The Beautiful Death of Aemon Targaryen

We wrote at length this week on the life of Aemon Targaryen and his brother Egg. But Aemon’s death held the distinction of being the first on screen death in five years that occurred from natural causes, and for that alone, it should be recognized and honored. Aemon learned something the rest of our cast of thousands in Westeros have yet to understand. The only way to really win the Game of Thrones, live a long life, and die peacefully in your own bed, holding the hands of those that love you…is not to play.

As always, Robert Ball is there to commemorate this moment with his Beautiful Death series. The image features Aemon with his dragon’s fires last breath drawn from the fire the Night’s Watch set as part of their funeral tradition. Fire may take Aemon’s 100+ year old body, but only because he was ready. After all, as we all know from Dany that when it comes to true Targaryens, fire cannot hurt a dragon. And if there was any true Targaryen still living in Westeros, it was wise old Maester Aemon.

• Published on 05/31/2015 at 9:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:04 PM CDT