Does Aegon Kill Rhaenyra In House of the Dragon? (How & When)
With the death of King Viserys in episode 8 of House of the Dragon and the miscommunication of an important message, Alicent now believes that the king wanted Aegon to sit on the Iron Throne instead of Rhaenyra. As such, the two main contenders in the upcoming Targaryen civil war are Rhaenyra and Aegon, as they will both declare themselves queen and king, respectively. But we know for a fact in the book that things don’t go well for Rhaenyra. So, does Aegon kill Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon?
According to Fire & Blood, Aegon was the one responsible for killing Rhaenyra. This happened when Rhaenyra was betrayed by one of her knights after she fled King’s Landing during the riots. Aegon captured Rhaenyra and fed her to his dragon, Sunfyre, shortly after she was betrayed.
The fact that Aegon ends up killing Rhaenyra is one of the things that fans should watch out for, as the princess has become a favorite among fans and is actually regarded as the primary protagonist of the series. But she never lives through the Dance of the Dragons as she dies before it ends. In that regard, let’s talk about how Aegon kills Rhaenyra.
Does Aegon Kill Rhaenyra In House Of The Dragon?
Episode 8 of House of the Dragon allowed us to see a heartfelt moment from the Targaryen family as the family members seemingly reconciled with one another after King Viserys poured his heart out in the weakest moment of his life. However, the end of the episode allowed us to see the reason why Alicent now believes that Aegon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, as there was a misunderstanding due to how King Viserys was no longer in the proper mental state. In that regard, it is now clear that the Dance of the Dragons is about to commence with the crowning of Aegon II Targaryen as the heir to his father, King Viserys.
It is the fact that Aegon was crowned and that Rhaenyra, angered by this, also crowned herself queen that jumpstarted the Targaryen civil war. The Green faction, although led by Queen Alicent, supported King Aegon II’s claim to the Iron Throne. On the other hand, the Blacks supported Rhaenyra as the rightful heir of King Viserys. And there are several battles that are going to be waged during the entire civil war.
But according to the book, things don’t work out quite well for Rhaenyra. She ends up taking King’s Landing from Aegon II after landing a decisive blow that nearly ended the war and killed her brother. However, Aegon II escaped the capital and went into hiding as Rhaenyra held King’s Landing and ruled it as queen for half a year.
Still, her rule wasn’t as peaceful as she thought it might be because several incidents led to the people rioting and revolting. On top of that, Rhaenyra also lost a lot of supporters while she was holding King’s Landing due to some of her questionable decisions. As such, when the riots began, she had to flee the capital as it was clear that she was going to lose her life if she stayed there. But she was going to lose her life anyway.
That’s because her brother ended up hammering the final nail in her coffin when she was caught by Aegon II’s supporters. In that regard, King Aegon II summarily executed his older sister right then and there. After that, he took back King’s Landing and ruled as king while announcing that Rhaenyra was never officially a queen. Still, the Dance of the Dragons was far from over because Rhaenyra still had a lot of supporters that were willing to remove Aegon II from the throne, especially because Rhaenyra’s only heir, Aegon III, still lived.
How Does Aegon Kill Rhaenyra?
When Rhaenyra escaped King’s Landing, what she didn’t know was that Aegon II had been hiding in Dragonstone the entire time and was able to keep the people of Dragonstone quiet by winning them over to his side. As such, when Rhaenyra arrived on Dragonstone, one of her knights betrayed her and killed her Queensguard.
After that, Rhaenyra was given to Aegon II, who was able to land the final blow to her sister’s quest for the Iron Throne. The king allowed Sunfyre to burn Rhaenyra alive as she was fed to the dragon. This happened right in front of Aegon the Younger, who was traumatized by what he had seen. And this was the exact same reason why he never loved the dragons when he became King Aegon III.
If House of the Dragon were to adapt this same exact scene, this should surprise fans of the series, as Rhaenyra has been built up as the primary protagonist of the storyline. So, if she were to die right in the middle of the Targaryen civil war, the fans would certainly be surprised by the developments of the storyline.
When Does Aegon Kill Rhaenyra?
At one point in 130 AC, Rhaenyra held King’s Landing and ruled it as queen for six months. During that time, several of her supporters betrayed her and moved to the side of the Greens. This caused her to become paranoid, as she nearly killed one of Corlys Velaryon’s bastard children. She lost the support of the Velaryons when she had Corlys imprisoned for allowing his bastard son to escape.
Meanwhile, the capital didn’t have any money to spare because all of the gold that King Viserys left behind had been squandered away by the Greens. This caused her to raise the taxes on the smallfolk of King’s Landing, as they began to see Rhaenyra as a cruel king. That was when she earned the nickname “Maegor with Teats” in reference to King Maegor, who was one of the cruelest kings to ever rule the Seven Kingdoms.
Helaena Targaryen, who was beloved by the people, also committed suicide, as the smallfolk believed that this was also Rhaenyra’s doing. And that was the last straw as the people of King’s Landing rioted and attacked the Red Keep by the thousands.
Not even the City Watch could handle the riots, as Rhaenyra was forced to flee the capital with her only surviving son, Aegon the Younger, in her arms. All five of the dragons that were in King’s Landing at that time were killed by the angry mob.
Meanwhile, shortly after escaping King’s Landing, Rhaenyra retreated to Dragonstone, where she was betrayed by one of her knights as she was unaware that the garrisoned troops on her ancestral home had already been won over by Aegon II and the Greens. That was when Aegon II decided to execute her right then and there, as she was fed to Sunfyre.
