The Death of Laena Velaryon was the first tragedy of 120 AC, the Year of the Red Spring: after losing her newborn son in childbirth, Laena succumbed to childbed fever at twenty-seven. Her final attempt to reach Vhagar, so that she might fly once more, gives her death its defining image; afterward, Rhaenyra stayed beside Daemon as he grieved.

Labor and Loss

On the third day of 120 AC, Laena was at Driftmark, where Rhaenyra had come to attend her during the birth. Laena had labored for a day and a night, growing pale and weak before giving birth to the son Daemon had long desired. The baby was twisted and malformed, and died within the hour. The loss, following the ordeal of labor, further weakened Laena.

Laena's Final Hours

Childbed fever took hold as Laena’s condition worsened. The young maester on Driftmark could not stop the decline, so Daemon flew to Dragonstone to bring back Maester Gerardys, Rhaenyra’s older and more experienced healer. He arrived too late: after three days of delirium, Laena died. She was twenty-seven.

In her final hour, Laena rose from her bed and pushed aside the septas praying over her. She meant to reach Vhagar and fly one last time before she died, but her strength failed on the tower steps. She collapsed there and died; Daemon carried her back to bed. The attempt to reach her dragon places the loss of flight alongside the bodily exhaustion that had confined her: even at the edge of death, she was intent on returning to the sky.

Grief and Aftermath

Mushroom’s account says that Rhaenyra sat vigil with Daemon over Laena’s corpse and comforted him in his grief. Rhaenyra had been present for the birth and remained after the death, linking the household’s celebration of a long-desired son to the mourning that followed almost at once. Laena’s death opened the succession of calamities that made 120 AC a year of grief for House Velaryon and the wider realm.