Rhaenys and Meleys’ Bond Makes You Nostalgic for Daenerys and Her Dragons

You never forget your first dragon. With the Battle of Rook’s Rest fresh in our memory thanks to House of The Dragon, we can’t help but fondly remember the first time we loved and lost the dragons of Valyria on screen—Daenerys Targaryen’s three babies, Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion in Game of Thrones.

It’s particularly sentimental to think of Dany’s dragons, since we saw a glimpse of them as eggs in House of The Dragon. Director Geeta Vasant Patel confirmed that the dragons we see Rhaenyra send away for safekeeping with Rhaena Targaryen are indeed the petrified dragon eggs that Daenerys received from Magister Illyrio Mopatis upon her wedding to Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones. 

It will be interesting to trace their journey on HOTD from Dragonstone, where they might’ve been laid by Syrax, Rhaenyra’s dragon, to Pentos, and finally in Daenerys’ arms. It’s also poetic that a queen’s dragon gave birth to dragons that made her descendant the ultimate Targaryen queen and conqueror of Westeros, fulfilled Aegon’s dream of protecting the realms of men from the Night King, while also bringing about a fiery end to the Targaryen madness for power.

In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series, Drogon is with Daenerys after they escaped from Meereen, and Rhaegal and Viserion are awaiting her return. However, in the HBO’s Game of Thrones, we already know the fate of Daenerys’ three children. And it’s as tragic as their mother’s!

What happened to Daenerys’ dragons in Game of Thrones?

Daenerys Targaryen embarks to conquer Westeros with three dragons. Drogon, considered by many to be the reincarnation of Aegon the Conqueror’s Balerian the Black Dread due to his size, and black and red flames, is the largest of the three, and named after her deceased husband, Khal Drogo. Rhaegal is greenish gold and bronze, and named after her deceased son Rhaego, who was supposed to be the Stallion that Mounts the World. And Viserion, the cream and gold one, is named after her brother deceased brother Viserys.

Viserion

Viserion is the first of Daenerys’ dragons to fall. When Jon Snow and his Night’s Watch men are cornered by the White Walkers and the Night King’s army of the dead, Dany flies in with her three dragons and attempts to rescue them. However, the Night King hurls an ice spear which pierces Viserion in the neck, making him crash into the frozen lake and sink into the water. 

In an iconic scene from Game of Thrones season 7, the Night King then revives Viserion as a wight, flies him to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and uses his icy blue flame to bring down the castle and a portion of the Wall, allowing his army of the dead and White Walkers to pass through.

Viserion is attacked by his brothers Drogon and Rhaegal during the Battle of Winterfell. And he’s about to kill Jon with his blue fire, but Arya manages to kill the Night King, and the magic animating Viserion ends, and he drops dead.

Rhaegal

Rhaegal (the dragon named after his father, Rhaegar Targaryen) is the dragon that Jon Snow rides in season 8 in the Battle of Winterfell. However, Rhaegal is badly wounded while fighting his fallen brother Viserion, who is the Night King’s wight.

Rhaegal eventually recovers, and is able to fl, watched by his mother as she rides Drogon off the coast of Dragonstone. However, in that otherwise peaceful moment, Rhaegal is killed by three giant bolts from scorpions mounted on ships by Euron Greyjoy. With one bolt to the chest, one to his wing, and a final one to his neck, Rhaegal bleeds fatally, falls from the sky, and sinks into the water.

Having lost Viserion, Jorah Mormont, Rhaegal, and eventually Missandei too, Daenerys is driven mad with rage and burns King’s Landing riding Drogon.

Drogon

Following the death of his two brothers, Drogon becomes the last living dragon in Westeros, and has to witness his mother die. After Dany reduces King’s Landing to ashes and dust, and announces her plans to “liberate” other cities in a similar way, Jon Snow realises he is going to have to unalive her to end the madness.

In the throne room at the Red Keep, Drogon lets Jon Snow pass because he doesn’t suspect him. However, when Jon stabs Dany, Drogon senses something is wrong, and flies in to find Dany dead in the arms of Jon. He lets out a massive roar, and it looks like he might be turning to Jon to burn him, but instead, he turns to the Iron Throne—forged by the flames of his ancestor Balerian the Black Dread—and melts the object of her mother’s obsession, thus ending the war and breaking the wheel.

He then picks up Daenerys’ limp body and flies away, believed to have flown across the Narrow Sea. Bran considers trying to find Drogon—since he can warg—but we do not find out in the series if Drogon was even found again.

Let’s hope we get some answers about Drogon in the books, if and when they come out. Maybe time to rewatch Game of Thrones!