Warning: This post contains spoilers for House of the Dragon. It was updated on July 28, 2024 after the seventh episode of Season 2 of House of the Dragon aired.
Anyone who watched Game of Thrones knows it was no easy feat surviving in Westeros in the years leading up to the White Walkers’ assault on Winterfell—especially for those who were intent on fighting over the chance to sit on the Iron Throne. Still, in House of the Dragon, set during the Targaryen civil war that took place nearly 170 years earlier, the odds of dying a peaceful death may be even worse.
Now in its second season, the Thrones‘ prequel spinoff has already featured 30 significant deaths—almost double the number that had occurred in its parent show by the same point in time. Granted, there hasn’t yet been a kill of the same game-changing shock value as the beheading of Ned Stark. But the Dance of the Dragons has really only just begun, meaning there’s plenty of Targaryen on Targaryen (i.e., dragon on dragon) violence still to come. And as one wise (and now dead) character observed this season: “There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin.”
This week, Ser Willem Blackwood became the latest to join the growing ranks of House of the Dragon’s dead. Here’s every character who has died as of Season 2, Episode 7 of the HBO series.
Note: While this list doesn’t include every soldier, peasant, or servant who’s met their end, it is a comprehensive account (in chronological order) of now deceased characters who had some impact on the plot. It was also compiled according to how this story plays out in House of the Dragon, not George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the A Song of Ice and Fire companion novel on which the show is based.
Aemma Arryn
Role: Queen consort of the Seven Kingdoms, first wife of Viserys I Targaryen, mother of Rhaenyra Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 1
Means of death: Forced cesarean section
Baelon Targaryen
Role: Prince of House Targaryen, son of Aemma Arryn and Viserys I Targaryen, the “Heir for a Day”
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 1
Means of death: Complications from his birth
Craghas Drahar
Role: Prince-admiral of the Triarchy, known as the “Crabfeeder”
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 3
Means of death: Cut in half by Daemon Targaryen
Jerrel Bracken
Role: Suitor of Rhaenyra Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 4
Means of death: Stabbed in the gut by Willem Blackwood
Rhea Royce
Role: Lady of Runestone, first wife of Daemon Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 5
Means of death: Bludgeoned with a rock by Daemon Targaryen
Joffrey Lonmouth
Role: Knight of House Lonmouth, sworn sword of House Velaryon, lover of Laenor Velaryon
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 5
Means of death: Beaten by Criston Cole
Laena Velaryon
Role: Daughter of Rhaenys Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon, second wife of Daemon Targaryen, mother of Baela and Rhaena Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 6
Means of death: Burned at her own command by her dragon, Vhagar, following a prolonged labor
Harwin Strong
Role: Knight of House Strong, heir to Harrenhal, lover of Rhaenyra Targaryen, biological father of Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey Velaryon
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 6
Means of death: Burned in a fire orchestrated by his younger brother, Larys Strong, at Harrenhal
Lyonel Strong
Role: Head of House Strong, Lord of Harrenhal, Hand of the King to Viserys I Targaryen, father of Harwin and Larys Strong
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 6
Means of death: Burned in a fire orchestrated by his son, Larys Strong, at Harrenhal
Unnamed servant
Role: Servant at High Tide castle, body double for Laenor Velaryon
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 7
Means of death: Neck snapped by Daemon Targaryen as part of a plot to fake Laenor Velaryon’s death
Vaemond Velaryon
Role: Knight of House Velaryon, commander in the Velaryon navy, younger brother of Corlys Velaryon
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 8
Means of death: Decapitated by Daemon Targaryen
Viserys I Targaryen
Role: King of the Seven Kingdoms, husband of Alicent Hightower, father of Rhaenyra, Aegon II, Aemond, Helaena, and Daeron Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 8
Means of death: Complications from leprosy
Lyman Beesbury
Role: Head of House Beesbury, Lord of Honeyholt, Master of Coin for Viserys I Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 9
Means of death: Head smashed in by Criston Cole
Talya
Role: Lady-in-waiting to Alicent Hightower, spy for Mysaria (a.k.a. the White Worm)
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 9
Means of death: Tortured and executed by Larys Strong
Visenya Targaryen
Role: Daughter of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Daemon Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 10
Means of death: Stillborn
Lucerys Velaryon
Role: Prince of House Targaryen, heir to Driftmark, son of Rhaenyra Targaryen and (in name) Laenor Velaryon, biological son of Harwin Strong
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 10
Means of death: Chomped by Aemond Targaryen’s dragon, Vhagar
Arrax
Role: Dragon of Lucerys Velaryon
Time of passing: Season 1, Episode 10
Means of death: Chomped by Aemond Targaryen’s dragon, Vhagar
Jaehaerys Targaryen
Role: Prince of House Targaryen, son of Helaena Targaryen and Aegon II Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 1
Means of death: Decapitated by hired assassins known as Blood and Cheese
Blood
Role: Member of the City Watch, hired assassin
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 2
Means of death: Bludgeoned by Aegon II Targaryen
Cheese
Role: Rat catcher in the Red Keep, hired assassin
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 2
Means of death: Hanged alongside the rest of the Red Keep’s rat catchers on the orders of Aegon II Targaryen
Arryk Cargyll
Role: Knight of House Cargyll, member of Aegon II Targaryen’s Kingsguard, twin brother of Erryk Cargyll
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 2
Means of death: Stabbed through the heart by his twin brother, Erryk
Erryk Cargyll
Role: Knight of House Cargyll, member of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s Queensguard, twin brother of Arryk Cargyll
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 2
Means of death: Impaled himself on his own sword out of grief over killing his twin brother, Arryk
Aeron Bracken
Role: Knight of House Bracken, supporter of Aegon II Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 3
Means of death: Killed in the Battle of the Burning Mill alongside many of his kinsmen and House Blackwood rivals
Davos Blackwood
Role: Knight of House Blackwood, supporter of Rhaenyra Targaryen
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 3
Means of death: Killed in the Battle of the Burning Mill alongside many of his kinsmen and House Bracken rivals
Gunthor Darklyn
Role: Head of House Darklyn, Lord of Duskendale
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 4
Means of death: Beheaded by Criston Cole
Meleys
Role: Dragon of Rhaenys Targaryen, the “Red Queen”
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 4
Means of death: Killed in battle by Aemond Targaryen’s dragon, Vhagar
Rhaenys Targaryen
Role: Princess of House Targaryen, Lady of Driftmark, wife of Corlys Velaryon, mother of Laenor and Laena Velaryon, the “Queen Who Never Was”
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 4
Means of death: Fell to her death after her dragon, Meleys, was killed in battle by Aemond Targaryen’s dragon, Vhagar
Steffon Darklyn
Role: Knight of House Darklyn, Lord Commander of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s Queensguard
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 6
Means of death: Burned alive by Laenor Velaryon’s former dragon, Seasmoke, while attempting to claim him as a mount
Grover Tully
Role: Head of House Tully, Lord of Riverrun, Lord Paramount of the Trident
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 6
Means of death: Seemingly poisoned by Alys Rivers
Willem Blackwood
Role: Knight of House Blackwood, Regent of House Blackwood and Raventree Hall in the name of his nephew, the young Lord Benjicot Blackwood
Time of passing: Season 2, Episode 7
Means of death: Beheaded by Daemon Targaryen
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