‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2, Episode 4, Explained: Did Aegon Die?

🚨 Warning! Spoilers ahead for “House of the Dragon” and George R. R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.”

“House of the Dragon” Season Two, Episode Four, was an action-packed bit of television that, by its end, left viewers with plenty of questions. But of course, we must address the most pressing: Did King Aegon II Targaryen really just die? What in the Westeros happens now?

“House of the Dragon” is adapted from George R. R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.” The book chronicles the dynasty of House Targaryen and everything that leads to the events in “Game of Thrones,” which is based on Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” books. And though some “House of the Dragon” plot lines have strayed from Martin’s novels, the material could give viewers a hint at what the show is up to — so let’s compare and contrast.

What happens to Aegon II in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2, Episode 4?

King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) is an agent of sabotage — both to himself and others — in this episode. After being chewed out by his mother, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), who implores him to humble himself when heeding council from his elders, Aegon turns to liquor. (He is also still grieving the death of his son, so there’s that, too.)

In his drunken state, Aegon decides to grab his dragon and head to battle to face the Blacks, aka the supporters of Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy).

The thing is, Aegon’s brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) crafted a plan to ambush the Blacks on his dragon, so Aemond’s not too happy when he spots Aegon and his mount flying overhead.

Meanwhile, over at Dragonstone, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) has volunteered herself and her dragon to fight on behalf of the Blacks.

All three dragons and their riders end up colliding in a bloody, airborne showdown. When Aegon’s dragon gets locked in with Rhaenys’, Aemond’s dragon — Vhagar, the largest in the land —attacks them.

Aegon and his beast are downed, but we’re not sure of their fate just yet. Rhaenys and her mount make it out of that encounter and get a brief moment of peace — but then Aemond’s dragon emerges from the clouds to kill them.

By the episode’s end, we learn what happened to Aegon. Back on the ground, Ser Criston Cole, the current hand of the king, finds the crash site of Aegon and his dragon in the forest. Aemond is there too and tells Cole to take a look at the scene. Cole sees Aegon’s body laying lifeless.

Does Aegon II die in the book?

In George R. R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” King Aegon II dies by poison at age 24.

It happens after Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, makes a plea to Aegon to surrender his crown and abdicate in favor of Aegon III, Aegon’s nephew and Rhaenyra’s son. (Rhaenyra has died at this point in the book after Aegon fed her to his dragon.)

Aegon isn’t interested in doing such a thing.

So here comes the coup. Allies of Aegon are quietly killed in King’s Landing, though the court keeps about their business. Next thing we know, Aegon, just after enjoying a glass of wine in his carriage, is discovered inside it dead “upon his cushions.”

“There was blood on his lips,” one knight recalled. Though the perpetrator isn’t caught, most “have no doubt that it was done at the behest of Larys Strong.”

If Aegon II is dead, what happens now?

In the book, King Aegon II is succeeded by Aegon III, who, again, is his nephew and Rhaenyra’s son.

In the show, if Aegon did not in fact survive the dragon clash, it appears that Aemond, his brother, is next in line to his throne. Aegon’s only son was murdered earlier in Season Two. (In the show, Aegon has two kids, and the surviving one is female.) So it looks like the Greens may have just got a new king.