Aemond is definitely chasing Lucerys throughout the skies, but what happens next… actually might not be his fault. Lucerys, atop his younger and smaller dragon Arrax, is desperately trying to outpace Aemond and his giant legendary beast Vhagar, but both dragons stop obeying, and when Arrax sends a blast of fire towards Vhagar, the latter snaps — literally. With one great bite, Vhagar kills Arrax, as well as Lucerys, despite Aemond shouting at his dragon to listen to him.
According to writer and producer Sara Hess, Aemond did not intend to kill Lucerys, despite their past and the fact that, in the source material by George R.R. Martin, he definitely does. “We’re always interested in muddying the characters,” Hess told Vanity Fair. “Actually it’s a thing George says often: that he’s not about ‘good’ people or ‘bad’ people, just people who do both good and bad things.”
There’s no question, for Hess and the team behind “House of the Dragon,” that Aemond starts this fight due to his deep resentment towards Lucerys. “He gets on this giant beast and chases him down with absolutely cruel intentions, and things get out of hand, as they will when you’re angry and not making great decisions,” Hess revealed. “But it’s always been clear to Ryan [Condal] and me that Aemond isn’t a psychopath. He’s got a lot of pride and a lot of anger, but he’s still human. Frankly, I find it even more tragic if it’s a mistake than if it was calculated.”
Judge Aemond’s actions for yourself on the season 1 finale of House of the Dragon, which is streaming on HBO Max now.
