, fans are not ready to just acquit him of all responsibility. Vhagar's behavior and its consequences are entirely for Aemond to face, because he apparently did not pay enough attention to training his dragon, being overly self-confident and willing to show off.
Many people argued that it was about Vhagar simply being uncontrollable, and that the incident could not have been prevented. But some fans beg to differ.
"I think it's a mistake to say the Vhagar couldn't be controlled. Laena had him blowing fun little fire clouds for Daemon and Caraxes to fly through as a joke," Twitter user _aaronmiles argued, adding that Aemond simply "sucks" as a dragon-rider.
Indeed, Vhagar's previous rider, Laena Velaryon, appeared to be a lot better in controlling dragons than Aemond. When she and Vhagar were flying with Daemon and Caraxes, Vhagar did not seem as aggressive as she was in a clash between Aemond and Lucerys.
"Dragons take on the emotional state of their riders. Vhaegar reacted the way she did because Aemond had volatile intentions/negative emotions at the time of the chase. Arrax, as a defense due to Luke's fear and anxiety chose to strike and it triggered Vhaegar who is a war dragon," another Twitter user added.
Vhagar is not a villain, fans argued, but she was simply reflecting the way Aemond felt — and since he wasn't able to control his emotions, this resulted in a tragedy.
"It's not only that: [Vhagar] knows [Lucerys] maimed her rider (a pity her reaction was cut). this was a traumatic event for her too. She FELT his pain and emotions over that day. A week after she lost her previous rider," Twitter user th_ess said.
Basically, it means that Aemond hardly has anything that could shield him from being responsible for what happened to Lucerys. No matter his initial intentions, the tragedy basically made the Dance of the Dragons inevitable — and we are about to witness the explosive consequences in season 2.
The first season is available for streaming on HBO Max. Season 2 will start filming in early 2023, and the premiere date is to be announced later.