House of the Dragon: Every Dragon in the Targaryen Civil War Explained

The dance and dying of the dragons sits at the heart of the civil war brewing between the greens and the blacks, and there are 17 dragons worth knowing across the story. Here is my rundown of every one of them, in the order they come up.

Balerion the Black Dread represents the Targaryens' fading legacy

Balerion never actually appears in the series, but his presence is felt throughout. We see a statue of him in the first episode along with his skull, and Alicent gives Viserys a model of Balerion as a gift so he can complete his little train set. He is used to highlight the past and the legacy the Targaryens carry, which is why it feels fitting that Viserys tells of the prophecy in front of his skull, since Balerion was originally Aegon's dragon.

Balerion was born in Valyria before it was destroyed by the volcanic eruption known as the Doom, which killed a lot of dragons and wiped out the kingdom. Valyria had conquered most of Essos with dragons and united it under one rule, but once the city fell, the survivors ended up going to war, which led to them taking the realm of Westeros. Balerion was a key piece in that conquest.

As the name suggests, the Black Dread was black, and it is also thought his fire was black too. He was one of the biggest dragons to exist, and he eventually succumbed to old age. Viserys ended up riding him, and Balerion withered away and died, which makes him a fitting symbol of old age, in the same way the Cannibal earned its nickname simply by becoming famous for it.

Vhagar became a wild card whose riders never quite controlled her

Vhagar hatched on Dragonstone during the Century of Blood and was named after a Valyrian god. She was a key piece in conquering Westeros before becoming the dragon of Prince Baelon, one of Jaehaerys's sons. Baelon was named heir to the king, but while out riding he complained of a stitch, and on returning home he reportedly died of a burst belly, which today would be called appendicitis. That opened the door for Otto Hightower to become the hand, laying the groundwork for the series.

Vhagar was then taken by Laena, and in the show the dragon ends up killing her to spare her the agony of her illness. In the book, Laena knew she was dying and went to ride Vhagar one last time, but collapsed on the steps and passed away. Aemond then conquered Vhagar on Driftmark after Laena's funeral, losing an eye in the process, which he later said was a fair trade.

Just as Vhagar became key to Aegon's Conquest, she also becomes key to the dying of the dragons, killing Lucerys and raising the stakes of the civil war, since the rules state you do not kill an envoy. That moment leads directly into the sons for sons arc and a big escalation of the war. Aemond tried to call her off, but it is clear Vhagar does not respect him, maybe because of her long life or the number of riders she has had. She remains a wild card in the story.

Arrax was dwarfed by Vhagar in the deadly encounter with Lucerys

Arrax was the dragon Vhagar ate, killing Lucerys at just 14 years old. Arrax was completely dwarfed by Vhagar, and a size comparison of all the dragons shows just how small Arrax is next to her. It was suspected Arrax would not hatch, and when he did it cleared up some doubt about the Velaryon children's parentage.

Syrax gave Rhaenyra the first dragon's eye view of King's Landing

Syrax is the yellow scaled dragon belonging to Rhaenyra, and it is the first dragon we see in the series, taking us on a tour of King's Landing from the sky. Though smaller than several other dragons, Syrax is described as a young dragon that is more than capable of standing its ground, and she stood up to Caraxes. Syrax later laid several clutches of eggs, which allowed Rhaenyra to recruit dragon riders, with many later dragons springing directly from her. Syrax became a key cog in several assaults, including the storming of King's Landing.

Caraxes and Meleys join Rhaenyra's side as two of the realm's oldest dragons

Caraxes, known for its red appearance and high pitched shriek, belongs to Daemon and is a terrifying dragon, one of the oldest in the realm and about half the size of Vhagar. He hatched from his egg in 72 AC and was originally ridden by Aemon Targaryen, then head of the throne, with Caraxes considered the fiercest dragon and nicknamed Blood Wyrm. Caraxes aided the fleet in the Fourth Dornish War until Aemon was shot in the throat with a crossbow, leaving the dragon needing a new rider.

Daemon claimed Caraxes in 105 AC, took Rhaenyra, and left King's Landing for Dragonstone. The dragon was used heavily in the War for the Stepstones, with Daemon at the forefront of the assaults. Later, when Daemon wed Laena, Caraxes joined Vhagar in the sky, flying over the Free Cities as the pair took their honeymoon in the air, tours that apparently gathered massive crowds even though the two riders were, of course, doomed lovers. Caraxes and Vhagar go on to become bitter rivals because their riders hate each other, setting up Aemond versus Daemon later in the story.

Vermax carries Jacaerys's rumored parentage into a bond with his brother's dragon

Jacaerys's dragon is Vermax. Jace went through all the rumors his brother Lucerys did about his parentage, and their bond as hatchlings brought a fraternity between the brothers as they bonded together too. Vermax was used to help Jace act as an envoy, and he ended up traveling out to Winterfell. That did not sit well with the dragon, and reportedly he ended up going south anyway. There are also rumors that Vermax laid a clutch of eggs in the crypts of Winterfell, though whether that appears in the show remains to be seen. Most people believe dragons could not change sex and that Vermax was always male, but the book notes that determining a dragon's sex is difficult, so it is unclear whether that detail makes it to the screen.

