House Of The Dragon’s Big Finale Death Was Handled Much Differently In The Book

As Aemond’s pursuit of Lucerys becomes more and more dire, Lucerys’ dragon Arrax is visibly shaken, and both dragons appear to be letting their primal instincts take over, despite the protests of both riders. As the hunter, Vhagar’s size is incredibly apparent, though this doesn’t stop Arrax from blasting the ancient dragon with fire. This in turn causes Vhagar to release its full fury upon both Arrax and Lucerys, and in an instant both dragon and rider are killed with a ravenous bite from Vhagar, much to the shock of Aemond, who now realizes that his actions will have far reaching consequences.

As shocking as this scene was for viewers, this scene actually has far more nuance than what was presented in “Fire and Blood.” According to A Wiki of Ice and Fire, this moment is considered a defining moment in the conflict called “The Dance of Dragons,” and several different variations of the story were told regarding what happened, but all agreed upon one thing — Lucerys and Arrax were tragically under-matched against Aemond and Vhagar, as Vhagar was five times the size of Arrax. Although fans see a look of concern and fear wash across Aemond’s face after the killing, this is absent from the book.

This is on account of the retold nature of “Fire and Blood,” which portrayed the fight as one sided and very intentional, with Aemond motivated primarily by revenge. There are even several stories about the aftermath of the fight, with some saying that Arrax’s head washed ashore, others saying that both Lucerys and Arrax were swallowed whole, or that Lucerys actually survived but suffered from permanent amnesia. Either way, Lucerys was never found.