Who Will Die in Episode 5 of 'House of the Dragon'?

While the first major battle of House of the Dragon S eason 2 has now come and gone, only one major character definitively died in the Battle of Rook’s Rest. But that character — Rhaenys Targaryen, the Queen Who Never Was — was a key player on Team Black, so retribution is no doubt coming.

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Based on what we know of the source material, George R.R. Martin ’s Fire & Blood , and what's happened through the first four episodes of the season, let’s speculate about who could be next to go on House of the Dragon :

Who will die in Season 2 Episode 5 of House of the Dragon?

Aegon Targaryen

At the end of the Battle at Rook’s Rest, Aegon didn’t seem to be doing so well, though it wasn’t clear whether he was actually dead or just badly injured. He and his dragon, Sunfyre, fell from the sky after Vhagar (at Aemond’s command) breathed fire on him while they were all battling Rhaenys and Meleys. This isn’t the point where Aegon dies in the book, so it seems unlikely the writers would take a big swing and kill him now, but things are not looking good for his future as King of the Seven Kingdoms. At the very least, he has a long recovery ahead of him.

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Aemond Targaryen

Aemond, ever the schemer, can’t really be held responsible for what happened to Aegon: If anyone asks, he can say he was saving his brother, and Rhaenys, the only witness to the whole scenario, is now dead. Still, Criston seems a little suspicious that Aemond’s actions in the sky caused Aegon’s fall. If Criston or anyone else starts thinking that Aegon is incapacitated because of his brother, Aemond could face some potentially fatal problems back in King’s Landing. Law and order doesn’t always apply during Westerosi wars, but attempted regicide is still frowned upon.

On the Dragonstone side of the equation, Rhaenyra and her supporters — notably Corlys Velaryon — are going to be quite angry when they find out that Aemond took down Rhaenys. Rhaenyra might be hesitant to engage in more violence, but Corlys likely won’t have the same hangups. If he can get his hands on Aemond, he won’t hold back. (In the book, Aemond does die at the hands of someone on Team Black, but it doesn’t happen for quite a while.)

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Criston Cole

There is once again zero evidence that Ser Criston is on the chopping block, so call this wishful thinking, but please, get this man out of the council room. Sure, he now has a victory under his belt with Rook’s Rest, but was that even that impressive? The king he’s supposed to guard ended up burned within an inch of his life, hundreds of his men died, and dragons did most of the work. What do we say to the god of death? Not today — unless he’s coming for Criston Cole, in which case have at it.

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