Does Rhaenyra Actually Kill Aegon In House Of The Dragon?

WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for House of the Dragon's season 2 finale and George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood book, on which the show is based!

Summary Rhaenyra doesn't kill Aegon - he kills her in House of the Dragon.

Aegon escapes King's Landing before Rhaenyra arrives, leading to their final showdown.

Aegon is poisoned by his own men after killing Rhaenyra and reclaiming his throne.

Though ​​Rhaenyra tells Alicent that she’ll have to kill Aegon when taking the Iron Throne, whether she gets the opportunity in House of the Dragon is another story. Nearly twenty years before the Green usurped the crown, Otto Hightower baked the idea into his daughter that Rhaenyra must kill Alicent and Viserys’ children to take the Iron Throne. Alicent tragically turned this into a self-fulfilling prophecy, as her fears for her children led her to push Rhaenyra away, prepare Aegon to rule, usurp the Iron Throne, and launch a war in which Rhaenyra has no choice but to kill Aegon.

In a desperate attempt to conclude the war, Alicent secretly visits Rhaenyra on Dragonstone in House of the Dragon season 2’s ending. Alicent tells Rhaenyra that Helaena will surrender King’s Landing to her, but asks that she let them flee and live anonymously. Alicent also initially asks to spare Aegon, but Rhaenyra reiterates that to secure her rule she must “end the opposition,” forcing Alicent to choose to either escape with Helaena and allow Aegon to die, or continue this war. Alicent reluctantly prepares to let Rhaenyra kill Aegon – but this isn’t actually what happens in the Dance.

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Rhaenyra Doesn't Kill Aegon In The Dance – He Kills Her

Aegon Can't Be Found When Rhaenyra Take's King's Landing, But They Do Meet Again

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Though Rhaenyra believes that she’ll arrive at King’s Landing to an unresistant Aegon due to his physical state, she’ll find that he secretly escaped the city prior to her flight from Dragonstone. Consequently, Rhaenyra does not kill Aegon in House of the Dragon despite successfully taking King’s Landing. In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, Larys helps Aegon escape to Dragonstone, where he goes into hiding while Rhaenyra rules as Queen on the Iron Throne.

Aegon takes the Queen before his dragon and forces her son, Aegon the Younger, to watch as Sunfyre fatally burns and devours Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra doesn’t kill Aegon, as it’s actually Aegon who kills Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon. After only six months on the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra is forced to flee King’s Landing following a series of dangerous riots by the smallfolk, one of which culminates in the deaths of five dragons (including Syrax and Dreamfyre) and her son, Joffrey. When Rhaenyra returns to Dragonstone, she’s unexpectedly met by King Aegon II Targaryen. Aegon then takes the Queen before his dragon and forces her son, Aegon the Younger, to watch as Sunfyre fatally burns and devours Rhaenyra.

Related Who Wins The Dance Of The Dragons? It’s Complicated In the Dance of the Dragons, Targaryens fought Targaryens in a blood feud that consumed Westeros. But who really won that “game of thrones?”

How Aegon Actually Dies In House Of The Dragon & What Happens After His Death

Aegon Is Poisoned By His Own Men

via HBO

Aegon may not be killed by Rhaenyra in the Dance of the Dragons, but he does suffer a brutal fate. Not too long after he kills Rhaenyra and reclaims his seat in King’s Landing, King Aegon II Targaryen is fatally poisoned by his own men. Aegon enters a carriage with a flagon of wine and is soon found dead inside with blood on his lip. Fire & Blood reveals that the primary co-conspirators behind Aegon’s death are Larys Strong, Corlys Verlaryon, and Ser Perkin the Flea, whose fates are later judged by Lord Cregan Stark for their treachery.

Following King Aegon II Targaryen's death, the only known living Targaryens are his daughter Jaehaera, Daemon's daughters Baela and Rhaena, and Rhaenyra's sons Aegon and Viserys.

After King Aegon II’s death, he’s succeeded by Rhaenyra’s son King Aegon III Targaryen, his last-known male Targaryen heir. In order to rebuild the realm with peace, previous Green and Black loyalists make up a council of Aegon’s regents, with Cregan Stark serving as Hand for just a few days until justice is served against traitors on both sides. Ultimately, Aegon’s entire line is extinguished when his daughter, Jaehaera, dies soon after, meaning all subsequent Targaryens after House of the Dragon directly descend from Rhaenyra.