Episode 6 of House of the Dragon not only saw a massive time jump but the death of one of the important characters.
In Episode 5, viewers saw Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) turn up uninvited to Princess Rhaenyra’s (Milly Alcock) wedding to Ser Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate). Here, he set eyes on Lady Laena (Savannah Steyn), who is the sister of Laenor.
With a ten-year time jump, it was revealed in Sunday night’s episode that Daemon and Laena (now portrayed by Nanna Blondell) had gotten married since Rhaenyra’s wedding.
Laena had also given birth to twin girls, Baela (Shani Smethurst) and Rhaena (Eva Ossei-Gerning).
However, things did not go well for this union and Laena died during childbirth with their third child.
Well, not exactly during childbirth. When it was discovered that the baby was stuck, Laena staggered out to her dragon, Vhagar, and ordered the beast to burn her alive in order to end her suffering.
Vhagar is the oldest and biggest dragon in Westeros
As was revealed in Episode 6 of House of the Dragon, Laena’s dragon is the largest of the beasts currently living in Westeros. Although she is not the largest dragon of all time, that honor goes to King Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) dragon, Balerion, according to Den of Geek.
In addition to this, Vhagar is also the oldest living dragon.
And, Laena was not the dragon’s first rider. Instead, Visenya Targaryen takes that title and she rode Vhagar during Aegon I Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros.
And now that Laena is dead, it also means that another person will be able to claim the mighty beast.
Here’s who claims Vhagar
The trailer for Episode 7 of House of the Dragon reveals that someone has managed to steal Vhagar, indicating that a new rider has claimed the enormous beast.
In Episode 5, viewers were introduced to two Targaryen children that do not yet have their own dragons but are desperate to claim one, and the potential here is that one of these children might try to take ownership.
Both Aemond (Leo Ashton), who is Alicent Hightower’s (Olivia Cooke) son to King Viserys, and Rhaena, Laena’s daughter, are both dragon-less.
The assumption might be made that Rhaena should be the next in line to claim Vhagar since this is her mother’s dragon.
For those who have read the book Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin, the answer is already known. But for those who wish to avoid potential book spoilers, now is the time to look away.
According to Fire and Blood, Aemond will be the next person to lay claim to Vhagar.
This occurs not long after Laena’s death and results in a battle between himself and Rhaenyra’s children. During this scuffle, Lucerys manages to wound Aemond, and he loses his eye because of this.
In the trailer for episode 7, Alicent Hightower is seen demanding “there is a debt to be paid,” and it is possible this moment could occur after Aemond loses his eye and Alicent is demanding justice for her son.
However, until the episode airs, viewers will just have to wait and see if House of the Dragon will follow in the book’s footsteps in regard to who claims Vhagar next.
House of the Dragon airs every Sunday night at 9/8c on HBO Max.