Is that Silverwing in the trailer for House of the Dragon Episode 206? (Silverwing explained)

House of the Dragon season 2 is about to enter into brave new territory. This week's episode, "Regent," saw Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) ascend to the highest position of leadership for Team Green. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) is in a difficult position: Team Black has lost several important allies and their largest dragon, Meleys the Red Queen. Now, they have no other dragons large enough to challenge Aemond's dragon Vhagar.

Or do they? "Regent" ends with Rhaenyra and her son Jace (Harry Collett) discussing the possibility of bringing on more dragonriders. since there are a number of wild or unclaimed dragons milling about Dragonstone. Surely, there are records of Targaryen children on Dragonstone who might stand a chance of mounting one of these dragons?

Two of the unclaimed dragons living on Dragonstone are large enough to challenge Vhagar outright: Vermithor and Silverwing. These two have been alive for nearly 100 years, making them the oldest dragons around aside from Vhagar herself. Rhaenyra and Jace mentioned both Vermithor and Silverwing in "Regent," saying they slumbered in the caverns of Dragonstone. Does this mean we'll be seeing them in House of the Dragon soon?

Who are Vermithor and Silverwing? The history of Team Black's largest dragons explained

Of all the dragons in House of the Dragon, Vermithor and Silverwing have one of the most intertwined histories. Both dragons were hatched from eggs placed by the cradles of their previous riders: Jaehaerys the Conciliator for Vermithor, and his wife Alysanne Targaryen for Silverwing. Jaehaerys and Alysanne both lived very long lives, riding their dragons for decades. Following their deaths, Silverwing and Vermithor went to live on Dragonstone, where they've remained riderless ever since.

So far, we've only seen Vermithor in House of the Dragon; he was the big, bronze dragon that Daemon sang to during the season 1 finale, "The Black Queen." Vermithor, nicknamed The Bronze Fury, is the second largest dragon in the realm aside from Vhagar.

Queen Alysanne's dragon Silverwing is also a formidable dragon in her own right, though she was known to have a more docile temperament than Vermithor. While both Silverwing and Vermithor made many journeys in their lives, one of Silverwing's most famous was when Queen Alysanne rode her all the way to the Wall, which both Bran Stark and Sam Tarley reference in A Song of Ice and Fire. Cregar Stark also mentioned it in the House of the Dragon season 2 premiere.

Silverwing may not be the same size as Vermithor, but she's still much larger than any other Team Black dragon and therefore can't be taken lightly. There's no doubt that she would be an asset to Rhaenyra's cause, should someone claim her as a rider. Now that Rhaenyra and Jace are eyeing these riderless dragons for war, will we see Silverwing in Episode 206?

Is Silverwing in the trailer for House of the Dragon Episode 206?

Part of the reason we know more dragons are on the way next week is because we saw a couple in the trailer for the episode which dropped after "Regent" aired. In that trailer, Rhaenyra Targaryen and a group of dragonkeepers come face-to-face with a huge gray dragon. This has led to some inevitable speculation: is that dragon in fact Silverwing?

We can say with certainty that no, it is not; that's Seasmoke, the dragon ridden by Rhaenyra's first husband Laenor Velaryon. We know this because other shots from that same scene with this gray dragon also appeared in the dueling Team Black and Team Green trailers that HBO released back in March. Showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that it was Seasmoke. If Laenor's dragon looks a bit different, according to Condal it's because Seasmoke has "now aged since the last time that we saw him in the Stepstones...So he's grown up a bit and matured."

So no, that's not Silverwing. But, in George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, Silverwing does indeed get another rider during the Sowing of the Seeds, an event coming in the next few episodes which will revolve around the Targaryen bastards Rhaenyra and Jace were discussing. So whether we see Silverwing in Episode 206 or not, we're definitely expecting to see her before the end of season 2.

Only three episodes remain in House of the Dragon's second season. They air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.

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