HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Every Dragon Explained

The dance and dying of the dragons is a big part of the book, with it seeing a civil war brewing between the greens and blacks. Throughout this video, we’re gonna break down their dragons and talk about all 17 in the series.

So sit back, strap in, and say Dracarys because this is about to be your ultimate guide.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON 2: DRAGONS EXPLAINED

Now, the first one I want to talk about is a dragon we don’t actually meet. However, we do see the skull of the creature, and he retains a big presence in the show. Like literally.

That is Balerion the Black Dread, who used to belong to Viserys. We could see a statue of him in episode 1 and also the dragon’s skull at the end of the episode. Alicent also gave him a model of Balerion as a gift so he could complete his nice little train set. Balerion is used to highlight the past and the legacy that the Targaryens have.

It’s fitting that Viserys tells of the prophecy in front of this because initially, Balerion was Aegon’s dragon.

Valyria was destroyed by a volcanic eruption which was known as Doom. This killed a lot of the dragons and completely wiped out the kingdom. At that time, Valyria had conquered most of Essos with the beasts, and they’d united them under one rule. However, they saw Westeros as being a backwater land and thus never bothered with it. However, when Valyria fell, they ended up having to go there, which led to taking the realm.

Balerion was a key piece in conquering Westeros, and this is the perfect place to tell of the prophecy.

As you can guess, the Black Dread was black, but it’s also thought that his fire was as well. Born in Valyria, he was one of the biggest dragons to exist, and eventually, he succumbed to old age. Viserys ended up riding him, and he too withered away and died.

So it’s fitting that we feature him in the first episode and also that he had Viserys as a rider.

Balerion represents an old age, as does the Catspaw Dagger. Every time I call it that, someone kicks off, mate, but yeah… just calling it that ‘cos that’s what it became famous as. I’m old school like that.

Now alongside the Black Dread was also Vhagar, who’s a dragon that we meet in the series.

Hatching on Dragonstone in the Century of Blood, Vhagar was named after a Valyrian god.

Queen Visenya first rode Vhagar, and she too was a key piece in conquering Westeros. Vhagar then became the dragon of Prince Baelon, who was one of Jaehaerys’s sons.

Baelon was named Hand of the King, but when out riding, he complained of a stitch. Returning home, it’s said he died of a burst belly, which these days is called appendicitis. Had that myself and yeah, not fun thinking I would’ve died when I was 25 if medical science was how it was in medieval times.

This allowed Otto Hightower to come in and become the Hand, which laid the groundwork for the series.

Eventually, Vhagar was taken by Laena, with the dragon eventually killing her to spare her agony. At least that’s what happened in the series. The book said Laena knew she was dying and went to the dragon to ride her one last time. However, she ended up collapsing on the steps and sadly the character died.

It was Aemond who’d conquer Vhagar on Driftmark, which he took after Laena’s funeral. Aemond ended up losing an eye, but in the end, he said it was a fair trade.

Now, just in the same way Vhagar became a key piece in Aegon’s conquest, Vhagar was a key piece in the dying of the dragons.

Killing Lucerys upped the stakes of the civil war because the rules are that you don’t kill an envoy. This led into the son-for-a-son arc, which would then lead into a big escalation of the war. Aemond did try and call him off, but it’s clear Vhagar doesn’t respect him. Maybe it’s to do with her long life or all the riders, but yeah, she’s still a bit of a wild card.

Vhagar’s gonna do some big things in the show, and it’s a standout dragon in the series.

WHO DID VHAGAR EAT IN HOUSE OF THE DRAGON?

Now I do kinda wanna touch on who Vhagar ate, which was Luc’s dragon Arrax. Aged just 14 when he was killed, Arrax was completely dwarfed by the giant. If we look at this diagram of all the dragon sizes, you can see how small it is compared to Vhagar. That’s Vhagar up at the left with little Arrax down the bottom. So size matters, mate. Turns out it does… which… my marriage is over.

