Perfect HotD Fan Theory Finally Makes Sense of Fire and Blood's Dumbest Death

SUMMARY:

• Both A Song of Ice and Fire and Blood and Fire had a plethora of bizarre deaths, but Syrax’s demise in the latter was the dumbest one to date.
• During the Storming of the Dragonpit, Syrax killed Rhaenyra’s son Joffrey and then descended upon the angry mob, dying in the process of fighting them.
• The dragon’s death makes sense if her bond with Rhaenyra kicked in and she felt her rider’s pain; that drove Syrax to commit a conscious suicide.

Thanks to the overwhelming global success of Game of Thrones, the most popular TV show in the world back in the day, the general audience learned to appreciate George Martin — the author of the original A Song of Ice and Fire book series and the sole creator of many magnificent yet terrifying tales from the Seven Kingdoms.

Game of Thrones ended with a notoriously poor finale, but despite that, the hype surrounding GRRM’s dark fantasy world survived — and a new TV show became the center of attention. House of the Dragon, a prequel dedicated to House Targaryen, is based on Martin’s book Blood and Fire, and it’s the new big thing…at least, until SNOW.

But even though George Martin has always been killing central characters left and right, Blood and Fire contained perhaps the most questionable and dumbest death.

Spoiler alert for Fire and Blood!

What Was the Dumbest Death Martin Has Ever Written?

When we talk about dumb deaths in GRRM’s books, many of us immediately recall the demise of Oberyn Martell or Tywin Lannister in ASoIaF…or quite a few senseless murders with no repercussions in Blood and Fire — you know which ones. However, though questionable, they were not as ridiculous as Syrax's death.

Syrax, Rhaenyra Targaryen’s dragon, was a huge and scary beast, much like other dragons the Targaryens rode at the time. One would only expect that such an intimidating dragon would be taken down by another of her kind; however, Syrax died in the most bizarre way possible — at the hands of an angry mob.

During the Storming of the Dragonpit, Rhaenyra’s son Joffrey tried to escape the mob on Syrax’s back and get to his own dragon, Tyraxes. However, Syrax shook him off mid-flight as dragons only recognized their true riders, and Joffrey fell to his death. Syrax then descended from the sky to tear through the mob…and died.

How Could Syrax’s Death Make Any Sense?

In the eyes of fans, Syrax’s death — and the Storming of the Dragonpit in general — is often regarded as one of George Martin’s laziest creative decisions ever, aimed at writing off as many dragons as possible at once under ridiculous circumstances. However, while it's true about the latter, the former could still make some sense.

Dragons of House Targaryen famously share a special bond with their riders. As soon as Syrax took off with Joffrey, Rhaenyra knew he was as good as dead; and when the dragon shook off her son, that bond kicked in. Syrax felt the overwhelming pain of her rider and immense guilt of her own, and she didn’t want to live with that.

Instead of staying up in the sky, the dragon descended to the angry mob, tearing them to shreds — but she knew she would die there. It was not a naive attempt to mend fences with Rhaenyra on Syrax’s part but an actual act of suicide. Torn apart with pain and guilt, the dragon wanted to die and take her rider’s enemies with her.

Perhaps, much like their riders, Targaryens’ dragons can also be driven to insanity.

Source: Reddit