'Game of Thrones' Already Spoiled the Grim Death of This 'Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' Character

Published Oct 3, 2026, 7:36 PM EDT Lacy Baugher Milas is an entertainment and culture writer whose bylines have appeared in Paste Magazine, The A.V. Club, Den of Geek, Jezebel, Digital Spy, Telly Visions, and more. A lover of Time Lords, fantasy stories, period dramas, and tumultuous 90s rock bands, you can find her on social media pretty much everywhere as @LacyMB. Death isn’t exactly a surprise in the world of Westeros. After all the Game of Thrones franchise made its name on the back of its willingness to kill its characters, no matter how heroic, beloved, or otherwise untouchable they might seem. It’s hardly shocking, at this point, to learn that a particular character died an especially brutal, grisly, or violent death. And everyone tuning into spin-offs House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms probably knows that most of their faves are living on borrowed time. But there's knowing a character will eventually shuffle off this mortal coil, and there's knowing exactly how they died. And since both spin-offs thus far have been prequels, they’ve put viewers in the occasionally awkward position of knowing where the show they’re watching is headed — in a way that goes beyond simply having read the source material. 'Game of Thrones' Already Spoiled Its Prequel Series Thanks to Joffrey Baratheon Of course, book lovers who devoured George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood Targaryen history or his Dunk and Egg novellas obviously know what’s coming in the seasons ahead, just as those who read A Storm of Swords knew what to expect from the Red Wedding. But even casual fans can no longer count themselves safe from this foreknowledge: Game of Thrones, the TV series, has already told its audience several of the major twists they can expect to see on their screens. In keeping with his reputation as one of the most-hated figures in modern television, Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) is somehow still haunting the world of Westeros from beyond the grave, blithely revealing multiple massive plot twists for both Game of Thrones spin-offs that casual viewers would almost certainly never have known otherwise. Granted, it’s not entirely his fault, given that it’s not like anyone knew successful ancillary series based on some of these figures would be made just a few years later. But still — thanks for nothing, Joffrey! Aerion Targaryen Has One of the Most Horrific Deaths in Westeros Image via HBO Among the various bits of Westeros history Joffrey reveals in Game of Thrones Season 3, the most shocking has to be the death of Aerion Targaryen, played by Finn Bennett on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The second son of Prince Maekar (Sam Spruell), Aerion challenges Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) to a Trial of Seven for no reason other than humiliation and spite. A poster boy for the worst excesses of Targaryen power, he’s entitled, vain, and cruel for sport, purposefully injuring jousting opponents and assaulting a woman he believes disrespected him. He’s the kind of character who almost certainly deserves to meet a bad end. And, while it’s unlikely we’ll see his death come to pass on screen, given that it takes place over 20 years after the events of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but with Martin allegedly writing more stories for the series, who's to say we won't see one of the most horrifying deaths in Westeros history on screen? When trying to impress Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) in Season 3 of Game of Thrones, Joffrey points out Aerion's urn, saying, "Aerion Brightflame, they called him. He thought drinking wildfire would turn him into a dragon. He was wrong." Like many members of his family, Aerion had an obsession with dragons and dragon lore, believing himself to be an actual dragon in human form. Spoiler: He was not. Instead of being fire proof, Aerion drank wildfire and died burning to death from the inside. Joffrey Has Spoiled a Major Part of 'House of the Dragon' Image via HBO Aerion’s death isn’t the only future storyline that Game of Thrones has already spoiled for viewers of its prequels. Joffrey also already told us how House of the Dragon is going to end. Not entirely, but close enough! During that same conversation, he informs Margaery — and subsequently the viewers at home — how Rhaenyra Targaryen dies at the end of the Dance of the Dragons. "Rhaenyra Targaryen was murdered by her brother. Or rather, his dragon,” Joffrey says. “It ate her while her son watched." This foreknowledge has already robbed the show of the impact of at least one big reveal — Sunfyre’s dramatic return in Season 3’s “The Dragon in the Winter". After all, Aegon’s dragon had to survive if the big moment of Rhaenyra’s death was going to come to pass. As HBO digs further back into Westeros' past (such as the Aegon's Conquest prequel movie), these issues are only going to become more prevalent. Martin’s universe is extremely interconnected and features a lore-heavy history that spans thousands of years. Keeping track of all that on a good day is work enough when telling a story. But when certain elements of characters’ backstories are already set in stone — and known about by fans — it puts the series’ creators in a uniquely difficult and challenging position when it comes to storytelling. Some fans, naturally, have no problem being spoiled. Others, not so much. But that doesn't mean that House of the Dragon or A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are ruined. Context matters, after all. How an event happens can be just as affecting as the specifics of what happens, and can sometimes change your understanding of what you thought the event actually meant. So while we may have a rough sketch of key events in Westeros history, that doesn't mean we know precisely how they'll play out onscreen. For that, we'll have to wait and see.