Due to Rhaenyra’s kids looking very… very strong, it was suspected that Arrax wouldn’t hatch. However, when it did, it cleared up some doubt, but come on, mate… something off about them.

Anyway, Arrax kinda lets me segue into Rhaenyra and her family’s dragons.

Joffrey’s one is who we haven’t seen much of, with this being known as Tyraxes.

Syrax is a mainstay of the series, with the yellow-scaled dragon belonging to Rhaenyra. This was the first dragon to appear in the show, with it taking us on a tour of King’s Landing from the sky. Though it’s smaller than a lot of the other dragons, it’s more than capable of standing its ground. Described as a young dragon, Syrax stood up to Caraxes and later laid several clutches of eggs. This allowed Rhaenyra to recruit dragon riders, with a lot of the later dragons springing from her.

Syrax was a key cog in several of the assaults, including storming King’s Landing. We won’t get into spoilers beyond that, but Syrax is extremely important in the Civil War.

Now that is, of course, joined along with Caraxes, who sided with Rhaenyra along with Daemon.

Known for its large red appearance and high-pitched shrieks, Caraxes is a terrifying dragon. Caraxes was one of the oldest dragons in the realm, with it being about half the size of Vhagar.

Hatching from his egg in 72 AC, initially, he was ridden by Aemon Targaryen. At the time, he was the heir to the throne, and Caraxes was considered the fiercest. Nicknamed Blood Wyrm, he aided the fleet in the Fourth Dornish War. However, Aemon was shot in the throat with a crossbow, and thus he needed a new rider.

That, of course, came in the form of Daemon, who claimed him in 105 AC. Taking Mysaria and leaving King’s Landing, Daemon ended up leaving for Dragonstone.

The beast was used heavily in the war for the Stepstones, with the dragon being at the front of the assaults. Later on, when Daemon wed Laena, Caraxes would join Vhagar in the sky. Flying over the free cities of Essos, the pair took their honeymoon to the skies. This tour gathered huge crowds, but the pair were, of course, doomed lovers. Not to spoil what happens down the line, but Vhagar and Caraxes become bitter rivals. This is due to their riders hating each other and yeah, Aemond vs Daemon going down soon.

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Now we’ve touched upon Lucerys, but his brother Jacaerys is one we haven’t talked about. That is Vermax.

Again, Jace went through all the rumours that his brother did, with there being rumours that he was a bastard. Both hatchlings bonding brought a fraternity with the brothers, with them bonding together as well.

Vermax was used to help Jace as an envoy, and he ended up travelling out to Winterfell. The cold didn’t sit well with Vermax, and thus they travelled south. However, there were rumours that Vermax laid a clutch of eggs in the crypts of Winterfell, though this didn’t play off in the main show. Most people believed that dragons couldn’t change sex, and it had always been thought that Vermax was a male.

However, determining the sex of dragons was difficult, so we’ll see if that appears in the show.

Now, the more fringe dragons that get involved are who I wanna tackle next. These include Rhaenys’s dragon Meleys. Born in 75 AC, this scarlet dragon possessed pink membranes on her wings. Because of this, she was nicknamed the Red Queen and was known for her speed and swiftness.

Initially, she belonged to Alyssa Targaryen, who used to fly alongside her son Viserys.

As we mentioned, he tamed Balerion, which was someone that she initially wanted. However, those in the dragon pit said she’d be more suited to a smaller and swifter mount. She’s said to have strapped a 9-day-old Viserys to her chest and then took him out for his first ride. This is something that she also did with Daemon, with the brothers loving their rides.

HOW DO DRAGONS IN HOUSE OF THE DRAGON CONNECT WITH THE TARGARYENS?

Alyssa died during labour, and thus she then was tamed by Rhaenys. She’d often ride with Jaehaerys and even arrived at her wedding on the back of the beast. This is something she insisted on, with it being a jaw-dropping moment at her wedding with Corlys.

She was an extremely fierce beast; however, come the show, she’s aged quite a bit. The book describes her as being lazy, though it says she becomes ferocious when roused.

