Every Character Who Has Died on House of the Dragon

Warning: This post contains spoilers for House of the Dragon. It was updated on Aug. 6, 2024 after Season 2 finale 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.

At the end of its second season, the Thrones' prequel spinoff has already featured 30 significant deaths—several more than 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 still really only just begun, meaning there's plenty of Targaryen on Targaryen (i.e., dragon on dragon) violence yet 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."

Here's every character who has died as of Season 2, Episode 8 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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