“House of the Dragon” season 1 is over. In the season finale, many terrible events ensure that the war of the Tagaryens becomes inevitable. The dance of the dragons begins.
- Several tragic deaths befall Rhaenyra Tagaryen’s family at once.
- A reconciliation between the Blacks and the Greens is now definitely out of the question.
- The grand finale of “House of the Dragon” season 1 is here and brings many shocking twists for Rhaenyra Tagaryen. She learns from Rhaenys Targaryen that her father, King Viserys has died and her half-brother Aegon has ascended the throne.
This sets off a chain of terrible events. Rhaenyra loses two children at once, Daemon shows her his true colors and a decision is required of her. Daemon crowns Rhaenyra as queen. The dance of the dragons has begun. We explain to you the most important questions left by the season finale of the “Game of Thrones” spin-off.
Why does Lucerys die and what does his death mean for the series?
First of all, the news from King’s Landing triggers Rhaenyra to give birth prematurely. In order not to suffer the same fate as her mother Aemma, Rhaenyra does not let the Silent Sisters help her, but gives birth to her dead daughter on her own and eventually bandages her for her cremation.
To find allies for the impending war, Rhaenyra’s sons Jacaerys and Lucerys volunteer to be messengers, since dragons are faster than ravens and a visit from a prince is more impressive. While Jacaerys is to travel to Winterfell to the Starks and to the Vale to the Arryns, Lucerys is given the shorter and supposedly safer route to Stormcap and Borros Baratheon.
But his uncle Aemond has beaten him to it and is already waiting in Stormcap with his dragon Vhagar. He could make Borros a more appealing offer, as he has offered to marry one of his daughters. So Lucerys wants to leave again, but Aemond pursues him on Vhagar. But although it seems so at first, Aemond does not want to kill Lucerys at all, but only to scare him.
But the chase gets out of control. When Lucerys’ dragon Arrax breathes fire, Aemond can no longer hold Vhagar back. Vhagar eats Lucerys and tears the much smaller Arrax to pieces. Shocked, Aemond flies away, knowing this means war. In the final scene of the episode, Rhaenyra learns of her son’s death and any hesitation is over. Rhaenyra wants war.
Rhaenyra has been the only one interested in a diplomatic solution without bloodshed. While Daemon would have liked to kill Otto Hohenturm directly when he arrived from King’s Landing with proposals for negotiations. After the death of Lucerys, peace is impossible.
Will Jacaerys be attacked as well?
We won’t find out how Jacaerys’ journey goes until season 2 of “House of the Dragon.” However, we know from the book “Fire and Blood” by George R. R. Martin that he is able to successfully form an alliance with Jeyne Arryn in the Vale. But the sources of how he concludes it are different.
Some say Jacaerys must first sleep with Jeyne to gain her support. Another source says she wants to help him because she wants to support women in power and they share the same blood through Aemma Arryn. Rhaenyra must send dragon riders to the Arryns in exchange for the Knights of the Green Valley to protect the valley.
Jace is also successful in Winterfell. He makes a pact with Ser Cregan Stark and promises that his first daughter must marry Cregan’s son and heir, Rickon.
Daemon’s little dragon serenade
Daemon firmly believes that the Targaryens’ strength lies not in dreams and foresight, but in dragons. Few people know as much about dragons as he does. He knows which dragons he can still win over for the Blacks and already tries to prepare one for a future dragon rider.
The dragon he sings a song to is Vermithor, who was once ridden by King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. While the series implies that Daemon’s daughter Rhaena will ride the dragon, it is Hugo Hammer, a Targaryen bastard, one of the “dragon seeds” later used by the Blacks as dragon riders in war.
Who fights in the dance of the dragons?
The Blacks and the Greens each have strong allies. Probably the most important advantage of the Blacks around Rhaenyra is that they have the strongest naval fleet with Corlys Velaryon’s support, and their dragon count is higher than that of the Greens. We’ll tell you which houses are fighting on the side of the Greens and which are fighting on the side of the Blacks in the linked article.
We also already know the military strategy that Rhaenyra and her allies will follow: King’s Landing is to be excluded from trade by the strait at the stepping stones and taken by sea. In season 2, which will probably not appear until 2024 on HBO and Sky Atlantic, we will then see how the dance of the dragons comes to a head.
