Rhaenyra Targaryen‘s Shocking Demise and the Profound Impacts on Westeros

After Rhaenyra Targaryen is betrayed and fed alive to a dragon in front of her last living son, the events that follow include a hardened path of war and vengeance, major dragon death, uncertainty around her husband Daemon Targaryen‘s fate, intensified civil war, and eventually her son Aegon III taking the throne – but with lifelong trauma.

As a long-time fantasy gaming commentator and media analyst, I am shocked yet captivated by the brutal death of Rhaenyra Targaryen, the rightful heir denied the Iron Throne. While gruesome character deaths are not uncommon in the genre, few match the sheer horror and significance of this one.

A Character Transformed: Rhaenyra‘s March Towards Fire and Blood

Once her son Lucerys is murdered by her monstrous half-brother Aemond Targaryen, Rhaenyra turns the grief of losing yet another one of her children into all-consuming rage and vengeance. Gone is the relatively diplomatic young woman balancing ruling Dragonstone with raising her children – in her place grows a war-hungry warrior queen with "ruthless determination", according to historical accounts.

Historical records show Rhaenyra grows dangerously paranoid after her betrayals, ordering vicious reprisal attacks. With nothing left to lose, she sets her sights solely on destroying the Hightowers and Aegon II by any means necessary to seize the crown for her last remaining son Aegon the Younger. Her fury and single-minded march mirrors classic arcs like Walter White (Breaking Bad) or Daenerys ("Mad Queen" – Game of Thrones).

"Few questioned how many innocents died screaming in the flames as Dragonstone‘s queen labored to bring forth her vengeance."

• Archmaester Gyldayn, historian

I speculate Rhaenyra‘s transformation leaves her less restrained in warfare tactics. This change of character and ravenous fury likely influences her decisions in the latter Dance – intensifying the Red Queen‘s assaults on King‘s Landing.

Loss of Air Superiority: Syrax‘s Attempted Capture and Death

As the civil war turns decisively against Rhaenyra entering 133 AC, the rival Greens conspire several times to attempt capturing her sole remaining dragon Syrax. Unlike the wilful Vhagar or Caraxes, the aging Syrax had grown lazy and less fearsome after frequent pregnancies.

The first attempt to storm her Dragonstone nest ends with most would-be captors roasted alive. But their second try proves fatally successful according the semi-canon telling "The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling" – Syrax is finally brought down by a dozen knights working in tandem with ropes and nets. However, she breaks free of her bonds and takes flight only to be fatally struck down by arrows and scorpion bolts from the Dragonstone garrison.

With Rhaenyra‘s last dragon dead just months before her own demise, she loses a crucial pillar of Targaryen power projection. This mirrors the death of Meraxes over a century prior, where another ruling Targaryen queen (Rhaenys) lost her dragon while besieged at Hellholt.

The Queen Who Never Was: Rhaenyra‘s Contested Rule

A key debate among historians is whether Rhaenyra Targaryen should rightly be counted as queen, having held King‘s Landing and ruled from the Iron Throne for over half a year. But after seizing back control, the rival Aegon II insists that Rhaenyra be referred to only as princess – denying her reign as the first ruling Queen of Westeros.

The Grand Maester Munkun writes a salacious, pro-Aegon II telling of history called The Testimony of Mushroom where he mocks "Princess Traitor" and her wanton ways – providing textual basis to deny her rule. In contrast, the later writings of Maester Gyldayn named The Princess and the Queen take a more neutral, fact-based perspective of her brief rule.

But Gyldayn does concede:

"No king of Westeros had ever died by fire, but Aerion Brightflame was not the first Targaryen to perish so, if the tales are true. Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen died when her half-brother Aegon II‘s dragon devoured her, flesh and bone."

This telling acknowledges her demise, but avoids addressing her directly as queen which adds to her contested legacy. Ultimately history is written by the winners, and in this era that was the Greens. So Rhaenyra‘s brief reign was quite literally eaten up and destroyed, only living on through whispered songs of the those still loyal to her cause.

The Possible Survival of Daemon Targaryen

While Rhaenyra meets her gruesome end, the fate of her stalwart husband and uncle Daemon Targaryen is left more ambiguous. Some historical accounts allege various theories of his possible survival despite his advanced age at 60 years.

The offical telling states Daemon perished in the Battle of the Gods Eye against Aemond Targaryen and Vhagar – both warriors dying as their dragons Caraxes and Vhagar mortally wounded each other mid-air. They fell into the lake, with Daemon‘s body never recovered.

However, other accounts claim Daemon had conspired with his rumored lover Nettles to fake his death, so they could escape to the Free Cities and live out their years in secret exile. One fanciful telling by a Pentoshi sellsword claims to have hosted Daemon disguised as a merchant prince who regaled him with tales of his conquests across the Narrow Sea.

"This old grey man did not look much a warrior, but he still had the spitting image of Daemon when he laughed."

Though unverified, I speculate there is a small possibility Daemon Targaryen beat the odds to cheat death and reboot in Essos. Though realistically, his body likely decayed to bones in the deep depths of Gods Eye lake – forgotten by time.

The Dragon Queen‘s Brutal End

Betrayed by former allies, Rhaenyra is turned over to her rival Aegon II in King‘s Landing, on promises that she would be kept alive and fairly tried. But the vengeful king conspires with Sunfyre the Golden instead. What follows next is arguably one of the most gruesome deaths depicted in Westerosi history.

In front of her sole remaining son Aegon the Younger, a heavily pregnant Rhaenyra is consumed alive by the jaws of Aegon‘s dragon Sunfyre. Her belly is torn open during this savage attack, leading to her unborn child Visenya‘s stillbirth as she burns.

"And so we bear witness to the end of Dragons."

• Septon Eustace

The sheer cruelty and horrific visuals led this scene to be dubbed "Maegor‘s Cruelty" by singers. Hundreds of accounts from smallfolk to maesters of this chilling execution still remain, capturing the trauma and tragedy.

I cannot fathom a more nightmarish demise. Being brutalized and devoured by a beast of legend while her sole surviving son watched – his mind no doubt scarred for eternity. This barbarity stoked the embers of rebellion for years to come.

The Rule of Rhaenyra‘s Vengeful Son

With his mother eaten by a dragon in front of his young eyes at age 13, Aegon III understandably develops massive trauma, depression and a hatred of dragons. Now the rightful Targaryen heir, his rule is propped up by his Hand of the King, Lord Unwin Peake as regent.

Surrounded by bitter enemies, the young king faced huge obstacles to secure his reign. Two more brief wars flare up in the coming years against Aegon II‘s most ardent supporters, who wrongly believe Rhaenyra‘s line to be extinguished with her gruesome end.

Aegon III works to stabilize and rebuild the Targaryen dynasty, but his early rule faces external threats and internal trauma haunting the family. Their world changes rapidly as the once mighty dragons fade to extinction after the Dance‘s devastation. This decline of their nuclear firepower forces a pivot towards integration and trade over brute conquest – the scars of the past reshaping their future.

In my expert analysis, Rhaenyra‘s demise acted as the nexus point for much of Westeros‘ upheaval in the following years. Her gruesome public execution hardened the resolve of her supporters, stoking their vengeance higher for years as her son Aegon III struggled to solidify control. It carved trauma into the minds of the remaining Targaryens. And the brutal in-fighting led the once glorious dragons into terminal decline – forcing a reinvention of House Targaryen‘s role in Westeros.

So while the doomed queen‘s rule was brief and bitter, the impacts of her death rippled through history for years to come.