Things aren't looking good for King Aegon II Targaryen in House of the Dragon. Following the epic Battle at Rook's Rest, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) was carted back to King's Landing in a box to recover from the grievous injuries he sustained at the hands of his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). And what injuries they were: burns which cover half his body, a shattered leg, and ruined skin from his Valyrian steel armor melting into his flesh.
Despite his horrific state, Aegon survived. In Episode 205, "Regent," we saw him claw his way back from the brink with the help of Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan). But what of his magnificent dragon, Sunfyre the Golden?
Early in the episode, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) tells Aegon's mother, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), that he left a "meager garrison" behind to defend the captured castle of Rook's Rest as well as the king's fallen dragon, saying, "Sunfyre was long in the dying." We get another mention of Sunfyre near the end, where Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) tells her son Jace (Harry Collet) that "Meleys fought two dragons and one of them is slain."
Things don't sound optimistic for Sunfyre. But is the dragon actually dead? Below, we'll discuss what we know from the source material, George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood. There will of course be SPOILERS.
Does Sunfyre die in the book?
We may not know yet whether Sunfyre is truly dead in House of the Dragon, but since he survives in Fire & Blood and has a role to play in the coming Targaryen civil war, it's a safe bet that he's not gone from the show quite yet. In the book, Sunfyre is crippled from the wounds he took during the Battle of Rook's Rest, just like Aegon. Criston Cole's army has no way to actually transport the fallen dragon back to King's Landing, so instead Sunfyre remains behind in the forest near Rook's Rest, healing on the ground until he's well enough to fly. Even at the end of the previous episode, we saw Sunfyre moving on the ground, wounded but not yet dead.
House of the Dragon seems to be following this storyline. Aegon is back in King's Landing, wounded, recovering, and succeeded by Aemond as regent. Criston left Sunfyre back at Rook's Rest, and while it does sound like he expects the dragon to die, "long in the dying" means Sunfyre appeared to be a slow death. But dragons are hearty creatures, and Criston is far from an expert.
As for Rhaenyra's words to Jace, she has no forces near enough to Rook's Rest to know Sunfyre's fate for certain. She's only assuming he's dead.
It seems to me like House of the Dragon is trying to play up the ambiguity, to get the most impact out of Sunfyre's eventual return to the screen. With only three more episodes to go in House of the Dragon season 2, we won't have to wait long to find out:
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