The following contains major spoilers from House of the Dragon season 2 and beyond.
I’m sorry to start your week on a sour note, but—to put it bluntly—everyone on House of the Dragon dies. Your favorite character, your least favorite character, and even people you don’t even realize are important yet—they won’t survive this war. This isn’t a happy story. House of the Dragon follows a crazy, inbred family with immense power. The fact that they all kill each other in the end may just be the greatest form of mercy. Either way, it’s going to happen eventually.
It won’t be pretty, either. If you’ve read this far, that means you’re determined to find out how Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) dies—no matter the cost. I bet you think it couldn’t be that bad. Rhaenyra is a main character, after all! I apologize...again. It brings me no joy to tell you that her death is so horrifying that one of her handmaids gouges out her eyes so that she doesn’t have to see it anymore. There is only pain coming our way, people. Read below for the shocking conclusion to Rhaenyra’s story.
Game of Thrones Already Revealed How Rhaenyra Dies
If you recall, Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) divulged the circumstances of Rhaenyra’s death on Game of Thrones. Since everything on House of the Dragon occurs far in the past, most of the Targaryen legends have been recorded in history books. Fire & Blood—the novel by George R.R. Martin from which House of the Dragon draws its story—was written by Archmaester Gyldayn and contains testimony from several figures in Westeros. One of those stories is “The Dance of the Dragons,” which Joffrey spoiled entirely back in season 3, episode 4.
“Rhaenyra Targaryen was murdered by her brother, or rather, his dragon,” he tells Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). “It ate her while her son watched. What’s left of her is buried in the crypts right down there.” As insane as the boy king is on Game of Thrones, he’s right on the money. King Aegon II Targaryen’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) dragon, Sunfyre, burns Rhaenyra alive and devours her in six bites. Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) son—also named Aegon—watches in terror.
I won’t spoil how the story ends, because there’s still much more plot left, even after Rhaenyra’s horrifying defeat. But I will say that the entire tale is thrilling! Even if you’ve spoiled Rhaenyra’s death for yourself today, it likely won’t appear on our screens until House of the Dragon’s final season. If you’re Team Rhaenyra, just know that she gets her time back on the throne…for a little while.
