House of the Dragon Episode 8: Vaemond Velaryon's death explained

Vaemond Velaryon is the brother of Lord Corlys, who has always looked forward to being the head of Driftmark since the beginning. House of the Dragon Episode 8 featured a big scene surrounding Vaemond, so let’s jump into it.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for House of the Dragon Episode 8

From the beginning of House of the Dragon, we have seen the conflicts for the Iron Throne, but the latest episode focussed mainly on the conflicts for Driftmark Throne.

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Ser Vaemond Velaryon stands against the claim of Rhaenyra’s children for the Driftmark Throne

HOTD Episode 8 started by showing Rhaenys and Vaemond arguing over the succession of the throne of Driftmark. Vaemond says that he’s the only blood relation Lord Corlys has left behind, so he has a good reason to sit on the throne.

Besides this, he also questions the legitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children by signifying them as the “blood of House Strong.” To this, Rhaenys threatened him by saying that King Viserys would cut off his tongue if he came to know about this.

Vaemond Velaryon gets killed by Daemon as he insults Rhaenyra’s children

In the absence of King Viserys, Otto Hightower sits on the Iron Throne as he’s the one who will hear all the petitions. Vaemond starts by talking about the Velaryon Blood that runs through his veins but Rhaenyra steps in between by saying that Vaemond just cares about his own ambition. Alicent stops her by saying she’ll get an opportunity to speak, so she should wait.

After a few minutes, the king enters and proceeds toward the Iron Throne. While walking, the crown falls from his head, and Daemon helps him to reach the Throne after putting the crown back on his head. As he settled, he gave Rhaenys the chance to speak as he knew who would know things related to Corlys.

Rhaenys revealed that Corlys always wanted the crown to pass from Ser Laenor to his son Lucerys and he never changed his mind. She also says that Rhaenyra wants her sons Luke and Jace to marry their cousins Rhaena and Baela. After listening to all this, Viserys says Luke will be the Lord of the Tides.

Vaemond loses his temper and insults Viserys by saying that he had passed on his succession to a girl and he’s nobody to make decisions for House Velaryon. The king asks him to back out, but he goes too far and starts talking about Rhaenyra’s children inappropriately. Viserys warned him, but he did not listen, so he finally met his dark fate when Daemon put him to death by separating his head from his body.

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