House of the Dragon often deviates from the book source. However, they have changed the fate of a dragon so much that the actual ending of the story is no longer possible. Although it was already set in stone in Game of Thrones.
Already in Season 2 of House of the Dragon, the first dragons had to meet their end. In the Battle of Crow’s Rest, Rhaenys and Meleys faced Aemond and Vhagar. But another dragon joined the fray:
Sunfire and its rider Aegon II, the usurper of a king. Ironically, Aemond and Vhagar take him on even though they should be on the same side. Aegon is disfigured and Sunfire is left dying.
Now in Season Three, Sunfire has already been mentioned multiple times. If we are to believe the observers like Daemon, the still young dragon is dead. But that would turn the entire ending of House of the Dragon on its head. King Joffrey from Game of Thrones already confirmed in the main series how the Dance of the Dragons will end.
Aegon vs. Rhaenyra has a fixed ending – so far
In fact, it is Sunfire that ultimately consumes Rhaenyra at the end of the war between Aegon II and Rhaenyra, leading to her premature demise. Rhaenyra flees back to Dragonstone after the assault on the dragon pit and the loss of her own fire-breather Syrax.
However, Aegon II, who is still heavily disfigured, has hidden there with the also injured Sunfire. Brother and sister have one last conversation that is almost civil. Then Aegon orders Sunfire to kill Rhaenyra. The dragon hesitates at first but then does as commanded. And that before the eyes of Rhaenyra’s very young son Aegon. The boy is traumatized for life as a result.
Thus Rhaenyra seemingly loses the war for the most uncomfortable chair in the world. Aegon II returns to King’s Landing and is soon poisoned by his own advisors. What follows is the grand entrance of Cregan Stark, who, as originally agreed with Jacaerys Velaryon in Season 2, marches south with his army.
Cregan enforces law and order in King’s Landing with brutal methods and helps Rhaenyra’s son Aegon ascend to the throne as Aegon III, who is immediately married to Jaehaera Targaryen – the daughter of Aegon II and Helaena Targaryen. This reunites the warring bloodlines.
However, since Aegon III has seen a dragon devour his mother, he fears the symbol of his house. In the books, Rhaena, the daughter of Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon, has a freshly hatched dragon named Morning at the end of the war. Aegon does not want him anywhere near him.
During the reign of Aegon III, dragons hatch from their eggs less and less frequently. After a failed clutch, in which a baby is also harmed, the king ends the tradition of placing eggs in the cradles.
In the year 153 AC, the last dragon dies during the reign of Aegon III. At least he is the last dragon until Daenerys returns to Westeros many years later with Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal.
This ending can no longer be fully possible if Sunfire has already died at Crow’s Rest. This, of course, opens up other possibilities for the finale, which could give the black queen a gentler ending. But is Sunfire really dead?
Daeron is an imposter and Sunfire is not dead
I actually don’t believe that Sunfire is really dead. There are two storytelling reasons for this. Number one is that in Season Three, it has already been emphasized multiple times how dead the dragon really is. In three of the four episodes so far, it is said that Sunfire would be rotting.
In Episode Four, Aegon II and his loyal
advisor Larys Strong have finally made it to Crow’s Rest, and we see the lifeless body of Sunfire. However, the remains of Meleys are also shown. The latter appear to be much further along in the decomposition process than Sunfire.
Aegon II himself states that his dragon is still alive. Who would know better than the rider connected to the beast?
The repeated emphasis in the series that Sunfire is indeed dead tells us one thing: The showrunners want us to think that the fire-breather is no longer alive and that the ending is suddenly open.
Moreover, there is the confusion tactic with Alicent’s youngest son Daeron Targaryen. The actor has been known for a while now and appeared directly in Episode One as a brown-haired page of Ormund Hightower. In Episode Three, however, Ormund presented Daemon with a platinum-haired boy who turned out to be an imposter.
Because we viewers are repeatedly told that Sunfire is dead, combined with the switcheroo game with Daeron, I believe that the showrunners are just trying to prank us all. They probably hope to convince enough fans that House of the Dragon ends differently than in the source material. Which could lead to a big Oh wow
from the community when Sunfire turns out to be very much alive and hungry for queens.
I actually belong to the faction of people who, of course, hope for a different ending. Rhaenyra wanted to fly around the world with Alicent as a teenager and just eat cake. I would grant her that. I just don’t believe in a happy ending for anyone in this series.
But what do you think: Do you believe that Sunfire is really dead and I am assuming too much calculation on the part of the showrunners? Or are you on my side and equally convinced that everything will happen as written? Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments. And if you want to know where on the scale the dragonriders Aegon and Sunfire stand, you should read here: The 10 strongest dragon riders from the universe of House of the Dragon in the power ranking
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