Rhaenys ended up using Meleys heavily in the dance of the dragons, with her patrolling the waters of Blackwater Bay. She destroyed countless ships and was a formidable force in the war.

Now, her son Laenor rode the dragon Seasmoke, who we saw throughout Season 1.

This silver dragon helped out heavily during the Battle of the Stepstones, in which he aided his father. Now, in the books, when Laenor died, he died for real. The show had him faking his death, so he may end up returning. I really dunno, but either way, Seasmoke didn’t have a rider. He remained in Dragonstone for about a decade until he was then claimed by a dragonseed. I’m not gonna spoil who this is, but in case you don’t know, these have Velaryon and Targaryen blood.

They were the bastards of the kings and their sons who’d frequented the villages on Driftmark. This led to several people possessing the blood of the dragon, which many deemed as meaning that they could claim dragons. Seasmoke ends up being claimed along with one known as Sheepstealer.

Sheepstealer was a wild dragon who would hunt sheep at Driftmark, and he’d often terrorise the farmers. Known as being skinny and brown, he was later conquered by another dragonseed. There are rumours that the person who did it, Nettles, won’t be in the show, with them combining the character with another. This is Baela, who’s said to now be the one conquering Sheepstealer.

I am gonna miss Nettles, as she’s such a good character, but hopefully, they combine a lot of the character moments with Baela.

She did have Moondancer in the book, so yeah, I’m a bit unsure what they’ll do, but we’ll see. Moondancer was extremely small, with it being no bigger than a horse. However, it was still strong enough to take to the sky and maintain a rider on its back.

Now, there’s also the dragon Dreamfyre, who used to belong to Rhaena Targaryen. Hatched during the reign of King Aegon, she bonded with his first grandchild when she was 9 years old.

This caused some unrest in the family as her husband and brother Aegon hadn’t claimed a dragon yet. So it was embarrassing when she was riding one everywhere whilst he could only ride a horse. Thus, Dreamfyre remained in the dragon pit until Maegor usurped the throne. Rhaena snuck into the dragon pit and took her dragon back, which is when Aegon claimed the dragon Quicksilver.

Maegor mounted the Black Dread, and the pair had a war within the house until it’s said that Maegor died on the throne. It’s rumoured he was cut by one of the swords, which eventually killed him.

Dreamfyre ended up laying two clutches of eggs, and she remained with Rhaena until her death in 73 AC. There, the dragon remained in the dragon pit until she bonded with Helaena. Helaena doesn’t really ride it in the show, but in the books, she rode her from the age of 11.

This was alongside the dragon Sunfyre, who belonged to her brother/husband.

Known as being a golden dragon, Sunfyre was adopted into the Targaryen sigil. Upon Aegon the Second’s crowning, the Targaryen symbol was changed to gold in order to highlight the dragon. Now, things happened differently at the coronation in the books.

Aegon apparently mounted the beast and rode it around the kingdom for the people below.

This wowed the attendants, making them enamoured with the beast. Sunfyre was described as being the most beautiful dragon ever seen.

It had a formidable battle at Rook’s Rest, which is a pivotal moment in the war.

Now, on top of this, Season 1 also teased Vermithor. Daemon visited the caves below Dragonstone, and there he sang to the beast. The dragon also appeared at the end of the final season 2 trailer, and it’s the oldest in the realm. Come the time that season 2 starts, Vermithor is almost 100 years old.

His egg was placed in Jaehaerys’s crib, which happened in 34 AC. Jaehaerys rode the beast throughout the realm, with its giant size casting an imposing figure.

After Jaehaerys’s death, Vermithor resigned himself to Dragonstone, where he remained for the next 30 years. That took him into being claimed by a dragonseed, which will no doubt happen in Season 2.

Now, the other dragons that reside here are the Cannibal, who, as you can guess… is 100% cannibal. There’s also the Grey Ghost and Silverwing, with them all being who the dragonseeds attempt to claim.

Anyway, that’s your rundown of all the dragons in the realm at this point. I’d love to hear your favourites in the comments, and let me know what battles you’re looking forward to.