This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon: Season OneHouse of the Dragonplays theatre to combat, diplomacy, and the preludes to all-out warfare. Throughout such a stage, there is plenty of room for death,and Warner Bros. did not hold backon displaying how loss can significantly affect those that are left behind.
Throughout this list, we will be reviewing the deaths that carried the most weight throughout the show’s ten-episode span. Covering death by combat, sacrifice, and circumstance, we will be ranking these deaths based on the emotional weight they carried for the show’s characters and the audience. We will also be considering the impact the death had on the story’s events and how it potentially channeled the course of events.
6Ser Joffrey Lonmouth
When Rhaenyra and Laenor were set to be married, they were initially against the idea but grew to find the duty an acceptable one after agreeing that they would be allowed to seek comfort in their paramours. Ser Joffrey Lonmouth was Laenor’s love, and while Laenor was still uneasy about the idea, Joffrey assured his lover that they would be together, and he didn’t mind that Rhaenyra simply wanted what they had also wanted.
During a great feast, Joffrey deduced that Rhaenyra’s lover was her personal guard, Ser Criston Cole, and he proceeded to converse with the knight, intending to imply that the two can work together to ensure their respective trysts are kept private. Ser Criston Cole would misinterpret Joffrey’s intentions and, believing he was being blackmailed, begin to brutally assault Joffrey, murdering him in front of many onlookers. While Criston seemingly didn’t receive any punishment for this act (instead being promoted to being the Queen’s personal guard during the course of a significant time jump), the repercussions could be felt as Rhaenyra and Laenor had struggled to maintain the peace in their marriage after such a tragic beginning.
5Queen Aemma Arryn
King Viserys' wife was set to give birth to a son, which the King had desperately wanted as he had no male heir outside his younger brother, Daemon. Aemma’s labor was not easy, however, and would lead to the King having to make a very difficult decision during the show’s first episode.
The Maester would inform the King that the best chance for his son to survive labor was to have a cesarean performed on his wife, though this procedure would put his wife at significant risk of death. Viserys, looking to secure his legacy, would elect to put his wife at risk to save his son. Though both mother and son would die, Aemma’s death carried weight as this would lead to Viserys marrying Alicent and giving the Hightowers enough political power to wage war against the Targaryens.
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4Prince-Admiral Craghas Drahar
“Crabfeeder” Craghas Drahar proved to be an effective military leader, leading his men on a siege where it appeared they were set to take over the Stepstones, a crucial territory for travel between Westeros and the Free Cities. Craghas Drahar fancied himself the ruler of the Triarchy, and, as such, showed no fear, even when Daemon and Caraxes would bear down on his forces from above, expertly ordering his men to shelter under caverns that Caraxes couldn’t reach.
After Daemon feigned surrender and began slaughtering Crabfeeder’s men, the two would duel, and Craghas would be brutally slain off-screen, half of his body being carried from the cave as a trophy of Daemon’s victory. With Craghas defeated, Daemon’s struggle to prove himself would be reached, and he would be briefly considered “King of the Narrow Sea” before kneeling to his brother.
3Ser Vaemond Velaryon
Crabfeeder wouldn’t be the only man to fall to Daemon’s sword. Vaemond grows angry hearing thatafter his brother’s critical injuries, Lucerys is intended to inherit Driftmark. When his political maneuvering is stalled by the return of King Viserys (gravely weak from illness and age), Vaemond speaks out against both of Rhaenyra’s children, calling them bastards, and throwing their lineage as Velaryons into question.
Openly insulting Rhaenrya, Vaemond is not afraid of the King’s threats to take Vaemond’s tongue. Daemon is all too happy to strike down the man who is insulting his wife and would quickly decapitate Vaemond,ironically leaving the tongue intact. This death would be swift and shocking, and it would prove to be another display of Daemon’s aggression mere moments after he allowed the people in the chamber to see his compassionate side.
2Lady Laena Velaryon
Lady Laena Velaryon bore a similar fate as Queen Aemma. Laena had two daughters with Daemon during the span of the time jump and had managed to find the compassionate side of the ordinarily bristling man. Going into labor, Laena would face complications with the birth, leading the Maester to converse with Daemon on the risks of a Cesarean.
While Daemon showed concern for his wife’s well-being, indicating he was leaning towards saving Laena over their unborn child, unlike his brother, Laena decided to take matters into her own hands. Potentially fearing that she was to die during labor, Laena sought her dragon, Vhagar, and ordered him to burn her alive. Seeking an honorable rider’s death, Vhagar would eventually burn Laena alive as Daemon looks on, remorseful that he has lost a woman he genuinely cared for.
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1Prince Lucerys Velaryon
Prince Lucerys Velaryon would be sent on a diplomatic mission to Storm’s End to ensure that the Baratheons remained loyal to Rhaenyra. Upon arriving, Lucerys would immediately beantagonized by Aemond Targaryen, and the two would commence a chase for survival. With Aemond chasing Lucerys with each riding their dragons, audiences were treated to haunting shots throughout the scene.
Ending with Vhagar eating both Arrax and Lucerys, the full impact ofthe young prince’s deathhas still yet to be felt. The emotional weight of this loss is seen in the quiet fury on Rhaenyra’s face as she learns the news, and many are awaiting the full consequences that will come to bear in season two ofHouse of the Dragon, which is set to come to audiences in 2024.
