It's right there in the title: House of the Dragon. Are people watching for the house? The arcitecture in King's Landing is nice, but probably not. In addition to the politicking, and the great acting, and the opulent costumes, this Game of Thrones prequel features over a dozen fierce, fire-breathing flying friends, most of them bonded with a member of the Targaryen family. The dragons on House of the Dragon are loyal to their riders, but they're also enormous, dangerous beasts that can single-handedly turn the tide of a battle. They're a highlight, and we'll see a lot more of them in the show's second season.
But how many exactly? Well, ahead of the first season, showrunner Miguel Sapochnik told Empire that there are 17 dragons "around" on the show, which is set about 150 years before the events of Game of Thrones, back when the Targaryen empire was at the height of its power. He said that we'd see nine of those dragons in the first season.
So let's start there. Here are all the dragons we met in season 1, eight of whom are coming back for season 2:
1. Syrax — Rider: Rhaenyra Targaryen
Syrax is the first dragon we see on the show. Ridden by a young Rhaenyra Targaryen, this eagle-like yellow dragon sailed majestically through the clouds before setting her rider down at the Dragonpit. Syrax and Rhaenyra have been together ever since.
Syrax is not bred for combat. She's a peacetime dragon, although she's still a dragon, so she's capable of tearing the limbs off anyone who gets too close.
Rhaenyra is 20 years older than she was when we first saw her riding Syrax, but her dragon is still by her side. Now that Rhaenrya is officially at war with her half-brother Aegon Targaryen over the Iron Throne, she'll want to keep Syrax as close as possible.
2. Caraxes — Rider: Daemon Targaryen
Unlike Syrax, the noodle-necked red dragon Caraxes is experienced in war, having been tempered during the fight against the Triarchy in the Stepstones early in House of the Dragon's first season. Caraxes isn't the largest dragon on this list, but he may be the most ferocious. In that, he's a great match for his rider, the mercurial Daemon Targaryen, Rhaenyra's husband.
According to Collider, Sapochnik once described Caraxes has having "failed white boy rapper" energy. I'm honestly not sure what that's supposed to mean, but it it does highlight how these dragons all have distinct personality. Expect to see a lot more of Caraxes and Daemon in season 2. Now that war is officially afoot, they'll be in their element.
4. Seasmoke — Currently riderless
The grey dragon Seasmoke has been through a lot in a short time. In the first season of House of the Dragon, he was the mount of Laenor Velaryon, Rhaenyra's first husband. The two fought in the Stepstones alongside Daemon and Caraxes, so Seasmoke is battle-tested.
However, in the back half of the first season, Laenor faked his own death in order to escape his oppressive birthright, leaving Seasmoke riderless. Who walks out on their pet like that, especially when their pit is an irascible flying reptile who crunch them in a single bite?
So far as we know, Seasmoke isn't holding a grudge. He is currently riderless, though. If you've read George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, you know that might not be the case for long.
3. Vhagar — Rider: Aemond Targaryen
Vhagar is one of the most memorable dragons from House of the Dragon. She is the only dragon who wa already fully grown during the time of Aegon the Conqueror, who established the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros, which makes the older dragon alive during this period. Because dragons never stop aging, that also means she's the biggest. She may not be as manueverable as some of the younger dragons in the roster, but she makes up for that in sheer size and power.
During the time of Aegon's Conquest, Vhagar was ridden by Aegon's sister Visenya. After Visenya's death, Vhagar would bond with descendants of Aegon's bloodline, including Laena Velaryon, who is riding Vhagar when we first see in House of the Dragon Episode 6, "The Princess and the Queen." But Laena dies in that same episode. The episode after that, at Laena's funeral, a young Aemond Targaryen mounts Vhagar and rides her through the skies, bonding with the newly riderless dragon.
Aemond is one of the most bloodthirsty characters in this story. He was dangerous before he bonded with the largest and most powerful dragon on the planet. Going into season 2, he's going to feel invincible.
That said, we already know there are limits to how much Aemond can keep control of his mount. He lost control of Vhagar at the end of the first season when she chomped down on the much smaller dragon Arrax as well as Arrax's rider Lucerys Velaryon, Aemond's own nephew. This is the first blood drawn in the war that will come to be known as the Dance of the Dragons, and Aemond and Vhagar held the knife.
5. Vermax — Rider: Jacaerys Velaryon
Vermax is a young dragon ridden by Rhaenyra's eldest son Jacaerys Velaryon. He's not huge, but he's quick and smart like his rider. When last we saw Vermax and Jace, they were riding off to the Vale and Winterfell to try and win the lords and ladies of those houses over to Rhaenyra's cause. Now that war has officially broken out, Rhaenyra will need as many allies as she can get. Can Jace and Vermax deliver them to her?
