House of the Dragon: Is Sunfyre Really Dead?

House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4 threw quite a cliffhanger at the audience with both King Aegon and his dragon Sunfyre dead or nearly dead. Episode 5 revealed that Aegon was still alive and cared for; but the dragon’s fate remained largely unknown, with him being left at Rook’s Rest.

If you don’t have the patience to wait for updates on him in future episodes, you’ve come to the right place.

House of the Dragon Hides Sunfyre’s Real State

Thanks to the rules of TV shows, we didn’t get an explicit answer about the dragon’s fate. We only heard some truly harrowing sounds from him — and didn’t get to see whether the dragon survived. In Episode 5, we learn that Criston Cole left a garrison near where Sunfyre fell down and that he was, quote, “long in the dying.”

This begs the question, what happens to the dragon next? So far, everything we’ve learned sounds like Sunfyre is near-dead and definitely out of the game for good.

Fortunately, there’s another major rule of TV shows that comes into play here. If a character wasn’t explicitly shown dead on the screen, they are most likely alive. They’ll pull through. They’ll survive. Somehow. If that’s not enough for you, we know the definitive answer about Sunfyre’s fate — it comes from George Martin ’s novel.

Fire & Blood Reveals What Happened to Sunfyre

There are obviously heavy spoilers ahead, so proceed with discretion. You’ve been warned — so now, let’s continue with our little dive into HotD’s source material.

According to Fire & Blood, Aegon’s dragon survived the fall. Badly maimed and unable to move, he’ll be cared for by Cole’s people for a long time near Rook’s Rest. His wing partially torn, he’ll be in for a painful recovery, but eventually, he’ll be back in the roster — albeit far less intimidating due to the trauma he’s received.

Sunfyre will never be the same as his torn wing will mend at an unnatural angle. The dragon will still be able to fly, but his maneuverability and, consequently, battle ability will be severely hampered by that fact. Nonetheless, it’s way too early to write off good ol’ Sunfyre: he’ll still roam the skies with his master.

If House of the Dragon doesn’t decide to go against its source material, of course.