The third in a series about the dragons featured in the Game of Thrones. This issue focuses on the History of the Dragons in Seasons 5 to 8.
Background
The first known dragons were mentioned to have their lairs in the Fourteen Fires, a chain of volcanoes across the neck of the Valyrian Peninsula. The Valyrians, then peaceful shepherds, tamed the dragons with magic, even learned how to master and ride them as beasts of war. Thus they began expanding their influence from the Peninsula to the rest of their continent forming the Valyrian Freehold. The dragons gave the decisive victory in the Ghiscari Wars during which the Old Ghis is burned to ashes by dragonfire, and the ever-expanding Freehold replaced the Ghiscari Empire as the dominant culture of Essos. The Rhoynar under Nymeria fled to Dorne having no chance against the Valyrian dragons.
Four hundred years before the War of the Five Kings, the entire Valyrian empire was destroyed in a single day, during a cataclysmic volcanic eruption known as the Doom of Valyria. Most dragons, still lairing in the volcanoes, were killed outright. One Valyrian noble family, the Targaryens, survived the Doom on the distant island outpost of Dragonstone in the Narrow Sea - along with the last surviving Valyrian dragons.
The last surviving dragons in the world were possessed by House Targaryen, the last Valyrians after the Cataclysm, who used them to conquer and unify the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros three hundred years before the War of the Five Kings. Most of the Targaryen dragons died in a civil war known as Dance of the Dragons about a century and a half later, and after that, the only dragons the Targaryens had were the size of cats. Soon after the civil war ended, the last Targaryen dragons died, and the species was considered to be extinct throughout the world.
Season 5
Daenerys visits Rhaegal and Viserion after not seeing them for weeks. She soon sees they have grown larger and more aggressive than they were before.
Rhaegal and Viserion defying their mother's presence
Realizing that her own children have turned against her, Daenerys has no choice but to keep her distance from them. When Ser Barristan Selmy was murdered by the Sons of the Harpy, Daenerys feed one of the Great Masters to her dragons to make an example of what happens when someone defies her rule.
Drogon defending Daenerys from the Sons of the Harpy
When the Sons of the Harpy attempt to assassinate Daenerys during the Great Games at the Daznak's Pit, Drogon, now the size of a large elephant, flies in to protect his mother. Despite being injured, the black dragon manages to kill many Sons of the Harpy by tearing some with his teeth, crushing others under his feet and burning the rest with dragon fire. Daenerys then mounts him, speaks a single word to him "valahd" and he takes flight, making Daenerys the first dragonrider in over a century.
Daenerys is later seen in a remote region with Drogon. Several animal carcasses he's fed on lie nearby but the beast, recovering from the wounds he received in the arena, is uninterested in hunting for food or flying, denying Dany the quickest way to return to Meereen. Wandering away from Drogon's makeshift nest, she is captured by a large khalasar, leaving Drogon behind.
Season 6
Tyrion faces the two dragons
At the Great Pyramid in Meereen, Tyrion, Varys, Grey Worm and Missandei discuss the two remaining dragons locked beneath their feet. Grey Worm reports the dragons aren't eating, Tyrion proclaims it's because Dragons don't do well in captivity. He talks of their intelligence and how the Targaryens raised and locked up their dragons, leading to their extinction. He and Varys visit the dragons, claiming he's a friend of their mother, and releases them from their collars.
When the Red Priestess Kinvara comes to Meereen from Volantis, she notes to Tyrion and Varys that Daenerys's dragons are gifts from the Lord of Light, and they can burn the sins for those who have lack of faith in the Targaryen queen.
Drogon and Dany are reunited
While Daenerys's khalasar are riding to Meereen, she reunites with Drogon, who has grown about double in size. She rides on his back to further demonstrate her leadership strength to the Dothraki. Afterward, Drogon flies Daenerys back to Meereen, which is being attacked by the Masters.
When Daenerys refuses to surrender Meereen to the Masters, Drogon lands right by her side before allowing her to ride on his back. After the pair take flight, Rhaegal and Viserion break out of the Great Pyramid to join their mother and brother in burning a few of the Masters' ships with dragon fire.