6. Dreamfyre — Rider: Helanea Targaryen
This one involves a little guesswork. In the sixth episode of House of the Dragon, young Aemond Targaryen — then without a dragon of his own — steals into the Dragonpit in an attempt to bond with one. He stumbles across a dragon who belches fire into the dark and quickly gets out of there. Although it's not entirely confirmed, the theory is that this is Dreamfyre, a dragon bonded with Aemond's older sister Helaena Targaryen. Dreamfyre is a blue dragon untested in combat.
7. Meleys — Rider: Rhaenys Targaryen
Meleys, called the Red Queen, is a red dragon ridden by Rhaenys Targaryen, the cousin of the late King Viserys I Targaryen. Meleys and Rhaenys made a big impression when they crashed the coronation of King Aegon II Targaryen before flying off to Dragonston to tell Rhaenyra what had happened.
Rhaenys has allied herself with Rhaenyra, so Meleys is at her disposal.
8. Vermithor — Riderless
Vermithor is one of several wild dragons living on the island of Dragonstone. Vermithor, called the Bronze Fury, is the oldest dragon alive next to Vhagar, and was previously ridden by Jaehaerys I Targaryen, the longest-serving king in Westerosi history. He hasn't had a rider since.
But now that war is on the horizon between Queen Rhaenyra and King Aegon, Vermithor may be drafted back into service. In the season 1 finale, Daemon Targaryen pays Vermithor a visit in the vast cave where the beast has made his lair.
During the Dance of the Dragons, those who support Rhaenya's claim to the Iron Throne are known as the Blacks, while those who support Aegon's claim the Greens. Aegon's brother Aemond rides Vhagar, the biggest and older dragon in the world. It would help the cause of the Blacks to have a dragon like Vermithor on their side, since no one else will stand much of a chance against Vhagar in the field. But who will ride him?
9. Arrax — Rider: Lucerys Velaryon (dragon and rider deceased)
Finally, we have Arrax, the young dragon ridden by the young, unfortunate Luke Velaryon, Rhaenyra's second son. In the season 1 finale, Rhaenyra sent young Luke to the castle of Storm's End to try and recruit its lord to her cause, but Luke landed to find his uncle Aemond Targaryen — and Aemond's massive dragon Vhagar — already there. Aemond had never forgiven Luke for slicing out his eye during a squabble when they were kids, and chased his younger nephew into the night on dragonback. Things got out of hand, tempers flared, dragonbreath was exchange, and the enormous Vhagar chomped both Arrax and Luke to death in a single bite.
So we won't see Arrax back in the second season of House of the Dragon. He's the first dragon down...but if you know the Game of Thrones universe, you can probably guess he won't be the last.
And those are all the dragons we've met so far. All of them except Arrax will also show up in season 2. And showrunner Ryan Condal told Deadline that we'll see five more.
Ah, but which five? Well, in the season 1 finale, Daemon helpfully laid out how many dragons are around at this time. "They have three adults, by my count," he said of the Greens, presumably referring to Vhagar, Dreamfyre, and Aegon's dragon Sunfyre. "We have Syrax, Caraxes and Meleys. Your sons have Vermax, Arrax and Tyraxes. Baela has Moondancer...There are also unclaimed dragons. Seasmoke still resides on Driftmark. Vermithor and Silverwing dwell on the Dragonmount, still riderless. Then there are the three wild dragons, all of whom nest here...Dragonstone has 13 to their four. I also have a score of eggs incubating in the Dragonmount."
In season 1, we already saw Syrax, Caraxes, Meleys, Vermax, Arrax, Seasmoke, Vermithor, Dreamfyre and Vhagar. We haven't seen Sunfyre, Moondancer or Silverwing, nor have we seen any of the "wild" dragons Daemon talked about. Which of that set will be among the five we'll meet in season 2? Let's look forward:
1. Sunfyre — Rider: Aegon Targaryen
We know we'll see Sunfyre in House of the Dragon season 2 because we can see him in the trailers. Sunfyre is the mount of the newly crowned King Aegon II Targaryen. He's a golden dragon said to be the most beautiful in the world, which is ironic considering that King Aegon is something of a messy disaster.
2. Moondancer — Rider: Baela Targaryen
Once again, we see Moondancer in the trailers for House of the Dragon season 2. She's a young, maneuverable dragon ridden by Daemon's daughter Baela. In Fire & Blood, Baela is fiery and brave, so we can bet she'll want to ride Moondancer into war alongside her father and step-mother.
