Vhagar Had it So Tough, Fans Can't Help But Feel Sorry for Her
Killing Arrax and Lucerys is not even the worst thing Vhagar did, but nevertheless some House of the Dragon fans are now feeling oddly sympathetic.
Many people blame Vhagar for going rogue and killing Arrax and Lucerys, but in fact, her deed falls in line with her past.
Vhagar, who effectively became the largest living dragon in Westeros after Balerion's death, is predictably not the easiest dragon to control. If one takes into consideration King Viserys' words about how "controlling dragons is an illusion," then it's even more challenging.
Still, Aemond Targaryen believed he could do it when he claimed Vhagar after the death of her previous rider, Laena Velaryon.
In fact, it becomes quite clear why Vhagar went rogue if one looks closely at her past.
First of all, Vhagar is a battle-hardened dragon that actually conquered Westeros with Aegon the Conqueror, ridden at the time by Queen Visenya Targaryen. In the battle known as in the Field of Fire alone, Vhagar and her dragon siblings killed at least four thousand men by burning them alive.
Then, after Visenya's death, Vhagar burned the the Dornish fleet that attempted to invade the Stormlands in the Fourth Dornish War in 83 AC. For many years, she remained riderless before being claimed by Laena Velaryon.
But their story also headed to a gloomy end, as Laena ended up approaching Vhagar and ordering her to burn her alive amid her troubled labor. Initially, Vhagar was reluctant to do it, but we know that dragons share the pain and other feelings of their riders, so she ended up obeying.
With such a tumultuous past filled with different riders' pain and troubles (and sprinkled with some war crimes), Vhagar sure does have some emotional baggage on her – so much that some House of the Dragon fans actually feel just that bit sorry for her, saying that "she's old and fought enough to be retired," not going through some more violence.
However, with all that centuries-old violence in mind, it's only natural for Vhagar to fall under the influence of her new rider Aemond's rage toward Lucerys.
Still, what's done is done: Vhagar's disobedience fueled by Aemond's hidden anger at Lucerys basically resulted in tragedy as she tore Rhaenyra's son and his dragon apart. If anything, that was the casus belli Rhaenyra lacked to ditch her last attempts at peacemaking.
Season 2 of House of the Dragon is due to start filming in early 2023, with the premiere date to be scheduled by HBO Max later.