Saddest Deaths In House Of The Dragon

Highlights

• Death is a central theme in
  House of the Dragon
  , impacting key characters and shaping the plot.
• Tragic deaths, such as Queen Aemma Arryn’s forced childbirth and Lucerys Velaryon’s dragon chase, evoke strong emotions.
• The death of King Viserys, caused by the “rot,” reflects his pain, delirium, and the undoing of his decision to name Rhaenyra his heir.

Death is a central theme in HBO’s House of the Dragon, and the old must make way for the new. Starting with the death of King Jaehaerys, who resolved the matter of his succession at a Great Council, to Queen Aemma Arryn, whose tragic death created the circumstances of Viserys’ second marriage; death is more than just a plot device in House of the Dragon.

While Jaehaerys lived an extraordinary life, the untimely deaths of Prince Lucerys, his mount Arrax, and Ser Harwin Strong left a long-lasting impact on the characters in House of the Dragon. Rhaenyra was consumed with the grief of her mother’s death, and now she deals with the loss of her son. Here is what these somber deaths mean in the broader context of the plot.

6 Lord Lyman Beesbury

Brutally Killed By Criston Cole

The frail Lyman Beesbury served Viserys for many years and honored his decision to name a female heir. He is among the first few who are informed about the Viserys’ passing. Seeing as the council plots to install Aegon on the throne, Lyman gets up his seat and questions Alicent and Otto Hightower’s motives and the manner of the King’s death:

“I will not have this. To hear that you are plotting to replace the king’s chosen heir with an impostor!”

Lord Lyman refuses to believe the man he knew the longest chose to change his heir at his last moment with no more than one witness. Criston Cole shoves Lyman down (intending to seat him), which punctures his temple against his marble. Lord Lyman dies instantly, and Cole displays no regret, meaning he will go to any length in the Dance.

5 The Strongs’ Deaths

Orchestrated By Their Kin

After Ser Harwin’s dismissal from the Gold Cloaks, his father and Hand, Lyonel, escorts him to the Strong seat, Harrenhal, to prepare him for his future as Lord. The father-son duo leaves for Harrenhal, and in the meanwhile, Lyonel’s youngest, Larys, plots to kill them. He frees lowly criminals but takes out their tongues, so they never speak of what they are tasked to do.

These criminals set Harren’s castle on fire and make sure Lyonel and Harwin are trapped inside. The duo had selflessly served the realm but died in a gruesome manner. Larys blames their deaths on the Curse of Harrenhal and becomes the new Lord of Harrenhal. Alicent’s father, Otto, is back at court as the king’s Hand.

4 Queen Aemma Arryn

Viserys Granted Permission To Cut Aemma’s Womb

One of Viserys’ worst decisions in House of the Dragon was to allow the Maesters to cut into Queen Aemma’s Womb to save the baby. There is a lot to unpack here and it goes something like this.

Viserys held the Heir’s Tournament and expected Aemma would bring forth a boy. She had already suffered miscarriages, and stillbirths, and endured the loss of a baby in the cradle, and she’d conveyed that this pregnancy would be her last attempt to give him an heir. Maester Mellos made a suggestion, and Viserys let him cut Aemma open while he held her down without her consent and knowledge. He sacrificed Aemma to save their child, but his infant boy was pronounced dead hours after his birth. Aemma died in forced childbirth, with complications of massive blood loss and shock.

3 Lady Laena Velaryon

Commanded Vhagar To Burn Her

Laena Velaryon is an example of yet another dreadful childbirth scene in House of the Dragon, but the key difference is that she chooses to die by Vhagar’s fire, and her husband, Daemon, arrives late at the scene of the death.

In the show’s canon, Laena and Daemon had two girls, Baela and Rhaena, and she suffered a difficult labor. While the Maester suggested they could make an incision and remove the baby from her womb, Laena went to her dragon, Vhagar, and commanded her to incinerate her. Vhagar was reluctant at first but agreed to end Laena’s suffering. Daemon watched in shock, as Laena chose to exercise her agency in her final moments.

2 Lucerys Velaryon And Arrax

Killed In Dragon Chase

Rhaenyra Targaryen sends her secondborn son, Prince Lucerys Velaryon, on a diplomatic mission to Storm’s End to remind Borros Baratheon of his father’s oath. The mission is unsuccessful, and Lucerys’ uncle, Aemond Targaryen, present at the Baratheon seat, has promised himself a marriage pact.

Borros quickly ushers Lucerys out of his castle, but Aemond decides to go after him. It’s stormy, and Aemond’s Vhagar dwarfs Lucerys’ Arrax. As Lucerys rides away, Arrax angers Vhagar by breathing fire at her. Both dragons lose control in this chase scene and Vhagar appears out of nowhere and chomps Lucerys and Arrax, sending the dragon’s remains into the waters below. Aemond displays regret, but the truth is, that he caused their deaths.

1 Viserys Targaryen

A Painful Death Caused By Rot

Viserys endures “the rot” throughout House of the Dragon – season 1. The Maesters try every possible cure, but towards the end, keep him sedated with the milk of the poppy. In the end, Viserys is reduced to a shadow of his former self. He dies in pain and delirium, mistaking Alicent for his daughter Rhaenyra and reaffirming his decision to name her heir by citing the Prince That Was Promised prophecy:

“To unite the realm against the cold and the dark. It is you. You are the one. You must do this. You must do this.”

Viserys’ death is a poignant scene in House of the Dragon – cold, dark, and silent. Not to mention, in his final moments, the king mistakenly undoes years of the work he put in and the courage he displayed by naming Rhaenyra his heir.