After the Second Siege of Meereen was won and the war over the Liberation of Slaver's Bay ended, the three Dragons fly west alongside Daenerys's newly acquired armada towards Westeros.
Season 7
Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion fly ahead of their mother as she lands on Dragonstone. They investigate the island as Daenerys enters and secures the castle.
Drogon fully grown in Season 7
After meeting with the lords of Westeros, Queen Cersei ventures into the vaults with Qyburn to see his "solution" for dealing with Daenerys's dragons. They pass several smaller dragon skulls before reaching the largest skull in the vaults, that of Balerion the Black Dread (King Aegon the Conqueror's dragon). Qyburn directs Cersei to a ballista (named a "scorpion") and reassures her that they can hurt dragons having heard about the spears that pierced Drogon's hide in Meereen. Cersei tests the ballista on the skull of Balerion and is pleased when the bolt pierces the massive, hard skull.
For the first time, Daenerys rides the full-grown Drogon into battle at the Battle of the Goldroad. Qyburn's scorpion is used for the first time, by Bronn, and is proven to pierce the hide of a dragon. However, Bronn only manages to shoot Drogon's shoulder, and doesn't do enough significant damage to mortally wound him.
A dragon (Viserion) as a wight
The dragons accompany Daenerys as they attempt to rescue Jon Snow and his group from the White Walkers and the army of the dead at the Wight Hunt beyond the Wall. Rhaegal and Viserion destroy hundreds of wights while Jorah, Tormund, Sandor Clegane, and Beric Dondarrion mount Drogon with Daenerys. However, not long after Daenerys's and Drogon's arrival, the Night King is given an ice spear by one of his Walker lieutenants. The Night King hurls it at Viserion, piercing straight through his neck in a fiery and bloody blast, fatally wounding him. The helpless dragon shrieks in agony as he drops like a stone, trailing fire and blood behind him, crashing through the frozen lake and sinking beneath the surface.
Later, the White Walkers have their wights haul Viserion's body out of the frozen lake, after which the Night King reanimates the corpse of the fallen dragon. With Viserion as his mount, the Night King leads his army to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and breaches the wall by having Viserion destroy a large section of it with fire, allowing his army to pass into the Seven Kingdoms.
Season 8
Drogon and Rhaegal accompany their mother on their journey to Winterfell. Their presence both awe and terrify the Northmen. The two dragons don’t really like the cold temperatures of the North and have not been eating substantially since their arrival. Rhaegal allows Jon to ride him as they fly together alongside Daenerys and Drogon.
When the army of the dead arrives at Winterfell, Jon and Daenerys fly the dragons and order them to burn as many wights as possible in the Battle of Winterfell. They then give chase before battling the Night King and the undead Viserion. Both dragons sustain injuries throughout the battle, but they manage to survive.
With the Night King and his army destroyed, the dragons fly back to Dragonstone as Daenerys resume her campaign to take the Iron Throne. Upon arriving on the island, Euron and his Iron Fleet ambush them with scorpion bolts, hitting Rhaegal three times before killing him. This leaves Drogon as the only known living dragon in the world.
Daenerys utilizes Drogon effectively in the Battle of King's Landing, destroying the Golden Company, Euron's Iron Fleet, and the city gates. This induces King's Landing to surrender, allowing Daenerys to win her war. However, she proceeds to burn the city and its populace from atop of Drogon, turning King's Landing into a massive inferno. After Jon reluctantly assassinates Daenerys to stop her destruction, Drogon finds Jon weeping while holding Daenerys's body. When Drogon realizes Daenerys is dead, he bellows in grief and rage and faces Jon. Jon prepares to die by Drogon's flames but instead, Drogon proceeds to burn the Iron Throne until it is nothing but a puddle of molten slag. When he is finished, Drogon picks up Daenerys’s body in his talons before flying off across the Narrow Sea. Later in the episode, when Drogon's whereabouts are questioned, a newly elected King Bran Stark says that he will try to find Drogon.
This article uses material from the “Dragon” article on the Game of Thrones wiki at Fandom and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
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