3. Silverwing — Riderless
And now we come to the guesswork. If we assume that Ryan Condal is being precise when he says that we'll see five new dragons in House of the Dragon season 2, there are only three slots left. Although she doesn't appear in any of the trailers, I would bet that the dragon Silverwing — one of the riderless dragons Daemon mentioned in the season finale — will show up.
Explaining why requires some spoilers for Fire & Blood: at one point during the Dance of the Dragons, Rhaenyra will find herself with more dragons than riders. She puts out a call to the Seven Kingdoms: anyone who can tame and mount these riderless dragons will be given lands and titles, provided they ride them into battle for her. People from far and wide answer the call. Most die attempting to tame these beasts, but a few are successful and join Rhaenyra's cause. These become known as the dragonseeds.
One of the dragonseeds is a local drunkard named Ulf White, who mounts the silvery dragon Silverwing, last ridden by Good Queen Alysanne a couple generations back. We know that actor Tom Bennett has been cast as Ulf White in House of the Dragon season 2; that's the back of his head in the shot above. If Ulf is part of the cast, we'll probably see him with Silverwing.
There are dragonseeds we know are coming, who mount the dragons Seasmoke and Vermithor. But in the interest of keeping spoilers to a minimum, we won't go into their stories.
4. and 5. Tyraxes and Sheepstealer (maybe)
Okay, now we're out of runway. Who will feel the final two slots? Of the dragons Daemon mentioned in his speech in the season 1 finale, only five remain: Tyraxes and the three wild dragons on Dragonstone, who are called Grey Ghost, the Cannibal and Sheepstealer. Also recall that he said the Greens have "three adults, by my count," but he later said that they have four dragons. So that means that the Greens have a young dragon among them.
We can clear up who that young dragon is. King Aegon is married to his sister Queen Helaena In Fire & Blood, with whom he has two young children: twins Jaehaera and Jaehaerys. In Fire & Blood, Jaehaera is bonded with a dragon called Morghul and Jaehaerys with a dragon called Shrykos. Both are very young can't fly. The mysterious young dragon is probably one of those. It's unclear if Daemon is counting them both as a unit, if he forgot one, or if the show will cut one.
But just because Morghul/Shrykos exist on the show doesn't mean that they'll show up in season 2 and fill one of those slots. They don't play very important roles, at least not yet, and the show may not want to waste the money on them, not when there are so many other flying monsters to animate.
Tyraxes is also a young dragon. He's bound to Joffrey, Rhaenyra's youngest son by her late husband Laenor Velaryon. Once again, he doesn't do much for this stretch of the story, so it's hard to say whether he'll show up.
Finally, there are the three wild dragons. Two of these dragons — Grey Ghost and the Cannibal — do not play a role in this part of the story; Grey Ghost is famously reclusive, so I'm betting the show leaves him out, at least for now. Sheepstealer is a bigger deal. In Fire & Blood, he is mounted by a young woman named Nettles, who becomes one of the dragonseeds and fights for Rhaenyra. I've been looking forward to seeing that story play out onscreen, although there are doubts as to whether Nettles will show up this season.
Here's my guess: I think the final two new dragons who we'll meet in House of the Dragon season 2 are Tyraxes, because Daemon already mentioned him by name; and Sheepstealer, because Sheepsteeler and Nettles have an important role to play in the story and I won't believe that the show has cut them until I absolutely have to.
Dragons from the book who won't make it into House of the Dragon
Subtracting dear departed Arrax, that's 13 dragons we'll see flying around in House of the Dragon season 2. That's a goodly number, but there are yet more in Fire & Blood that the show may or may not get to. Let's run through them:
- Stormcloud: Stormcloud is a young dragon bonded to Rhaenyra and Daemon's baby son Aegon III. Stormcloud does have a role to play in this stretch of the story, but considering how young the show has made Aegon III — he was a toddler when we saw him in Episode 8 of season 1 — I have a feeling they may delay Stormcloud's big scene for a season or two.
- Tessarion: This one will mess with fans. On House of the Dragon, King Viserys Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower have three children, all of whom are bonded to dragons: Aegon, Aemond and Helaena. In Fire & Blood, they have a fourth, youngest child: Daeron Targaryen, who's off studying in Oldtown. It's possible the show could surprise us and include Daeron, but there's been zero mention of him so far, and Daemon didn't seem to include Daeron's dragon Tesserion on his list, so I'm guessing that both dragon and rider have been cut.
- Morning: Morning is a very young dragon who is not actually born yet at this part of the story. Even adapting the book as is, she may not be born until season 3 or 4 of the show.
There are basically as many dragon characters as human ones on this show. Watch them tear each other to bits when House of the Dragon season 2 premieres on HBO and Max on Sunday, June 16!
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