House of the Dragon: 5 changes from the book that made the show better
4. Baela and Rhaena are present when Aemond claims Vhagar
Episode 7," Driftmark," is one of the two episodes most frequently cited as the best of the first season of House of the Dragon. Starting as a solemn funeral for Daemon’s wife Laena Velaryon, the tension throughout Episode 7 builds steadily to a crescendo where the Alicent Hightower and Rhaenrya Targaryen, the Queen and Crown Princess of Westeros, engage in a knife fight, driven in large part by a fight between their children. Just before, Alicent's son Aemond claims Vhagar, the largest dragon currently living, as his mount. There is a fracas with Rhaenyra's sons and Daemon's daughters when he lands, and Rhaenyra's son Lucerys slashes out Aemond's eye, something predicted by Aemond's sister Helaena the episode before.
In the novels, the boys get in a fight over very little; before he claims Vhagar, Aemond pushes his 3-year-old nephew Joffrey into a pile of dragon droppings, and Joffrey's older brothers Jace and Luke come to his aid. Boys aged 10 and younger will get into fights over the flimsiest of premises when not watched by an adult, and in a world where they all carry daggers, I’m sure many eyes would be lost. However, for such an important scene, where a prince loses an eye and the world’s largest living dragon gets a new rider, the novel’s premise for why the fight began seems extremely flimsy.
House of the Dragon managed to improve on the fight by firming up the character motivations. In the televised version of the same scene, Aemond claims Vhagar before the fight starts, and his nephews arrive after being woken in the middle of the night by their cousins Baela and Rhaena, who are alarmed at the ‘theft’ of the Vhagar, who was previoiusly ridden by their recently deceased mother Laena. Both girls and boys arrive on the scene and confront the victorious Aemond, who has just claimed Vhagar. He insults them relentlessly, leading to the fight.
The added character motivation that Rhaena, who also hasn’t claimed a dragon yet, is upset that Aemond took Vhagar AT HER MOTHER’S FUNERAL is much more satisfying to the audience and develops the characters more. It also underlines that Rhaenyra’s children are much closer to Daemon’s daughter’s in age than they are to their uncles, despite them all being roughly the same age.