House Of The Dragon Episode 6 Provided Our First Glimpse Of A Legendary Westerosi Creature
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the (second) biggest dragon of them all?
That's right: during the sixth episode of "House of the Dragon" — which also brought with it the series' long-awaited ten year time shift — we finally got to see the legendary Vhagar, who has only briefly been mentioned before this installment. Previously, a much younger Laena Velaryon (Nova Foueillis-Mose) asked King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) about the enormous missing dragon, who is second only in size to Balerion, another dragon of legend whose skull lies in the crypts beneath the Red Keep. Now, Vhagar has made her small screen debut, albeit briefly.
During "Game of Thrones," viewers only got to see three dragons, which belonged to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) — Drogon, Rhaegon, and Viserion, who are the only dragons in a world where everyone believes they've gone fully extinct. However, true to its name, "House of the Dragon" offers up a regular smorgasbord of dragons, and Vhagar is the biggest and most important yet. So what brought Vhagar onscreen, and what will happen with her next?
Vhagar's appearance is tied to a tragic moment
Unfortunately, Vhagar's only physical appearance is tied to a harrowing moment involving her rider Laena, played in adulthood by Nanna Blondell. During childbirth with her third child with her husband Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Laena encounters a problem that is, sadly, all too familiar to viewers of this series. The baby won't budge, and the only option is a C-section performed in the crudest possible manner, which definitely won't save the mother and only might save the child. To his credit, Daemon hesitates — unlike his brother Viserys, who lets his first wife die in exactly the same way without a ton of thought.
Laena, however, takes charge of the situation; after all, earlier in "The Princess and the Queen," she tells Viserys she wants to die like a true dragonrider, and she certainly gets her wish. Clutching her belly, Laena makes her way towards her enormous dragon, giving it the classic command of "dracarys" so it will burn her alive. Vhagar is, initially, also hesitant to burn her master alive, but eventually succumbs to orders, giving Laena the death she wanted in the end.
We don't see Vhagar past this moment, but in George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood," she ends up with another rider. In this same episode, a young Prince Aemond Targaryen (Leo Ashton), son of Viserys and his second wife Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), laments his total lack of a dragon, but he shouldn't worry, as he eventually becomes Vhagar's rider after she loses her Lady Laena. With this in mind, we're quite likely to see Vhagar again — but it was definitely a thrill to finally see this giant dragon up close.