House of the Dragon may not be done with this supposedly dead character after all

While House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 4 gave us some eye-opening scenes about Ormund Hightower, the episode also featured a much-awaited reunion. Aegon finally came across his presumed dead dragon, Sunfyre. At the battle of Rook's Rest in Season 2, Sunfyre was heavily injured along with his rider, Aegon, and assumed to be dead since there were no signs of life.

In House of the Dragon Season 3, we finally see the dragon again, and while the show seems to hint at the dragon being dead, there are too many signs that suggest that Sunfyre is still alive.

House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 4 subtly hints at the possibility of Sunfyre being alive

In House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 4, we see Aegon and Larys arrive at Rook's Rest, where Sunfyre's presumed dead body has been lying for all this time. Aegon immediately tries to talk to Sunfyre, and we initially see him mourn. A few displaced people have settled down nearby, and it's evident that they take money from anyone who wants to touch the dragon.

They think Aegon is just like any other common person curious to see dragons up close and takes money from Larys for letting Aegon touch and caress Sunfyre. However, Aegon soon feels that Sunfyre is alive. As Larys is talking to the man who charged him money, Aegon calls out,

"He's alive. I know it. He's alive, must be."

Aegon then proceeds to ask Sunfyre to wake up, even switching to High Valyrian momentarily. Speaking to a dragon, that too in a different language, is something the common folk would find suspicious, and Larys stops Aegon from spending more time there to save their lives.

The particular scene ends with Aegon struggling to accept Sunfyre's death but moving on eventually. This House of the Dragon episode thus tries to show us that Sunfyre is dead. However, there are multiple signs that suggest otherwise.

Aegon Targaryen II is in no way a good person per se and has his faults, but his one redeeming quality is his love for his dragon, Sunfyre. He has an extremely strong bond with Sunfyre, and if he thinks he's alive, the dragon must be.

Sunfyre is most likely too tired and starved to move a muscle despite Aegon urging him to wake up. However, a dragonrider is hardly ever wrong about their dragon, especially its health, and thus it is highly unlikely that Aegon is mistaken.

There's yet another reason why Sunfyre is most likely still alive. Later on in the episode, we see the headless dead body of Meleys lying near Rook's Rest, where the dragon and his rider, Princess Rhaenys, fell to their death after being attacked by Vhaegar.

Meleys has been lying there for the same amount of time that Sunfyre has been lying in Rook's Rest, but Sunfyre's body isn't even close to the state of decaying that Meleys' is. This might just be because Sunfyre isn't actually dead and thus isn't decaying.

Moreover, Sunfyre plays an extremely important role in the Fire & Blood book. In the book, after the battle at Rook's Rest, Cristin Cole and the men under him fed Sunfyre until the dragon was strong enough to go back to King's Landing. After Aegon II came back to King's Landing to take back power, Rhaenyra fled to Dragonstone.

However, Aegon took control of Dragonstone, found Rhaenyra, captured her, and then killed her in front of her young song, Aegon III, by having Sunfyre burn her and eat her dead body. This is also what Joffrey Baratheon said happened to Rhaenyra back in Game of Thrones Season 3.

Since Fire & Blood has been categorized as an in-universe history book written by Archmaester Gyldayn, it is not considered to be an accurate record of actual events. If House of the Dragon decides to actually keep Sunfyre dead, they would have to either introduce a plotline of Aegon claiming a new dragon or change how Rhaenyra is killed. Either of these two options would deviate the story far from that of the book and not in a good way.

There is a possibility that the show will suggest that Archmaester Gyldayn's account of Rhaenyra's death isn't accurate, and thus Joffrey's words aren't facts. However, that would significantly change one of the most crucial parts of Rhaenyra's story. While House of the Dragon has made small changes in the story over the seasons, killing Sunfyre and giving Rhaenyra a different death is a mistake the show will most likely not make.

Thus, while Sunfyre has been presumed dead so far, there is a high chance that he isn't. We might just see the dragon come back to life in future episodes.

All released episodes of House of the Dragon are streaming on HBO Max. Episode 5 of Season 3 comes out on July 19, 2026.

Trending

For more articles like this, follow Soapcentral.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback