WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 2 and George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, on which the show is based!
Summary
Aegon II Targaryen’s heartbreaking response to Prince Jaehaerys’ death foreshadows another devastating part of his ending inHouse of the Dragon. High on the list of the most dreaded moments fromFire & Blood,House of the Dragon’s Blood and Cheese eventculminated in thecruel murder of 6-year-old Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen, the son and heir of King Aegonand Helaena. While Blood and Cheese were originally instructed to find and kill Aemond Targaryen to avenge Lucerys with “a son for a son,” his absence led the two murderers to behead young Prince Jaehaerys instead.
As Helaena more quietly mourns Jaehaerys when dissociating and retreating to her chambers, Aegon erupts in fits of anger, violence, and intense emotion. In addition to smashing his father King Viserys’ model of Old Valyria, Aegon sobs alone in his chambers, agrees to sendSer Arryk to pose as Erryk Cargylland kill Rhaenyra, and calls Team Black “traitors and villains” in his grief. At one point,Aegon emotionally cries out that his “son is [his] legacy,”mourning not only his son’s death and potential threat to his own life, but also his memory in generations to come. Tragically,Fire & Bloodconfirms Aegon’s concerns are warranted.
Jaehaerys' Death Means Aegon’s Line Is Extinguished After House Of The Dragon, Leaving Him Without A Legacy
Aegon leaves no direct male heirs in House of the Dragon’s ending
After the death of Prince Jaehaerys, King Aegon II Targaryen’s line is quickly extinguished inHouse of the Dragon.Fire & Bloodreveals that Helaena dies by an apparent suicide, Aegon himself is poisoned, and their daughter Jaehaera also dies by suicide shortly after the Dance of the Dragons is over, thusleaving Aegon without any direct descendants. While Aegon and Helaena have three children in the books,House of the Dragonhas seemingly cut Maelor, their youngest son, from the show. Regardless,Fire & Bloodreveals that Maelor is killed before Helaena, Aegon, and Jaehaerys, still leaving Aegon without a direct lineage (excluding his unclaimed bastards in King’s Landing).
Missing (later revealed to be alive)
Visenya
Dead
Considering Aegon’s claim to the Iron Throne is stipulated by the precedence of male primogeniture,only Aegon’s sons could carry out his legacy on the Iron Throne, not his daughter. Consequently, when he becomes emotional about Jaehaerys being his legacy, Aegon worries that his own flesh and blood will not be who sits on the Iron Throne for generations to come. Ultimately, he’s right, asAegon dies inHouse of the Dragon’s storywithout a son or direct descendant as his heir, putting an end to his own legacy at his death.
Ultimately, he’s right, as Aegon dies inHouse of the Dragon’s story without a son or direct descendant as his heir, putting an end to his own legacy at his death.
Aegon’s “Legacy” Is Actually Only Carried Out Through Rhaenyra Targaryen’s Heirs
After Aegon, the Irone Throne is inherited by Rhaenyra’s children and descendants
While it can be argued that Aegon wins the Dance of the Dragons given he dies after Rhaenyra, the reverse can be argued, given Rhaenyra’s descendants are the ones who ascend the Iron Throne and continue their family line. Since Aegon and his siblings have no living male descendants upon his death, theIron Throne is ascended by Aegon III Targaryen, the son of Rhaenyra and Daemon. Though Jaehaera was still alive at that point, Aegon’s claim regarding males inheriting the throne meant that the next-eldest Targaryen male would succeed him, which happened to be Rhaenyra’s son.
Game of Thrones' Targaryens, Daenerys and Jon Snow, are direct descendants of Rhaenyra Targaryen through her son Viserys.
Shortly after Aegon III Targaryen ascended the Iron Throne, he was married to Aegon II’s daughter Jaehaera, though she would soon die by suicide while still a child. The last of Aegon’s line died at that moment, meaning the rest of theTargaryen family treeandevery subsequent Targaryen ruler would descend from Rhaenyra and her childreninstead. Aegon may be the one who the history books call the official king, but Rhaenyra is the one whose legacy prevails over House Targaryen afterHouse of the Dragon.
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?”
New episodes ofHouse of the Dragonseason 2 release Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.
House of the Dragon
Cast
House of the Dragon is a 2022 fantasy drama set in the world of Westeros, chronicling the Targaryen dynasty at its height. The story revolves around King Viserys’s controversial decision to name his daughter Rhaenyra as heir to the Iron Throne, sparking tensions and divisions within the realm.
