Is Sunfyre still alive in ‘House of the Dragon’?

The number of dragons in House of the Dragon dwindles with every season.

Season 1 ended with Lucerys Velaryon’s (Elliot Grihault) Arrax getting chomped in half by Aemond Targaryen’s (Ewan Mitchell) Vhagar. Vhagar continued to pick off her fellow dragons at the Battle of Rook’s Rest in Season 2, when she wounded Rhaenys Targaryen’s (Eve Best) Meleys and sent her and her rider plummeting to their deaths. Vhagar also torched Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his dragon Sunfyre, leaving the pair to fall from the skies in a literal blaze of glory. Finally, Season 3 kicked off with the death of Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett) and Vermax, both of whom perished during the Battle of the Gullet.

But what if one dragon who was presumed to be dead is still very much alive?

In House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 4, Aegon reunites with what appears to be the corpse of Sunfyre, which has been languishing in the Crownlands since the Battle of Rook’s Rest. Several locals have taken advantage of Sunfyre’s presence, turning the spectacle of a dead dragon into the world’s most depressing petting zoo.

However, Aegon believes Sunfyre actually isn’t dead.

“He’s alive. I know it. He’s alive. He must be,” Aegon tells Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) after petting Sunfyre for the first time since Rook’s Rest.

Larys treats Aegon’s insistence that Sunfyre is alive like the ravings of a mad man, and it’s hard to disagree with him. Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon have always taught viewers that no death is truly confirmed unless you see the evidence of a dead body. Here, we see a pretty definitive corpse.

However, if anyone would be able to sense if their dragon was still alive, it would be their rider. Plus, if Sunfyre is truly dead, it would be a massive change from George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. (Not that the show is afraid to make some bold changes, many of which pay off.) With that in mind, let’s take a look at what happens to Fire and Blood‘s version of Sunfyre, and see how that could map onto the show.

What happens to Sunfyre in Fire and Blood?

Sunfyre survives Rook’s Rest in Fire and Blood, but he’s deeply wounded and unable to fly home to King’s Landing. Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) leaves a group of men near Sunfyre to guard and feed him while he heals. Eventually, Sunfyre heals enough to get back in on the action, and he plays a pivotal part in the conflict to come. Without giving away any further spoilers, I’ll just say it would be pretty tough to pull off the rest of the Dance of the Dragons without him, although House of the Dragon might already have a plan in place.

In House of the Dragon, unlike in Fire and Blood, Sunfyre is not moving or showing any signs of life at all. Because of this, Criston hasn’t left anyone behind to help feed him, and citizens of the Crownlands feel emboldened enough that they can walk up to Sunfyre and touch him. (For a fee, of course!) All of this seems like a pretty solid argument for his death — unless Sunfyre is just in some kind of draconic healing coma. Perhaps he’s just sleeping off his horrible injuries, and he’ll rise again when Aegon needs him. Which, given Aegon’s treatment at the ruins of Rook’s Rest, seems like it could be any day now.

House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.