In last night’s thrilling House of the Dragon, the Thrones series’ best battle since probably Battle of the Bastards, we saw a few high-profile casualties, but with some open questions remaining. If you’ve looked this up on the internet, you already know the main one I’m talking about.
That would be King Aegon Targaryen, but first, we cannot forget the sacrifice of Rhaenys, who has been confirmed dead, echoing what happens in the book. We watch Meleys die, and Rhaenys falls to her death shortly after. There is an entire interview talking about her death with actress Eve Best. So yes, she’s dead, fallen into Cole and Aemond’s trap. But of course there was that wrinkle…
That would be Aegon Targaryen deciding to drink and dragon, heading over to Rook’s Rest where I’m sure he figured he could just blow up the castle with dragonfire and look like he was doing something useful in the war. But idiot that he is, he did not expect to be met either by the more experienced dragonrider Rhaenys, nor his brother riding Vhaegar, who used the unexpected opportunity to try and potentially snatch the throne.
We see Aemond purposefully blast Aegon with dragonfire as he’s locked in combat with Rhaenys, and the dragon and Aegon spiral down to the forest, fate unknown. Once they’re down there, we see a dying, but not dead Sunfyre, and Aegon lying on the ground in his armor. Likely severely injured, maybe dead. But is he dead? There is a book answer, but first, some questions you might have had.
Targaryens are not immune to dragonfire – This has been established in the lore of the series, even if they are immune to regular fire the way we saw with Daenerys a number of times. But that power has its limits, and that limit is dragonfire.
Valyrian steel is not immune to dragonfire – It may be the toughest metal in the land, but it too is not fully immune to dragonfire. Not that Aegon was covered head to toe in it anyways, with his head and face exposed.
Targaryens are not immune to fall damage – I mean, fire aside, he fell a thousand feet from the air. I guess you could say Sunfyre braced his fall perhaps, but even so. And in this episode fall damage is no doubt how Rhaenys died, considering she was not burned (as she was in the book).
Now, book spoilers follow.
Aegon is…alive? But barely. Because of all the dragonfire, Aegon’s Valyrian steel actually melts to his body and he’s badly burned and bedridden. But he’s not dead, and therefore, technically still king. That makes him the second invalid king in as many kings, but obviously this creates a huge number of problems going forward. More on that another time.
Aemond looked like he was about to execute him, but he restrained himself when Cole showed up. Or he was putting the dragon out of his misery? But either way clearly he wants his brother dead, perhaps he just didn’t want a witness. Still, Cole no doubt saw what he was trying to do. But Cole is also both a moron and often disloyal, so who knows if that matters.
Absolutely wild episode this week. I cannot wait to see the aftermath, and it’s going to be hard to ever top a battle like that.
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