some thoughts on rhaena vs aemond in relation to vhagar
hello all i know that i am clearly an aemond apologist, but i wanted to give a more nuanced and unbiased take on the idea of him "stealing" vhagar from rhaena. namely, i wanted to argue that rhaena was always meant to bond with morning, and that to have her bond with vhagar would erase a great deal of her character's significance.
the show sets up some interesting parallels between rhaena and aemond, in that both are explicitly shown to be shunned and/or bullied because of their lack of a dragon. if the adults hadn't fucked up all of the children, i genuinely think the two could have empathized with each other about this, and maybe even have been friends. of course, we didn't get that, so we'll never know.
so we have two targaryens, both a similar age, and both the only dragonless members of their families. and we have vhagar, the largest, most powerful dragon of the world, freshly available for claiming.
how, and why, is it important that aemond ends up with vhagar, while rhaena does not? because rhaena WANTED vhagar, while aemond NEEDED her.
rhaena has a sense of safety and protection that aemond never had. she knows that she has powerful grandparents, and a powerful father, who are not only able but willing to protect her. so a dragon is not a matter of life and death for her.
it IS for aemond. alicent and criston care about him, but both are in very limited positions of power compared to people like daemon, corlys, and viserys. it's deeper than him being bullied; it's everything he's been taught by alicent and otto about the danger he and his family are in; a paranoia that is later proven when viserys prioritizes rhaenyra's reputation over aemond's physical safety, and literally threatens to cut out his tongue if he says bastard again. aemond needs vhagar in order to protect himself and his family, because no one else will. and he is so desperate that he stakes his LIFE on this.
so vhagar is claimed by aemond, and not rhaena.
and rhaena is young, and grieving her mother, and so the opportunity is not important to her in that moment. but even in the years beyond laena's funeral, rhaena does not claim any of the several riderless dragons on dragonstone, where she is living. vermithor, and especially seasmoke, would have both been very viable options. but she did not claim them.
i feel like this points to the fact that rhaena was not MEANT to claim a dragon, during all of those years. she already had a dragon: it had simply not yet hatched. and also that she was never going to be the type of person to claim an already-grown dragon; rather, one who needed to grow along with her hatchling.
and once the dance of dragons was done, with almost all of the dragons and targaryens extinct, rhaena and her little dragon are suddenly EVERYTHING. together, they are the emblem of hope, and of healing, for their house and their family. they survive, where so many of our other beloved characters did not, in order to serve as this symbol: of the future.
rhaena was always meant to bond with morning. and if morning had hatched any earlier, they both very well might have fought and perished in the dance of dragons. and i think the fact that they survive, together, is incredibly meaningful. please don't take that away from rhaena, y'all.
vaporwave
baratheonpilled
dailybridgerton
annaxmalina
jacobvanloon
origamiaround
