Does Lucerys Die in the Book & How?
Fans of House of the Dragon already know that Prince Lucerys Velaryon died in the series, as he was accidentally killed by Prince Aemond Targaryen and Vhagar in episode 10 of the first season. Nevertheless, we do know that the series doesn’t always follow the book, which is Fire & Blood. That means that there could be a few differences between House of the Dragon and Fire & Blood. So, does Lucerys also die in the book?
Lucerys Velaryon also died in the Fire & Blood book, as he was also killed by Aemond Targaryen and Vhagar. However, the difference here is that the actual manner of his death is unknown, as the only thing that the book says is that Aemond and Vhagar killed them in what could have been a fight.
The thing about Fire & Blood is that the book is told from the perspective of historians and those who have accounts of what happened during certain periods in the history of the Targaryen dynasty. That means that whatever they said in the book isn’t the real truth behind the events. Now, with that said, let’s look at whether or not Lucerys dies in the book and how he dies.
Does Lucerys Die In The Book?
Back in episode 6 of House of the Dragon, we met all of Princess Rhaenyra’s children during her marriage with Ser Laenor Velaryon. These children were Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey. However, the rumor was that they were not fathered by Ser Laenor but were actually sired by Ser Harwin Strong, who was the rumored lover of Rhaenyra.
Of course, because he was the oldest son, Jacaerys was going to be Rhaenyra’s heir as soon as she was going to assume the Iron Throne. That meant that Lucerys, who was nicknamed Luke, was going to be the heir to Driftmark, especially after Laenor’s “death.” In fact, Vaemond Velaryon contested Luke’s legitimacy when it was time to choose the heir to Driftmark.
In episode 10, we saw how unsure Luke was of his duty as the next lord of Driftmark, and that was one of the themes that surrounded his character in what was his final appearance in the series. That’s because we all know that, by the end of the episode, Vhagar had already munched Luke to pieces during the time when he was trying to escape from Storm’s End.
This happened when Rhaenyra sent her dragonrider sons to the different lords of the Great Houses so that they could affirm their allegiance to her in the impending battle between the Blacks and the Greens. Lucerys was sent to Storm’s End, which was much closer to Dragonstone than any of the other destinations that the boys were sent to.
But upon reaching Storm’s End, Lucerys saw that Vhagar was already there, and that meant that Prince Aemond Targaryen had beaten him to Lord Borros Baratheon. In Storm’s End throne room, Borros rejected Rhaenyra’s offer because the Greens had offered to marry Aemond with one of his daughters. As such, Lucerys was supposed to leave Storm’s End to tell his mother what Borros said. Aemond tried to intimidate the boy into giving up one of his eyes in payment for the eye that he took, but Borros allowed the boy to leave safely.
However, Aemond chased Lucerys and his dragon, Arrax, all over the areas near Storm’s End as the boy was on his way to return to Dragonstone. There were several instances when Vhagar could have killed them, but it was clear that Aemond was merely trying to intimidate Luke to give up his eye. But when Arrax attacked Vhagar, that was when the old dragon disobeyed her dragonrider and killed Lucerys and his dragon. So, while we do know that Lucerys is already dead in House of the Dragon, did he also die in Fire & Blood?
Yes, Lucerys Velaryon also died in the book. In fact, his death also happened in a manner that was similar to how he died in the series. But the surrounding events were quite different, as his death in the book came during the time when the Blacks and the Greens were ready to war with one another. In that regard, it can be expected that he was killed because Aemond wanted to take him down due to his longstanding grudge for taking his eye.
Still, after killing Lucerys, he became a kinslayer that people frowned on. Alicent begged for the Mother’s mercy by praying. Meanwhile, Otto Hightower insulted him for such a stupid act. It was only Aegon II who celebrated what his younger brother did.
How Did Lucerys Die In The Book?
The thing that needs to be understood about the Fire & Blood book is that it was told from the perspective of historians and those who have firsthand accounts of what happened during the Targaryen dynasty and the Dance of the Dragons. That means that, unlike A Song of Ice & Fire, Fire & Blood isn’t told from the perspectives of the characters themselves.
As such, the manner of Lucerys’s death isn’t quite sure as far as the book is concerned. That’s because all that the historians know is that Aemond tried to start a fight with him in Storm’s End to take revenge for the eye that was taken from him by Lucerys when they were still children. However, Borros Baratheon prevented any bloodshed from happening in his home but allowed them to fight well beyond the confines of Storm’s End.
In that regard, Aemond and Vhagar chased Luke and Arrax while they were on their way home to Dragonstone. But there was no clear motive behind this, unlike in the series adaptation where Aemond was only trying to intimidate and scare Luke into giving up his eye.
As such, according to Archmaester Gyldayn, who was one of the people who shared his perspective in the Fire & Blood book, if there had been a fight, it could not have lasted long. No one knew exactly how Luke and Arrax were killed, but the only thing that they were sure of was that Arrax was so overmatched that his head and neck washed up on shore. On the other hand, Lucerys’s body was never found.
The fact that Luke’s body was never found was one of the things that made people wonder whether or not he did indeed survive. Gyldayn offered two possibilities: Luke was swallowed by Vhagar or was able to survive the attack but lost his memories after crashing into the water. However, Grand Maester Munkun, who was a more reliable historian, said that Lucerys had died with his dragon.
In that regard, the biggest difference between Luke’s death in the book and his death in the series is the fact that his death in House of the Dragon was made clear but, nonetheless, an accident. Aemond’s motives were also clear in House of the Dragon, unlike in the book, where it was presumed that he killed Lucerys on purpose because he wanted to get back at him for taking his eye all those years ago.
