After the shocking ending of the House of the Dragon Season 2 premiere, many wonder who would become the King of Westeros if the realm's current king, Aegon II Targaryen, were to die.
Aegon Targaryen was named King of Westeros in House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 9 after his father, King Viserys, died.
This action had a major impact on the Targaryen civil war known as The Dance of the Dragons since Viserys had previously named his firstborn daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen, his heir.
[ House of the Dragon Season 2 Release Date Schedule of Episodes Revealed ]
Who Becomes King of Westeros if Aegon Dies?
The Season 2 premiere of House of the Dragon ended with the death of Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen, the firstborn son of King Aegon II Targaryen and heir to the Iron Throne.
However, since Jaehaerys was the only son of Aegon, the current king and his small council will find themselves in a similar predicament that Viserys was in during Season 1.
In Westerosi culture, the heir to the throne was always a man, no questions asked, until Viserys named Rhaenyra his heir.
Fans will remember that, before Viserys' son, Baelon, was born (and even briefly after he died), Viserys' brother, Daemon was his heir.
If Aegon were to follow Westerosi norms, Jaehaerys' death would mean that the heir to the Iron Throne would become Aegon's brother, Aemond Targaryen.
So, if Aegon were to die at this point in the timeline, Aemond would automatically become King of the Seven Kingdoms and sit on the Iron Throne.
This creates a rather interesting concept since Aemond himself admitted in Season 1 that he would make a better king than his brother.
Will Aegon Have Another Son?
Since Prince Jaehaerys was tragically murdered in the Season 2 premiere, Aemond is now the next in line for the Iron Throne.
However, That likely will not last long, as in George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, Aegon has another son named Maelor.
Maelor has not been seen in House of the Dragon yet because he does not exist, but according to showrunner Ryan Condal, Maelor will have a presence in the show at some point.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Condal revealed that Season 1 "compressed" the events of Fire & Blood and spanned them over 20 years.
As a result of that, Condal also revealed that "Maelor does not exist yet," teasing that he will be born at some point:
"The period of history season one covered, it was still a compressed time period — the book covered 30-plus years, and we crunched it down to 20. One of the side effects is you have: Rhaenyra and Daemon’s children are much younger than they were in the book, as are Helaena and Aegon’s children. They haven’t been together long enough to have two generations of kids. So Maelor does not yet exist, and we only have the twins."
So, if Helaena does give birth to Maelor at some point down the road, potentially in Season 3, he will then become the heir to the Iron Throne, booting Aemond back down the ladder.
Therefore, fans likely will never see Aemond sit on the Iron Throne, but, at least as of right now, he is the true heir and would become King of Westeros if Aegon II Targaryen died.
House of the Dragon Season 1 is available to stream on Max and new episodes of Season 2 are released every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.
Read more about House of the Dragon:
House of the Dragon Family Tree Explained: Which Targaryens Have Dragons and Which Don't?
Here's Why Alicent Hates Rhaenyra In House of the Dragon
Why Did Aegon Marry His Sister Helaena In 'House of the Dragon'?
