The dreadful death in House of the Dragon episode 10 and the fact that dragons are used in battle indicate that the Dance of the Dragons will be even more horrifying.
Brutal murders have been commonplace in HBO’s House of the Dragon, but the season 1 finale indicates exactly how horrifying the next Dance of the Dragons fight will be. Aegon II’s usurpation of the throne from Princess Rhaenyra puts Westeros on the verge of war in House of the Dragon season, episode 10. Rhaenyra’s husband Daemon encourages her to use their dragons to assure victory as they prepare for the next battle. Rhaenyra remains cautious, but in the last seconds of the first season of House of the Dragon, she learns that Lucerys was murdered by Aemond and his dragon Vhagar. Rhaenyra’s expression to the camera conveys her determination to exact retribution, win the war, and retake her throne.
What will make the Dance of the Dragons so horrifying is the employment of dragons as weapons. In the war room scene from House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra is under pressure to use the beasts, and she makes reference to their bloody past by saying one of her most memorable lines yet: “Everything burned when the dragons flew into battle. I’m not interested in ruling an ash and bone kingdom.” Despite their size and danger, dragons serve as symbols of weapons of mass destruction that raise the stakes and number of casualties in combat in both House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. The setting for Dance of the Dragons suggests that a devastating war will soon break out now that dragons are once more riding into battle.
Deaths & Devastation at House of the Dragon Will Be Even Worse
The first of many crimes in a very brutal battle is the murder of Lucerys Velaryon, Rhaenyra’s son. Dragon combat have already been seen to House of the Dragon fans for the first time, but season 2 will be considerably worse. The battle between Lucerys and the much smaller Arrax and the largest dragon in House of the Dragon, Vhagar, makes her size abundantly clear. As seen in Game of Thrones season 8, when Daenerys destroyed Kings Landing on her dragon, Drogon, killing the majority of the city’s defenseless citizens and earning the nickname “the Mad Queen,” a dragon’s capacity for wreaking havoc was also demonstrated.
But those are singular achievements. All of the dragons owned by Westeros’ warring factions will engage in a number of bloody battles later on in the Dance of the Dragons, resulting in countless human and dragon casualties. The house of the dragon writers don’t intend to avoid the horrors of war, as evidenced by the death of Lucerys Velaryon, and the fire-breathing action shown thus far is only a sample of the creatures’ fearsome potential. A crimson-stained portrayal of the conflict known as the Dance of the Dragons will be presented in House of the Dragon as a prequel to the groundbreaking Game of Thrones.
Duration of the Dance of the Dragons
The Dance of the Dragons takes place in George R.R. Martin’s books between the years 129 and 131 A.C. War with his half-sister Rhaenyra Targaryen over the Iron Throne blighted Aegon II’s whole reign. Throughout the battle, Aegon suffers severe wounds that leave him severely scorched and misshapen. Rhaenyra conquers King’s Landing in 130 AC, but she is quickly expelled for being a traitor. Then Aegon feeds her to Sunfyre, his dragon. The black armies continue to advance on King’s Landing in an effort to overthrow Aegon, so the Dance of the Dragons continues even after Rhaenyra’s passing.
Aegon stubbornly refuses to give up despite the fact that the green forces are weak and the fight is all but over. In the end, Aegon II is discovered dead in the royal sept, perhaps poisoned by his own soldiers to end the conflict. Aegon III, Rhaenyra’s son, is crowned shortly after. There is some subjectivity involved in deciding who wins the Dance of the Dragons. Rhaenyra outlives Aegon II, but when the war is finally over, Rhaenyra’s heir takes the throne. House of the Dragon, which is not necessarily bound by the rules of its inspiration, might choose a more clear-cut winner.
