House of the Dragon: Aemond Targaryen did not have a dragon as his dragon egg reportedly did not hatch, meaning that his only option was to bond with one.
House of the Dragon is the HBO Max hit prequel to the television classic Game of Thrones. Set 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones, the series is focused on the Targaryens, their rule over Westeros, and their internal battles for power.
Season six introduced us to the second generation of the Targaryen clan after a 10-year jump from the events of episode one to five.
In particular, two of the second generation Targaryens did not have dragons, including Visery and Alicent’s youngest son, Aemond, whose dragon egg did not hatch, which meant that he had to bond with a live dragon to have one.
What book is House of the Dragon based on?
As with Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is based on one of the bestselling books written by acclaimed author, George R.R Martin.
This time the book that inspired the prequel series is Fire and Blood, a fitting title, considering that the book is premised on the heritage and subsequent decline in the Targaryens’ power, who ruled due to their control of dragons.
The book was released in 2018, and those that have read it have an inkling of the direction that the series will take.
House of the Dragon: Why did Aemond not have a dragon?
In order to understand why Aemond Targaryen does not have a dragon, it is important that you understand how each Targaryen comes to have one.
At the announcement of each child’s expectation, they are given an egg. This egg is gifted, and it stays with the baby in the crib in the hopes that it will hatch and grow up with the child that it is meant to bond with.
However, a dragon egg hatching is never guaranteed, or in some cases, it could even take years. This was seemingly the case for young Aemond, who was bullied by his older brother and cousins for being the only one amongst them without a dragon.
This was a sore point for Aemond, which drove him to extreme measures in the most recent episode of the series, episode seven of season one.
This is as Aemond was determined to bond with the oldest and biggest dragon at the time Vhagar out of desperation.
He snuck into the dragon’s lair and bonded with Vhagar, who was meant to be gifted to Laena Velaryon’s youngest daughter after she had mourned the passing of her mother who experienced complications during her birth.
But Aemond, desperate to have a dragon bonded with Vhagar, gave rise to one of the most suspenseful and compelling sequences as viewers watched the young, introverted child turn into a bold, confident, and ruthless version of himself.
This change was completed with the loss of his eye after it was discovered what he had done upon his return.
How did Aemond get a dragon in Fire and Blood?
Television series that are based on books are expected to take subtle liberties in its storytelling to make for a more action-charged narrative as books tend to be emotionally charged.
As such, there is a much darker version of the narrative of how Aemond bonds with Vhagar in the books.
Instead of the treachery in the series, the story is actually touching as it involved his father, King Viserys, offering Aemond the chance to take an egg or a young dragon for himself on a trip to Dragonstone, and him choosing Vhagar.
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Why did Rhaena not have a dragon?
Rhaena Targaryen was the second of the young Targaryens who did not have a dragon. Similarly to Aemond, Rhaena was given a dragon egg as a baby. However, her egg, too, did not hatch.
This was evident in episode six of the series, when Rhaena was seen holding up a dragon egg to the fireplace waiting for it to hatch when Laena walked in and told her how she only bonded with Vhagar in her teens.
Rhaena believed this story would be her own if it were not for Aemond interceding and bonding with Vhagar first.
Did Rhaena get a dragon?
While it has yet to happen in House of Dragon, in the books, Rhaena, who, as a young adult, enjoys the praises that she gets for her beauty, eventually does get a dragon.
This is after three of the eggs that she has eventually hatch and she names one Morning. Following Morning’s hatching, not much is known what happened to her other two eggs.