Did Aegon Targaryen really die last night in “House of the Dragon”?

In the thrilling episode of House of the Dragon, arguably the best battle in the Thrones series since Battle of the Bastards, there were some high-profile casualties, but some questions remained unanswered. If you’ve looked online, you already know which ones I mean.

That would be King Aegon Targaryen, but first we must not forget the sacrifice of Rhaenys, whose death was confirmed, which corresponds to what happens in the book. We see Meleys die and Rhaenys falls to her death shortly after. There is a whole interview with actress Eve Best talking about her death. So yes, she is dead, fallen into Cole and Aemond’s trap. But of course there were those kinks…

ForbesHouse Of The Dragon Season 2 Episode 4 Recap and Review: The Red Dragon and the GoldFrom Eric Kain

That would be Aegon Targaryen, who decides to drink and ride dragons and heads to Rook’s Rest, where he probably figures he can just blow up the castle with dragon fire and look like he’s doing something useful in the war. But the idiot that he is, he didn’t count on him running into the more experienced dragon rider Rhaenys, nor his brother, who rode Vhaegar, who took the unexpected opportunity to try and possibly take the throne.

We see Aemond deliberately blast Aegon with dragon fire as he fights with Rhaenys, and the dragon and Aegon descend into the forest, their fate unknown. When they are down, we see a dying but not dead Sunfyre and Aegon lying on the ground in his armor. Probably badly injured, maybe dead. But is he dead? There is an answer in the book, but first, some questions you may have had.

Targaryens are not immune to dragon fire – This is established in the lore of the series, even if they are immune to normal fire, as we have seen several times with Daenerys. But this power has its limits, and that limit is dragon fire.

Valyrian steel is not immune to dragon fire – It may be the hardest metal in the land, but it is not completely immune to dragon fire. Not that Aegon was covered in it from head to toe, leaving his head and face exposed.

Targaryens are not immune to fall damage – I mean, fire aside, he fell 1,000 feet. I guess you could say Sunfyre may have broken his fall, but still. And in this episode, Rhaenys undoubtedly died from fall damage, considering she didn’t suffer any burns (like in the book).

Now, Book spoilers follow.

Aegon is… alive? But barely. Because of all the dragon fire, Aegon’s Valyrian steel is actually melting into his body and he is badly burned and bedridden. But he is not dead and therefore technically still king. That makes him the second invalid king among as many kings, but of course that creates a lot of problems for the future. More on that another time.

Aemond looked ready to execute him, but he held back when Cole showed up. Or did he want to put the dragon out of his misery? Either way, he clearly wants his brother dead, maybe he just didn’t want a witness. Still, Cole undoubtedly saw what he was about to do. But Cole is also an idiot and often disloyal, so who knows if that matters.

Absolutely wild episode this week. I can’t wait to see what happens next and it will be hard to ever top a fight like that.

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