Meleys the Red Queen became a formidable force in the Battle of Blackwater Bay

Rhaenys's dragon, born in 75 AC, is the Scarlet Dragon Meleys, nicknamed the Red Queen for the pink membranes on her wings and known for her swiftness. She initially belonged to Alyssa Targaryen, who flew alongside her son Viserys, the same Viserys who went on to tame Balerion, which was originally the mount Alyssa herself wanted before those in the dragon pits suggested she would be better suited to a smaller, swifter mount. Alyssa reportedly strapped a nine day old Viserys to her chest and took him out for his first ride, something she also did with Daemon, with the pair loving being on dragons together.

Alyssa died during labor, and Meleys was then tamed by Rhaenys. Rhaenys would often ride with Jaehaerys and even arrived at her wedding on the back of Meleys, something she insisted on and which was apparently a jaw dropping moment for the guests. Meleys was an extremely fierce beast in her youth, though by the time of the show she has aged quite a bit. The book describes her as lazy, but says she becomes ferocious when roused, and Rhaenys ends up using her heavily in the Dance of the Dragons, patrolling the waters of Blackwater Bay, destroying countless ships and becoming a formidable force in the war.

Seasmoke went unridden for a decade before a dragonseed claimed him

Rhaenys and Corlys's son Laenor rode the silver dragon Seasmoke, seen throughout the first season. Seasmoke helped heavily during the Battle of the Stepstones, where he aided his father Corlys. In the books, when Laenor died, he died for real, though the show had him fake his death, so I would not be surprised if he returns, though I genuinely do not know. Either way, Seasmoke went unridden and remained on Dragonstone for about a decade before he was claimed by a dragonseed, someone with both Valyrian and Targaryen blood, the kind of illegitimate children of kings and their sons who frequented the villages of Driftmark and were deemed able to claim dragons because of that blood.

Sheepstealer's wild reputation may be folded into Baela rather than the character Nettles

Sheepstealer was claimed alongside Seasmoke by another dragonseed. He was a wild dragon who hunted sheep on Driftmark and terrorized farmers, described as skinny and brown, before being conquered by another dragonseed. There are rumors that the person who did that, called Nettles in the books, will not appear in the show, with the character instead combined with another figure, Baela, who is now said to be the one who conquers Sheepstealer. I will genuinely miss Nettles, since she is such a good character, but I am hopeful they combine a lot of her best moments with Baela. Baela did ride Moondancer in the book, so I am a bit unsure what the show will do with that detail.

Moondancer was small as a horse but still strong enough to fly in battle

Moondancer was extremely small, no bigger than a horse, but was still strong enough to take to the sky and carry a rider into battle.

Dreamfyre and Sunfyre trace the family rift that led to Aegon's coronation

Dreamfyre used to belong to Rhaena Targaryen and hatched during the reign of King Jaehaerys, bonding with his first grandchild when she was nine years old. That caused some unrest in the family, since her husband and brother Aegon had not yet claimed a dragon, making it embarrassing that she was riding one everywhere while he could only ride a horse. Dreamfyre remained in the dragon pit until Maegor usurped the throne, after which Rhaena snuck into the dragon pit and took her dragon back, prompting Aegon to claim the dragon Quicksilver. Maegor mounted Balerion, and the two ended up in a war within the house until Maegor reportedly died on the throne, rumored to have been cut by one of the swords on the throne itself. Dreamfyre later laid two clutches of eggs and stayed with Rhaena until her death in 73 AC, after which the dragon remained in the dragon pit until bonding with Helaena.

Helaena does not really ride Dreamfyre in the show, but in the books she rode her from the age of 11. Alongside Dreamfyre is Sunfyre, belonging to her brother and husband Aegon II, a golden dragon that was adopted into the Targaryen sigil upon Aegon the Second's crowning, when the Targaryen symbol was changed to gold to highlight the dragon. The coronation plays out differently in the books, where Aegon apparently mounted Sunfyre and rode around the kingdom for the people below, enamoring the crowd, and the text describes Sunfyre as the most beautiful dragon ever seen. Sunfyre had a formidable battle at Rook's Rest, a pivotal moment in the war that I personally cannot wait to see, since it is a massive turn in the book that throws a big curveball, with some dragons losing and some winning, changing a lot of the dynamics that follow.

Vermithor spent decades alone on Dragonstone waiting to be claimed

Season 1 also teased Vermithor when Daemon visited the caves below Dragonstone and sang to the dragon. In Season 2, Vermithor became almost 100 years old. His egg was placed in Jaehaerys's crib in 34 AC, and after Jaehaerys's death, Vermithor resigned himself to Dragonstone, where he remained for the next 30 years, a dragon who was expected to eventually be claimed by a dragonseed.

The other dragons that reside on Dragonstone alongside him are the Cannibal, who as the name suggests is entirely cannibalistic, along with Grey Ghost and Silverwing, all dragons that dragonseeds would attempt to claim.

Which of these dragons and battles are you most looking forward to seeing play out?