The season finale of ‘The house of the dragon’ has been the definitive starting signal for targaryen civil war. We were all clear that it was inevitable and now we know the reason that will inevitably confront the sides of Alicent and Rhaenyra. However, the series on HBO Max has introduced a vital change from the book of George R.R. Martin On it.
Beware of spoilers from here on out.
A key detail about ‘fire and blood’, the book that adapts ‘The House of the Dragon’, is that it is not a novel, since Martin chose instead to structure it a bit like a Targaryen history book. This leads to the reliability of some events narrated there being questioned, thus giving a little more margin to those responsible for the series.
Throughout the first season we have already had other substantial changes such as everything related to Viserys’s longevity after falling ill, but in the last episode there is a very important change that significantly alters the start of the Dance of the Dragons. And it is not so much because of what happens, which in the end comes to the same thing, as in the motivations behind it.
A question of motivation
I mean the death of Lucerys, since in ‘Fire and blood’ it is pointed out that it was something totally intentional on Aemond’s part, with some claiming that the latter located Lucerys’s corpse to gouge out her eyes and take them away. Of course, this theory was refuted by other sources, but the theory that Aemond knew very well what he was doing was defended by everyone.
That is not the case in ‘The house of the dragon’, where it is clear that Aemond loses control of his dragon Vhagar, being this fearsome creature the one that destroys Arrax, causing the fateful death of Lucerys. There it is true that we did not get to see the corpse of the character played by Elliot Grihaultbut it is very clear that he has lost his life.
What exactly does this change mean for ‘The House of the Dragon’? In general, very little, because intentional or not, is the event that will precipitate everything. What does alter is the perception we have of Aemond, because it is not the same to be an unconscious vengeful -the showrunner of ‘The House of the Dragon’ himself stressed that this character is not a psychopath- than someone who is overcome by a situation that he himself has caused. Furthermore, he endows the Dance of the Dragons with a more tragic component by leaving the viewer with the idea that it was something that could have been avoided…
I first heard about The Dance Of Dragons from the “histories and lore” DVD extras of the OG show. I quickly edited the segment narrated by Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) to match the Storms End scene. #HOTDFinale #spoilers for those who have not seen yet. 🔊⬆️ pic.twitter.com/x5TNz1m38m
— 🎃👻💀Ser Obie Of CandyCorn💀👻🎃 (@Obienator) October 24, 2022