Bloody hell, House of the Dragon. We all knew someone had to die in the Season 1 finale, but did it have to be so brutal?
Spoilers ahead for the finale of House of the Dragon, “The Black Queen.”
Not only did Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) face tragedy after her baby was stillborn, but she also lost one of her sons as well. Her son Luke (Elliot Grihault) was mauled to death by a dragon while he was in the middle of riding one in the sky. Talk about a fear of heights! Luke’s very own uncle Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) chased him down on dragonback, ultimately using his own beast to chomp Luke to death.
The scene is reminiscent of that one chaotic murder in Jurassic World, in which a poor assistant is eaten alive by a dino with a massive jaw. Seriously, Aemond’s dragon has a huge beak—it really only takes him one bite to take out Luke completely. House of the Dragon showrunners, did you have to go that hard?
Apparently, yes, they did. In order to keep Rhaenyra away from the ability to maintain the status quo in Westeros, the House of the Dragon creators keep her away from all of her good senses. Hence, when her son is murdered, she loses it completely. War is right around the corner for us—in Season 2.
Killing Luke was always the plan, showrunner Ryan Condal explained to Variety in a post-finale interview, though there was one minor shift from the books. In author George R. R. Martin’s original story, Aemond means to kill Luke; whereas in this new adaptation, his dragon is more guilty for the kill.
“Historians have told us that Aemond intended to kill Luke, but I don’t think any of them could purport to know what was going on in Aemond’s head at the time,” Condal said. “I mean, Aemond got on his giant dragon and chased his nephew on his much smaller dragon through the clouds screaming and yelling at him, incensing his dragon and starting a fight.”
Condal continued: “I don’t think that was what Aemond intended when he threw his leg over the saddle, but he did a horrible, dangerous thing. That is the point: This is a war of many cuts that lead to a really, really bloody wound. It adds complexity and nuance to the character that’s potentially interesting. There’s lots of runway to go on with Aemond as a character and the story of the Dance.”
Still, fans weren’t totally ready to accept poor Luke’s early demise. House of the Dragon audiences swarmed Twitter as the finale rolled credits last night, pouring one out for Rhaenyra and her son.
What other chaos will Aemond get himself into? We’ll have to see when the next season of House of the Dragon finds its way to HBO—no word on release date quite yet.
