Is Aegon II Targaryen’s Dragon Sunfyre Lifeless?

Lots occurs within the season 2 finale of “Home of the Dragon,” so it is easy to miss a throwaway line in an early scene with Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys Sturdy (Matthew Needham). In between speaking about their plans to desert King’s Touchdown, Aegon mentions that his dragon Sunfyre is lifeless, presumably succumbing to its wounds shortly after the Battle of Rook’s Relaxation.

For show-only viewers, this line is critical in the way it emphasizes Aegon’s newfound disconnect from his Targaryen roots. A giant a part of a Targaryen’s declare to the throne is their capability to experience a dragon into battle, and Aegon can not try this. Sunfyre’s demise is a symbolic dying, much like what occurred with Sansa’s direwolf Girl in “Recreation of Thrones.” The direwolves had been principally the Starks’ equal of dragons, so when Sansa misplaced hers it served as an sick omen for what her time in King’s Touchdown would convey. Aegon goes by the same disaster in identification as Sansa’s, this time with extra grotesque outcomes. 

However for followers of the ebook, “Fireplace & Blood,” this line is critical in that it looks like a serious departure from the supply materials. Both Aegon hasn’t been instructed the reality about Sunfyre’s situation, or the present’s embarking on yet one more dangerous adaptive flourish.

Spoilers beneath for “Fireplace & Blood,” and certain the remainder of “Home of the Dragon.”

The excellent news is that the numerous dragons within the ebook do not die out fairly so rapidly. After the battle at Rook’s Relaxation, Sunfyre lives to roar one other day, permitting Aegon to have no less than one buddy who will assist him unconditionally. The dangerous information is that Sunfyre is additionally closely wounded by the battle, with one entire wing torn from his physique. Because the ebook describes it:

“The king’s dragon, Sunfyre, too large and heavy to be moved, and unable to fly together with his injured wing, remained within the fields past Rook’s Relaxation, crawling by the ashes like some nice golden wyrm. Within the early days he fed himself upon the burned carcasses of the slain. When these had been gone, the boys Ser Criston had left behind to protect him introduced him calves and sheep.”

Issues appear to be a little bit completely different within the present, which establishes (by Rhaenys’ dragon Meleys) that dragons are in truth gentle sufficient to be taken again to King’s Touchdown. Meleys’ physique is paraded by the town’s streets, which raises the query of what precisely the present characters did with Sunfyre. Did they carry him again too, however extra privately? Or did they resolve to depart him by Rook’s Relaxation as properly?

That is all essential as a result of, though Aegon won’t ever be capable of experience once more, his dragon will seemingly play a serious position in season 3 or 4. Close to the top of the battle, Ebook Rhaenyra arrives at Dragonstone to find a entice’s been laid earlier than her: the presumed-dead King Aegon is ready there together with his still-crippled Sunfyre. He has Sunfyre burn and eat Rhaenyra, as her ten-year-old son watches helplessly. It is a bleak second, but it surely’s additionally an important one within the narrative.

Rhaenyra’s dying is not simply essential as a result of it indicators the top of the battle, however due to the loaded symbolism of her being killed by her home’s personal sigil. In terms of making the thematic level about how Targaryen energy is a double-edged sword, there isn’t any higher metaphor the present may use. 

However given the finale’s different game-changing occasions, like the key newfound alliance between Rhaenyra and Alicent, maybe “Home of the Dragon” actually has killed Sunfyre off. Perhaps the writers produce other plans for the way they’re going to go about killing Rhaenyra, or possibly they will not kill Rhaenyra in any respect. Sure, which may contradict the ebook considerably, and it could additionally undermine a line from “Recreation of Thrones” the place Joffrey laughs about Rhaenyra’s dying. However possibly “Home of the Dragon” is not serious about being an easy prequel to the unique sequence. Perhaps this present exists in an alternate timeline. Perhaps it is going for its personal separate factor, books and former present be damned. 

Given how miserable the street forward is for ebook Rhaenyra, and the way a lot it frustratingly mirrors the downslide of Daenerys in season 8, a complete shake-up from the supply materials won’t be so dangerous. In spite of everything, it certain can be good if a feminine Targaryen bought to benefit from the crown for as soon as.