If the name wasn’t a dead giveaway already, House of The Dragon is telling us quite a lot about the dragons that we never really knew in Game of Thrones. No, not just the dragons as in Targayens, but the God-like creatures that inspire awe and fear and make the Targaryens closer to Gods than men.
Spoilers ahead for HOTD season 2!
Every fantasy has its own dragon lore. In some, like A Song of Ice and Fire, dragons are intelligent beings that can understand commands in High Valyrian, and are revered as Gods, even named after them. And in others, like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, dragons are clever but greedy, guarding treasures, and a menace. The latest season of the HBO series, in particular, has been a treasure trove of facts about the nature of dragons and their perception in George R.R. Martin’s world of ice and fire.
As season 2 draws to a close, and a war that will end with the disappearance of dragons from Westeros until the arrival of Daenerys Targaryen begins, here’s everything we’ve learned about dragons from House of The Dragon.
Dragons are considered Gods and tied to magic
There have been repeated references to dragons as Gods, such as in the scene where Meleys’ head was paraded through the streets of King’s Landing. When Rhaenyra wants to let lowborn Targaryen bastards claim dragons, the angry dragonkeepers remind her that the dragons are the last bit of magic from Old Valyria in this world, and this would be utter sacrilege.
In that same scene from season 2, episode 7, these dragonkeepers call themselves an order, further implying the religious undertones to their relationship as some sort of clergymen or monks that worship these Gods. Showrunner Ryan Condal has also elaborated on this on his podcast.
It has been said in both ASOIAF and Fire & Blood that when the dragons went extinct, the magic dwindled from the world. The summers in Westeros grew shorter and the nights grew longer.
On dragon age, strength, and physical attributes
Dragons can live for long years. Balerion the Black Dread flew in from Valyria with the first Targaryens to settle on Dragonstone, and lived until Viserys I Targaryen was old enough to claim him. Eventually, he died of old age after living for some 200+ years.
A dragon’s age usually has nothing to do with its size but definitely on its strength. If supplied with enough food and space to grow, a dragon will keep growing with age, as is true for some of the wild dragons on Dragonstone.
Dragons are also not entirely impervious to fire, as we saw with Sunfyre, Aegon II’s mount during the Battle of Rook’s Rest. As they age, their scales thicken and protect their bodies from fire, but they can still be injured by dragonflame. The thick scales will mostly protect their most delicate parts, including their underbelly, from scorpion bolts and such, but we know that they can pierce the more tender areas too, like the neck or the eye.
Different dragons have different personalities
One of the best things to come from HOTD is how the series has attributed each dragon with a unique personality. We see how Sunfyre is playful with Aegon. Similarly, Silverwing is rather friendly with a stranger like Ulf too, bumping him several times as if playing with him before bending her neck to him.
Vhagar is like an old, bored, mostly indifferent maid down for her nap time, unless something or someone provokes her. Then she’s all go go go! As for Vermithor, he sure does have a temper and it is only when Hugh Hammer challenges him that accepts Hugh as his rider.
Dragons claim their riders and not the other way round
Seasmoke chasing down Addam to be his rider was another interesting aspect of dragon personality that we were introduced to in House of The Dragon season 2. But while it seemed unique, if we look at it, it has always been the dragon that ‘claims’ a rider.
A dragon egg placed in the crib of a Targaryen prince or princess may or may not hatch, and unhatched dragon eggs may petrify into stone for years until they hatch to someone worthy (like Daenerys, who used a blood magic spell that paid for it with a life). A dragon may not allow anyone to claim them despite their Valyrian blood, as we have heard of Rhaena Targaryen’s unsuccessful attempt at claiming one. Or a dragon may let the most surprising of riders claim them, as we saw in the case of Ulf being able to claim Silverwing.
The bond between a dragon and its rider is deeper than you think
Dragons are magic, and possibly bound by some ancient spells to the blood of Old Valyria, which is the key requirement to command and claim a dragon. But there are a bunch of other rules that define the relationship between a dragon and its rider.
For one, a dragon that has previously had a rider can only be claimed once that rider is dead. In House of The Dragon season 2, which deviates from the book, this becomes a bit of a loophole, since Laenor Velaryon never died back in season 1. So how could Addam claim his dragon Seasmoke? The only explanation for it is the most obvious one.
In addition, once a dragon has been claimed, they won’t let another ride them, at least not without their original rider also present and taking the other rider as a passenger. Viserys and Daemon’s mother Alyssa Targaryen would often ride with them as kids on her dragon, Meleys.
The operative word here is ‘claimed’. When Daenerys hatched her three dragon eggs, she didn’t claim all three dragons as a rider, because that’s another thing that’s not doable—one dragon per rider. Think of it like a pet loyalty thing. Dany’s mount was always Drogon. This is why in Season 8, Jon Snow was able to ride Rhaegal and the Night King could ride Viserion (although he was a wight, so maybe the rules were nonexistent anyway.)
Dragons can sense strong emotions of their riders, such as joy, grief, anger, despair or fear. We’ve seen examples of this on GoT, especially the finale, where Drogon melts the Iron Throne after Dany dies, sensing that it was the source of his mother’s mad ambition and the cause of her death. In House of The Dragon, too, we see the dragons fiercely protective of their riders, flanking them and growing restless every time they sense the slightest threat (Rhaenyra and Syrax in seasons 1 and 2).
Dragons also sense pain and despair, as when Vhagar burnt Laena, her own rider, when commanded to because Laena was in pain. And Meleys’ sorrowful look back at Rhaenys, just seconds before both dragon and rider plummeted to their death, as if to say, “Sorry, I couldn’t win this for us.”
If it looks like dragons are often matched perfectly to their riders (like a ruthlessly cold Aemond with a kinslayer like Vhagar), there might be some truth to that. One fascinating thing about dragon and rider bonds is that it does affect the dragons’ mating patterns. Vermithor and Silverwing, the dragons of King Jaehaerys I and Queen Alysanne, often coiled together, and there are rumors that Rhaenyra’s Syrax is their offspring. And Syrax and Caraxes can be seen cooing at each other, because their riders, Rhaenyra and Daemon are spouses.
In fact, this might also be how we figured out who Drogon’s daddy is (it’s not Caraxes BTW!)
Dragons can disobey orders
Well, either that or these intelligent creatures sense what their rider truly wants because how else would you explain Vhagar going after Arrax, even after Aemond Targaryen rather unconvincingly commands him to not engage with Lucerys Velaryon’s dragon in the season 1 finale?
Dragons that have had riders are more comfortable around humans
It is not easy to tame a wild dragon that has never been claimed before (a challenge that Rhaena Targaryen would face in HOTD) because they are not yet accustomed to humans. However, a dragon that has had a rider is more likely to be comfortable around humans and easier to claim by another rider, as we saw with Ulf and Silvering or Addam and Seasmoke.
Dragons can be cannibalistic and will wound and kill each other
We literally have a wild dragon called The Cannibal living on Dragonstone, who has a tiny, albeit important, part to play in the upcoming seasons if the makers follow the book. But yet, dragons can, in some circumstances, turn cannibalistic and prey on their own.
While dragons are intelligent beings and go so far as to reciprocate the emotions of their riders, it isn’t quite clear if they’re emotional when it comes to their own kinships. Vhagar attacked and killed Meleys without any hesitation at Rook’s Rest, when years ago Vhagar’s rider, Baelon Targaryen, and Meleys’ rider, Alyssa Targaryen, were husband and wife.
If you love dragon lore, there’s lots more to be found about their origins, physical attributes, and nature in the books!
Published: Aug 1, 2024 08:00 am