House of the Dragon: Understanding the Battle at Rook's Rest in Fire & Blood

The Battle at Rook’s Rest is coming in House of the Dragon. That bit has been made clear thanks to Lord Staunton mentioning his home in the most recent episode. Just what does this mean for Team Black and Team Green in the series?

Caution: We’re looking at the storyline from Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin for this post

The battle ends up being a victory for the Greens, but it’s not an outright victory. Rhaenys Velaryon has made it clear that a battle with dragons is the most dangerous of them all, and she’s about to be proven right.

Criston Cole sets a trap for the Blacks in Fire & Blood

In the book, we hear that Criston Cole took an army to Rook’s Rest. This is an attempt to force many people to support Aegon instead of Rhaenyra. At first, Lord Staunton keeps his gates closed, but then Criston burns the livestock and kills the smallfolk. Staunton sends word to Rhaenyra that he needs help.

Rhaenys is the one to answer the call on the back of her dragon, Meleys. While Criston is ready with scorpions, Meleys is able to burn a lot of Criston’s army and remains unharmed.

That is until Criston’s trap is made clear. You see, it wasn’t the scorpions on the ground that Rhaenys has to look out for. The battle came from above.

Aegon and Aemond will get to fight in House of the Dragon

Aegon and Aemond are above Rhaenys on their dragons Sunfyre and Vhagar. There is a fight in the air, and it leads to all three dragons crashing to the ground.

Only Vhagar comes out unscathed, with Aemond on his back absolutely fine. King Aegon has multiple broken bones and burns from the dragons. His dragon is missing a wing.

Rhaenys and Meleys come out worse off. Meleys is torn to shreds as she falls to the ground. Rhaenys is a burned body that can’t be identified next to her dragon. There is no way to save them after this, and Team Black loses another supporter. Criston Cole kills Staunton and Rook’s Rest is forced to switch allegiance to the now-broken King Aegon.

Sunfyre was left behind to feed on livestock. Meleys’s head was taken back to King’s Landing to be paraded in the streets. For the Blacks, it was a huge loss. Corlys Velaryon blamed Rhaenyra for his wife’s loss. Had she or another dragon ride, like one of her sons, had gone out with Rhaenys, then things could have been different.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in House of the Dragon. It’s certainly going to be a hard loss.