Warning: Major spoilers for the book “Fire & Blood” and “House of the Dragon” season three.
In the “House of the Dragon” season two finale, Prince Daemon has a vision of his wife, Rhaenyra Targaryen, on the Iron Throne.
Daemon comes to believe that Rhaenyra is the chosen one, the “Prince That Was Promised,” who will unite the realm against darkness, a belief that motivates Rhaenyra herself to seize power in season three, even through grief, treason, and doubt.
But her story won’t be so triumphant if the series follows its source material.
Although many fans will be thrilled to see Queen Rhaenyra finally materialize after she was named her father’s heir all the way back in season one, actor Emma D’Arcy said the show’s third season explores “a movement towards tyranny.”
“I think in Rhaenyra’s case,” D’Arcy told Entertainment Weekly, “it’s a kind of religious fanaticism, actually, that starts to radicalize her position.”
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra’s half-brothers — the primary challengers to her crown — are still at large: Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), aka Aegon the Usurper, quietly fled King’s Landing after he was critically injured in battle at Rook’s Rest, while Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) has flown to the Riverlands with his massive dragon Vhagar to claim Harrenhal castle.
Here’s what happens to Rhaenyra in the original book, George R. R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.”
Rhaenyra becomes Queen of Westeros, but both the throne and the smallfolk reject her
As in season three of “House of the Dragon,” Rhaenyra presses her advantage once Aemond sets forth to retake Harrenhal, leaving King’s Landing unprotected. Only one dragonrider remains in the city: Queen Helaena, bonded to Dreamfyre, described in the book as a “broken woman” who’s unable to fight or fly. (In the show, she’s perfectly lucid but refuses to use her dragon to burn people.)
Rhaenyra and Daemon fly to King’s Landing on their own dragons, Syrax and Caraxes, flanked by her newly recruited dragonriders. They find the knights of the City Watch have remained loyal to Daemon, so they’re easily able to coax a surrender from the Dowager Queen Alicent.
“The sight of the queen’s dragons in the sky above took the heart out of the opposition, and King Aegon’s remaining loyalists hid or fled or bent the knee,” the book reads, although Aegon himself is nowhere to be found when Rhaenyra arrives in the Red Keep.
But Aegon’s escape is only the beginning of Queen Rhaenyra’s problems. When she finally ascends her father’s throne, the ancient seat made of melted swords, it cuts her legs and hands. Onlookers watch as blood drips from her skin. In Westerosi lore, this is considered an ill omen, as if the throne itself is rejecting her claim.
Soon enough, the smallfolk turn on Rhaenyra. She is forced to drastically raise taxes, since three-quarters of the crown’s gold had been shipped away by Aegon’s master of coin (and Aegon spent whatever was left). There isn’t enough food in the city, either, so the criminals of King’s Landing are publicly executed. Their heads are displayed on spikes above the city gates, and the rest of their corpses are fed to the queen’s dragons.
People begin spreading scandalous rumors about Rhaenyra’s cruelty, and some even come to see dragons as evil, unnatural creatures, not as symbols of House Targaryen’s power and divinity.
Eventually, a series of disasters and betrayals brings a premature end to Rhaenyra’s reign.
Hugh Hammer and Ulf White, two of the dragonseeds that Rhaenyra recruited for her army, double-cross the queen and scheme to seize power for themselves. Daemon dies fighting Aemond. Helaena, beloved by the smallfolk, dies by suicide. King’s Landing erupts in riots, leading to the deaths of multiple dragons (including the queen’s own dragon, Syrax) and Rhaenyra’s thirdborn son, Prince Joffrey.
Dragonless and vulnerable, Rhaenyra has no choice but to flee. She uses the last of her resources to escape the city with her last living son, Aegon the Younger, and retreat to Dragonstone, her former stronghold. (Her fifth and youngest son, Viserys II, is presumed dead after the Battle of the Gullet.)
Rhaenyra returns to Dragonstone, where she is eaten by her brother’s dragon
When Rhaenyra reaches Dragonstone, her brother Aegon is already there. Aegon’s dragon, Sunfyre, had also found his way back to the island after recuperating in the woods next to Rook’s Rest.
Aegon and Sunfyre had taken control of Dragonstone and slain Rhaenyra’s supporters, though both were greatly weakened in the process. The book says that by the time Rhaenyra returned, Sunfyre was on the brink of death.
“Dear brother,” Rhaenyra says when she sees Aegon’s scarred face. “I had hoped that you were dead.”
“After you,” Aegon answers. “You are the elder.”
Sealing his victory, Aegon feeds Rhaenyra to his dragon while her son, Aegon the Younger, watches in horror.
Rhaenyra’s fate is revealed in ‘Game of Thrones’ season three
“House of the Dragon” is a prequel to “Game of Thrones,” set about 170 years before the main series begins.
That means “Game of Thrones” fans already know a few spoilers. By the time we meet famous characters like Ned Stark, Cersei Lannister, and King Robert Baratheon, dragons have been extinct for generations; House Targaryen has recently been ousted from power, and there are only a few members of the family left alive.
Some fans may even remember a more specific spoiler, courtesy of Cersei’s eldest son, Joffrey Lannister.
In “Game of Thrones” season three, episode four, “And Now His Watch Is Ended,” Joffrey is giving his future queen, Margaery Tyrell, a tour of the Sept of Baelor in King’s Landing.
“Rhaenyra Targaryen was murdered by her brother, or rather, his dragon,” Joffrey recalls. “It ate her while her son watched. What’s left of her is buried in the crypts right down there.”
Ayomikun Adekaiyero contributed to a previous version of this story.
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