‘The House of the Dragon’: Why possessing Vermithor is not as good an idea as it seems?

¡spoiler of the 1×10 of ‘The House of the Dragon’ below!

At the end of ‘The House of the Dragon’ we could see Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) go hunting dragons and we must admit that he made a good catch.

Vermithor, the Brazen Fury, emerged from Dragonmount’s cave to the sound of Daemon’s Valyrian “lullaby”.displaying a fierce look that suggests he’s not someone we’d want to go against.

It seems like the kind of advantage ‘Los Negros’ needs, especially at this point in history when war seems to be brewing in the worst possible way.

The (supposed) accidental death of Rhaenyra’s second son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), at the hands of Aemond and his dragon Vhagar, is going to make things worse.

We can forget about any possibility of peaceful negotiations, despite the best efforts of Alicent and Rhaenyra. That Lucerys was devoured by the jaws of Vhagar has injected Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) with fury and her intentions seem more “pyromaniac” than ever.

Nevertheless, with only a small army looking for allies, he will need power of significant magnitude.

Early in the episode, one of his men reminds him of the strength of his dragons. To which she replies that ‘The Greens’ also possess dragons (Vhagar, the greatest of them all, among others). Daemon, however, believes that despite this they still have a stronger position.

“They have three adults, we…“Well, we’re not going to make a list, but it comes to 7 in total.

None have gone to war, Rhaenyra states, but Daemon mentions the unclaimed dragons. Three wild dragons resting on Dragonstone; and Mist, which is located on an island near Driftmark. “Vermithor and Silverwing are in Montedragón.“All riderless and ready to be taken.

Daemon tries to get hold of Vermithor and it’s not much of a surprise. Vermithor is a truly massive dragon, second only to Vhagar in size. Sizes aside, the marks on his mouth look like the typical war wounds Rhaenyra needs to make a difference. But, are we sure about that?

Vermithor’s story in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ suggests that he may not be as experienced as they need.

Who was the last horseman of Vermithor?

Before flying free, Vermithor belonged to King Jaeherys, the Wise – which is not necessarily a positive thing. At least for Rhaenyra.

Jaeherys was a beloved king and his reign was the longest of the entire Targaryen monarchy. He was known for forging peace throughout the Seven Kingdoms and, for that very reason, he rarely faced rebellions or wars.

His most significant battle was when he and his sons, Aemon and Baelon, put down an attempted invasion of Storm’s End by Prince Mortion Martell of Dorne.

With the help of Vermithor, his sons, and his dragons, Jaeherys laid waste to the Dornish troops. The war only lasted one day.

Considering this limited battle experience, under the reign of Jaeherys, He doesn’t seem like the kind of warrior dragon that Rhaenyra so desperately needs.

Despite his formidable size, he lacks the might of Vhagar, who fought in Aegon I’s conquest of Westeros, alongside his deceased brothers, Meraxes and Balerion (the largest dragon in history).

The only thing that saves him is that Vermithor’s life, before King Jaeherys and after, is unknown. He may have fought wars in the past that have put him in shape to fight against Vhagar and ‘The Greens’.

While it’s true that he has remained riderless since Jaeherys’s death, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t fought his own battles against other wild dragons.

This ambiguity leaves room for the creators of ‘The House of the Dragon’ to be creative with their backstory, so we can expect the unexpected in the second season.

‘The House of the Dragon’ is available at streaming on HBO Max. All seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’ are also available on HBO Max.