House of the Dragon: How Does Aemond Die in the Books?

Aemond Targaryen has taken control as House of the Dragon's biggest villain.

By Charlie Ridgely

Aemond Targaryen has emerged as one of the most important characters in House of the Dragon Season 2, taking charge of King's Landing while his brother, Aegon II, recovers from devastating injuries that he himself helped cause. It's Aemond that has been pushing his family further into war, and pushing away the people of Westeros in the process. Now that he has become the show's most ruthless and terrifying villain, fans have been wondering if and when Aemond might meet his fate. George R.R. Martin has an answer for that in Fire & Blood, the book that House of the Dragon is based on.  

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, as well as the first seven episodes of House of the Dragon Season 2...

Heading into the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale, Aemond is in control of the army of the Greens, and is waging war against his half-sister, Rhaenyra. That said, the penultimate episode of Season 2 saw Aemond learn of the three additional dragons Rhaenyra recruited to her side, leaving him more vulnerable than he thought.

In Fire & Blood, Aemond continues to rule from King's Landing and lead the Greens to war, but his hubris continued to get the best out of him. After Daemon leaves Harrenhal, Aemond goes to take it for himself, but his absence from King's Landing allows for Rhaenyra and Daemon to take the city. This leaves Aemond with little but Harrenhal as a home base, and it's there he meets his end.

house-of-the-dragon-vhagar.jpg
(Photo:

Vhagar is far and away the largest dragon alive during House of the Dragon.

- HBO)

Daemon and Caraxes eventually returned to Harrenhal to face off against Aemond and Vhagar once and for all, pitting the two strongest dragons in Westeros against one another. When two forces that great meet, it usually doesn't end well for anyone.

The fight, known as the Battle Above the God's Eye, saw the two dragons duel over the lake beside Harrenhal (the same place where Alys told Daemon he would die). Caraxes eventually latched onto Vhagar, which allowed Daemon to leap from his mount and attack Aemond with his sword, Dark Sister. Daemon killed Aemond by shoving the sword through his blind eye, and the two men fell thousands of feet down into the God's Eye alongside their dying dragons.

As we've seen over the first two seasons of House of the Dragon, the show does take some opportunities to make changes from the book, so things might play out a little differently when the Battle Above the God's Eye does arrive. But it would be very surprising if the fates of Aemond or Daemon are altered in any significant way.

Related:

Based on George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood" book, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. In Season 2 of House of the Dragon, Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.

The cast for House of the Dragon includes Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, Emma D'Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, and Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower. 

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