‘House of the Dragon’: Why do Vhagar and Arrax disobey their riders? Viserys warned

Dragons are a fundamental part of the world of Westeros and in the “House of the Dragon” storyline, even at the end of season 1 Daemon is seen singing and trying to tame Vermithor to use in the coming war.

But one detail that stands out is how during the confrontation between Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault) and Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) over Storm’s End, their dragons disobey them.

Aemond hunts his nephew to the dragon Vhagar to intimidate him and also to get revenge for losing his eye when they were children. However, Lucerys’ dragon Arrax disobeys its rider and attacks Vhagar.

Aemond’s massive creature is enraged by the attack and also ignores all of its rider’s commands, until a large bite kills Arrax and devours Lucerys.

The series makes it clear that it was all an accident, as Aemond didn’t intend to murder his nephew and start the war. Instead, it is Vhagar who acted alone. But why, if the Targaryens control the dragons, did the dragon disobey him?

The story of dragons in “House of the Dragon”

These giant creatures are related to House Targaryens by blood. After the disaster known as “The Curse of Valyria”, this race is the only one that can control them.

The first king of the Seven Kingdoms, Aegon ‘The Conqueror’ Targaryen, used the dragon Balerion and two others to start his family’s reign.

The Targaryens communicate with the dragons and give them orders by speaking High Valyrian, though at the time of the bond it is the creatures who decide who is worthy to ride them.

Why did Vhagar and Arrax disobey their riders in ‘House of the Dragon’?

The Targaryens control and lead the dragons by virtue of their bond with them, but that doesn’t stop them from remaining intelligent creatures that can make decisions for themselves.

In the case of Aemond and Lucerys, since they are both young, they don’t have much experience as riders and have never been in combat with their dragons, so they have little control over these creatures.

So when Arrax feels threatened by the larger dragon and sees that his rider cannot lead them to safety, his instinct is to attack with fire breath, though this does not harm Vhagar and only results in anger of the other.

Vhagar, for his part, also responds to the attack and disobeys his rider. However, this can also be interpreted as a way to fulfill the desires that Aemond has, but doesn’t know how to achieve.

Because dragons and riders share a special bond, they can sense when they are hurt, sad, or angry. Vhagar may have sensed Aemond’s desire for revenge and interpreted it as wanting to kill Lucerys.

However, the explanation of why the dragons disobey their riders, Aemond and Lucerys, is found in the words of King Viserys to his daughter Rhaenyra in the first chapters of “House of the Dragon”.

Viserys explained that the control over dragons that the Targaryens have is just an illusion, as their instability and destructive power to burn everything in the end leads to nothing good.

Viserys’ words not only prove that dragons are too great a force to control, but also foreshadow the downfall and destruction of the Targaryens from Dance with Dragons.