WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 1, episode 10, "The Black Queen."Aemond’s inability to control Vhagar in a crucial moment was set up by a key Viserys line in House of the Dragon episode 1. Bonds with dragons position the Targaryens as more than human within Westeros, but there are still consequences of holding such enormous, catastrophic power. In no moment is this more true than when Vhagar kills Lucerys and Arrax in House of the Dragon’s season 1 finale. Despite Aemond Targaryen’s English and High Valyrian commands to make Vhagar stop attacking, the war-experienced dragon defies her rider and wraps her mouth around Arrax and Lucerys, thus beginning the civil war.
Just because House Targaryen’s dragonriders can tame, train, and form magical connections with the creatures does not mean any man has the power to completely control a dragon. King Viserys had already warned Rhaenyra of this danger back in House of the Dragon’s season 1 premiere. When telling Rhaenyra about Aegon’s Song of Ice and Fire dream, Viserys says that “the idea that we control the dragons is an illusion. They’re a power man should never have trifled with.” Arrax disobeying Lucerys by breathing fire on Vhagar and Aemond’s inability to control Vhagar’s response were the exact mistakes Viserys feared. Targaryens may be able to influence and bond with their dragons, but they cannot control them.
Why Viserys Never Claimed Another Dragon After Balerion
Despite never mounting one in House of the Dragon, King Viserys was very briefly a dragonrider. He bonded with Aegon the Conqueror’s dragon Balerion the Black Dread, the largest and oldest dragon in Westerosi history at the time. The ancient dragon died only a year after Viserys first claimed and rode him, giving the future King a short career as a dragonrider. While Viserys still could have claimed riderless dragons like Vhagar, Vermithor, or Silverwing, he knew what a dangerous liability such creatures were.
House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal revealed on The Official Game of Thrones Podcast that Viserys never rode another dragon after Balerion the Black Dread because he realized that what he had in his hands was an unpredictable weapon of mass destruction. Viserys respected this power of the dragons, but he understood that he could only control them to a certain degree. After reaching that point where the dragons stop listening is when grave mistakes like Lucerys and Arrax’s deaths happen. Had Viserys realized that his family – in control of a dozen dragons – was on the precipice of civil war upon his death, he perhaps would have pressed Rhaenyra’s claim even harder.
What Aemond’s Vhagar Mistake Means For House Of The Dragon’s Civil War
Just as Viserys told the future Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, relying on a sentient dragon’s obedience is an illusion, as an animal will respond with survival instincts when threatened. Considering Aemond was unable to control Vhagar in a chase against the tiny Arrax, there’s no telling what unexpected responses the dragons will have on battlefields with thousands of soldiers on foot, scorpions being launched at them, and other dragons attacking them in the skies. Aemond failing to command Vhagar was the first major dragon accident in House of the Dragon season 1, and such a mistake is what officially launches the civil war. Aemond’s mistake thus reveals that Lucerys’ death will not be the last accidental tragedy at the hands of the Targaryens’ dragons.