8 dragons we still want to see in House of the Dragon season 4

House of the Dragon has lived up to its name so far. There are certainly fair criticisms to make about the writing, the decision to decrease the episode count, and other elements. But one thing that I think this show has knocked out of the park is the dragon design.

Unlike Game of Thrones, where the three dragons were slightly different colors with similar design, House of the Dragon has made it a point to give each beast unique characteristics, physical features, and even behavior.

It is one of the most charming things about this TV show and a testament to the production team's attention to detail. With that being said, there are still a handful of dragons that haven't been given their time to shine on the screen yet. Here are the dragons that still need to have a proper introduction before House of the Dragon wraps up with season 4.

1. The Cannibal
2. Grey Ghost
3. Morghul and Shrykos
4. Tyraxes
5. Morning
6. Stormcloud
7. The last dragon
8. Balerion the Black Dread

The Cannibal

At the time of the Dance of the Dragons, the Cannibal is one of three wild dragons living in Westeros. Other than the fact that he eats other dragons (hence the name) and has black scales, Fire & Blood is super vague about the Cannibal's past. Some sources say that he hatched when Jaehaerys I was a child, making him roughly 90-ish years old.

Another source says he hatched before the Targaryens came to Westeros in 114 BC. It seems unlikely that the Cannibal is approaching 250 years old since the book explicitly says he is smaller than Vhagar and Vermithor. Either way, he is very old, very large, and he should at least appear before the end of House of the Dragon, even if it's briefly. The show already omitted him from the sowing in season 2, so I feel like I'm owed a scene of the Cannibal eating something—or someone.

Grey Ghost

Another wild dragon, Grey Ghost is pale and lives in the volcano on Dragonstone. Other than that, we don't really know much about this creature other than the fact that he keeps to itself. Grey Ghost's one claim to fame is turning up dead on Dragonstone. If this subplot is included, it would be slated to happen in season 4, so even seeing Grey Ghost dead would be better than nothing, if you ask me.

Morghul and Shrykos

We’re grouping Morghul and Shrykos together because they are the hatchlings of Jaehaerys and Jaehaera Targaryen, the twin children of King Aegon II and Helaena. These hatchlings are kept in the Dragonpit by the time Rhaenyra takes over King's Landing, but it's unclear if these dragons have even hatched in House of the Dragon since they haven't even been mentioned. It would still be nice to have some allusion to these dragons, even if it's just a name drop.

Tyraxes

Rhaenyra's last son with Harwin Strong is Joffrey Velaryon, the current heir to the Iron Throne. I'm fairly certain we haven't seen Tyraxes on screen, but we know that he is alive. When Rhaenyra instructs Rhaena to bring Joffrey to the Vale, Rhaena protests that Tyraxes is just a hatchling. Then we see a box being packed up for the trip that presumably housed Tyraxes for the journey.

Now that Joffrey is back at Rhaenyra's side in King's Landing, I think it's safe to assume that Tyraxes came with him and is living in the Dragonpit.

Morning

The House of the Dragon plot of Rhaena bonding with Sheepstealer does not exist in Fire & Blood, and instead, the wild dragon is ridden by a lowborn girl named Nettles. In the book, Rhaena's patience eventually pays off and a dragon egg hatches for her.

The dragon has pale pink scales and Rhaena names her Morning. Now that Sheepstealer is seemingly out of the equation in House of the Dragon and Rhaena is back in King's Landing, I think the show definitely could and should still include Morning. If nothing more than to give us a proper close-up shot of this stunning dragon.

Stormcloud

Okay, I'm going to get a little SPOILERY for this one so, fair warning before you read the rest of this entry if you haven’t read Fire & Blood.

Aegon the Younger, Rhaenyra and Daemon's son, has a dragon named Stormcloud. We briefly see this little guy in season 2, but he's been largely omitted from the show, as has his rider. Stormcloud is presumably with Aegon and his brother Viserys when they left the Vale for Pentos.

These characters were supposed to be included in the Battle of the Gullet, where their ship is intercepted by Triarchy pirates in Fire & Blood. Viserys gets captured, but Aegon is able to fly away on Stormcloud and barely make it back to Dragonstone before Stormcloud dies of his wounds.

Showrunner Ryan Condal said it was too difficult to include this scene because of how much younger Aegon and Viserys are in the show, but that the writers haven't forgotten about the boys. I hope they haven’t forgotten, because I am eager to see how Condal and company rectify this massive change in season 4.

The last dragon

In Fire & Blood, we are told that the last dragon hatchling dies a couple of decades after the Dance of the Dragons. The dragon doesn't have a name, and we don't know if anyone rode it, but we know that it laid a clutch of dragon eggs.

In the Dunk & Egg novellas, we are also told that Dunk's teacher, Ser Arlan, actually saw the last dragon and its eggs when he was a child visiting King's Landing. If we don't get to see this dragon in House of the Dragon, I would sure love a flashback of young Arlan interacting with the beast in a future episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

Balerion the Black Dread

My pie-in-the-sky dream is that we will get some kind of glimpse of Balerion. I feel like I'm constantly reminded of Balerion being the largest dragon in recent memory and the last living being born in Old Valyria. Aside from his skull, we have still yet to see this majestic beast on screen in all of his glory.

It's disappointing because King Viserys is one of House of the Dragon's main characters in season 1, and he was the last person to ride Balerion. The show sort of hints that Viserys had a disdain for dragon riding, and he even tells Rhaenyra that it's dangerous to believe that humans truly control the dragons.

I'm still holding out hope we get a flashback of the lone flight Viserys and Balerion had together. Perhaps it did not go well, leaving Viserys emotionally scarred from the experience and uncomfortable with dragons.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow