If you’re a character in House of the Dragon then sadly for you it’s more likely than not you’re going to meet a grisly end, and the way in which Rhaenyra dies is truly traumatic. She’s already managed to survive some attempts on her life but sooner or later her luck has to run out, and it does so in a very gory way.

Whilst the show might deviate from the books, we get a very thorough look at exactly how Rhaenyra dies in both them and also through some snippets in Game of Thrones. So, let’s find out the horrific and heartbreaking way that Rhaenyra Targaryen dies in the House of the Dragon books. And get the tissues and potentially a sick bag out as well.

Via HBO

In season three of Game of Thrones Joffrey discusses Rhaenyra’s demise, telling Margaery Tyrell: “Rhaenyra Targaryen was murdered by her brother, or rather, his dragon. It ate her while her son watched. What’s left of her is buried in the crypts right down there.” Yeah, so that happened.

Shireen gives us another tidbit of information in season five when she talks about the famous Dance of the Dragons. She describes: “It’s the story of the fight between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon for control of the Seven Kingdoms. Both of them thought they belonged on the Iron Throne. When people started declaring for one of them or the other, their fight divided the kingdoms in two. Brothers fought brothers. Dragons fought dragons. By the time it was over, thousands were dead. And it was a disaster for the Targaryens as well. They never truly recovered.” Yikes.

Via HBO

Then the actual description of Rhaenyra’s death is covered in Fire and Blood, the book series that House of the Dragon is based around. So yeah, as you might have picked up by now Aegon has her killed and eaten by his dragon Sunfyre whilst her only son watches. Just classic Targaryen behaviour.

The book describes: “Sunfyre, it is said, did not seem at first to take any interest in the offering, until Broome pricked the queen’s breast with his dagger. The smell of blood roused the dragon, who sniffed at Her Grace, then bathed her in a blast of flame, so suddenly that Ser Alfred’s cloak caught fire as he leapt away. Rhaenyra Targaryen had time to raise her head toward the sky and shriek out one last curse upon her half-brother before Sunfyre’s jaws closed round her, tearing off her arm and shoulder.”

To add an extra level of gruesomeness to the whole affair apparently it only takes Sunfyre “six bites” to completely devour her, leaving only her “left leg below the shin.” In fact it’s all so gory that her handmaid who was also watching literally gouges her eyes out. Don’t really even know what to say about that.