Vhagar disobeys Aemond in their fight against Lucerys and Arrax, because although they have a bond, Aemond does not control the dragon’s actions.
The first season of House of the Dragon introduced many new characters and exposed the growing tensions between the Targaryens.
This first season has also given viewers some insight into the Targaryens’ relationships with their dragons. This helps viewers understand why Vhagar could disobey Aemond so easily, because he does not control her actions.
What has happened leading up to the finale of the first season?
The first season of House of the Dragon certainly had a lot of expectations to live up to, but the show’s creators seem to have done this competently by following the story as it is laid out in the Fire and Blood novel written by George R. R. Martin.
The first season of the show has to cover a lot of ground by introducing their audience to a new version of Westeros and a new cast of characters, while also simultaneously getting viewers invested in the power struggle between the members of the House of Targaryen and the building tensions after King Viserys’s death.
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House of the Dragon: Why did Vhagar disobey Aemond?
Another aspect in the House of the Dragon series that has really helped to set the series apart from Game of Thrones and that has also allowed the show’s creators to bring in more of the lore and history of Westeros in the show is the focus that is placed on the dragons.
In Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen was really the only character with a direct connection to her dragons, but since most of the dragons and the Targaryens were gone by the time that Game of Thrones took place, the show did not delve too deeply into the nature of these beasts.
However, even from the beginning of House of the Dragon, it is clear that although the Targaryens are able to form close relationships with their dragons and ride them or use them as weapons in some situations, the dragons are still wild creatures with their own wills and they are not under the Targaryens’ control.
This idea is reinforced when Viserys tells Rhaenyra that the idea that people have that the Targaryens control the dragons is an illusion.
This is important to know because it is the best explanation for why Vhagar would disobey Aemond in the middle of his fight with Lucerys and his dragon, Arrax.
The reality is that Vhagar is an extremely old and battle-hardened dragon that only goes along with what her inexperienced rider, Aemond, says when she wants to.
However, when Arrax acts out in disrespect, Vhagar’s true nature as a dragon comes out and she retaliates viciously.
How does the bond between the dragons and their riders work in House of the Dragon?
Although House of the Dragon makes it clear from the beginning that the Targaryens do not have control over the dragons’ actions as much they can cultivate close relationships with them, the lore states that there is some sort of a magical bond between a rider and their dragon.
Evidence of this type of bond can be seen in various instances where riders are in pain, like when Rhaenyra is giving birth or when Daemon is shot in his shoulder and the dragons seem to feel their pain with them.
However, it seems like although this bond exists, it does not take away the dragons’ free will and they can act out or leave if they please when they want to, and the Targaryens cannot stop them if they do.
Did Aemond actually intend for Vhagar to kill Lucerys and Arrax?
Although Aemond is Vhagar’s rider and he chases after Lucerys and Arrax, his dragon, at Storm’s End to start a fight with them, from his reaction after Vhagar kills them, it is evident that this is not the ending that he initially intended.
This is why Vhagar could not simply be following his inner wishes or some off-screen command from Aemond when she killed Arrax and Lucerys, and had to have been retaliating against Arrax’s fearful attack earlier in the fight.
What will the repercussions be for Vhagar disobeying Aemond?
Even though Vhagar was only acting like a dragon naturally would by snapping back at a young dragon that picked a fight with her, Lucerys and Arrax’s deaths will seem like the first direct attack from the Greens on the Blacks, since Aemond is Vaghar’s rider.
This means that Vhagar disobeying Aemond’s commands to stop could kickstart the war that has been brewing between the Greens and the Blacks since Viserys’s death.