Maelor truly suffers the worst death in the entire Dance

“When one man grasped his horse’s bridle, Thorne took his arm off at the shoulder and rode on. But there were guards on the south bank too, and they formed a wall against him. From both sides men closed in, red-faced and shouting, brandishing swords and axes and thrusting with long spears, as Thorne turned this way and that, wheeling his stolen mount in circles, seeking some way through their ranks. Prince Maelor clung to him, shrieking.”

“It was the crossbows that finally brought him down. One bolt took him in the arm, the next through the throat. Ser Rickard tumbled from the saddle and died upon the bridge, with blood bubbling from his lips and drowning his last words. To the end he clung to the boy he had sworn to defend, until a washerwoman called Willow Pound-Stone tore the weeping prince from his arms.”

“Mushroom tells us that Willow Pound-Stone clutched the boy so tightly that she broke his back and crushed him to death. Septon Eustace does not so much as mention Willow, however. In his account, the town butcher hacked the prince into six pieces with his cleaver, so all those fighting over him could have a piece. Grand Maester Munkun’s True Telling says that the boy was torn limb from limb by the mob, but names no names.”

Wow…like start to finish Maelor suffered. The fact that his head was completely detached from his body when sent to Rhaenyra leads me to believe Munkun’s version of events. If he had simply been crushed to death then they could have sent his whole body.

Maelor was only two years old at the time of his death. The text paints such a sad picture of him clinging onto ser Rickard as he wails in panic. The crowd is completely surrounding them with no way out. When Rickard dies, Maelor collapses with him to the floor and still clings to his corpse sobbing until he’s forcibly torn away and eventually torn limb from limb.

Also, the complete tragedy of ser Rickard and Maelor dying one stop away from the Hightower host kills me. Their ensured safety was only thirty leagues in the distance and to put that in perspective, that is less than six hours on horse back. Not only that, but Maelor’s egg getting discovered (which is what leads to them getting attacked) was entirely avoidable. If Ser Rickard never decided to have a drink at the Inn or never put down his pack or if Ben & Sly never tried to rob him, then they’d both be alive.

Just…Maelor, you deserved better. Cheese tells him to his face that his mama wants him dead, Helaena can’t even look at her baby anymore from guilt, he gets separated from his whole family and gets torn limb from limb while wailing in fear. The illustration of his death is so heartbreaking.