Why does Aemond turn back around at the end of House of the Dragon season 2 episode 7?

The latest episode of House of the Dragon is one of the most exciting of the season, finally getting to the very highly anticipated Sowing of the Seeds event. In serious need of more dragonriders, Rhaenyra puts out a call for Targaryen bastards out in the realm to come and try to claim a dragon, a seriously risky — yet necessary — move. Though the majority of the episode, titled "The Red Sowing," is entertaining, it's not until the final 20 minutes or so that things get incredibly thrilling. Dragons, hooray!

We don't see much of Aemond throughout the latest episode until the end; there's not a whole lot going on at King's Landing until a dragon flies through the city, alerting both the smallfolk and the Small Council. Two men end up claiming dragons at Dragonstone, with Hugh bonding with Vermithor and Ulf with Silverwing. Ulf clumsily and hilariously rides over to the city on the same dragon his grandmother Queen Alysanne once rode.

Aemond's swift reaction to seeing Silverwing is not surprising at all, but some fans are finding his reaction to what he sees over at Dragonstone unexpected. After realizing what's going on, he quickly runs down and mounts a horse, riding over to Vhagar who he then gets on and flies to follow Silverwing. Though Vhagar wants to keep going, Aemond tells her to stop and turn around. What does Aemond see that alarms him so much? Multiple other dragons, of course! The reason why he retreats back to King's Landing is simple. He's outnumbered.

Aemond's decision to not pursue Silverwing is smart

Even though Vhagar is the biggest dragon in the realm, it would be too dangerous for her to try to take on three-plus dragons. Remember, Rhaenyra says that Vermithor is the second-largest dragon right after Vhagar. These aren't tiny creatures. In the final scene of the episode, we see Rhaenyra looking pleased to have scared Aemond off, with Syrax, Vermithor, and Silverwing alongside her. She's also got Seamsoke, Arrax and Moondancer on her side, and if Daemon ever returns from Harrenhal (hopefully in the season finale!) she'll have Caraxes as well. Aemond might not know all the details, but he can see that Rhaenyra has more dragonriders than she once did. This is enough for him to return to King's Landing to strategize the greens' next move. Aemond is unpredictable, yes, but he's also not dumb.

At the same time, Rhaenrya likely doesn't follow Aemond because, while she now has more dragonriders, Addam, Hugh and Ulf are all complete newbies. They don't know how to control their dragons and couldn't yet be counted on in battle. Aemond doesn't know that, so he turns around.

And by the looks of the season 2 finale preview, there's a lot of action ahead. We might not be getting another big battle, but we'll be seeing more armies and, if you can believe it, more dragons. Rhaenyra is finally ready to make moves now that she's got more dragons behind her, so Aegon's followers should watch out. Aemond and Vhagar are a deadly duo, but what happens when multiple dragons team up against them? Aemond will ask Helaena to ride her dragon Dreamfyre, while Daeron's dragon Tessarion is finally up in the air. And we're still not sure what happened to King Aegon's dragon Sunfyre; it may still be recovering, like its master.

As Aegon declares earlier in the season, "To war, then!" Don't miss the House of the Dragon season 2 finale this Sunday, August 4, on HBO and Max.

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