House of the Dragon: All Dragons and Dragon Riders

House of the Dragon Season 1 had a lot of politicking. And House of the Dragon Season 2 saw a lot dragons.

Now that House Targaryen The civil war is in full swing and a great battle is brewing. Apparently first in season 3Every dragon counts, just like Every dragon riderIn season two, Rhaenyra took this lesson a little more seriously than her brothers in King's Landing, and the Targaryen queen offered up the family's bastards (even the lowborn) The opportunity to bond with and ride a dragon. in his name despite seriously angering the dragon tamers in his service. The path will not be easy; after all, as we have seen in episode 10, even with the right rider, dragon warfare can lead to calamitous consequencesBut this is the Dance of the Dragons after all; there's bound to be a bit of claw versus claw.

In a war where the varying strength, power and size of dragons and their riders impact Who controls what part of the map?Any dragon that is available is likely to be important. So, with the Season 2 War underway, it's worth taking a second to note each of the dragons that House of the Dragon has established so far, which side he is on and who his rider is.

[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers through season 2 of House of the Dragon.]

Vhagar

Image: HBO

Riders: Laena (deceased), Aemond Targaryen

The oldest and largest Targaryen dragon in Westeros, and the only living remnant of Aegon's conquest, Vhagar was ridden by Visenya Targaryen when she, her brother, and sister united the seven kingdoms. Vhagar then passed into the hands of Baelon Targaryen, before being claimed by its most recent (pre-episode 7) rider, Laena Velaryon. Following Laena's death, the dragon remained riderless for only a short time before being claimed by Aemond Targaryen, whose gift of a dragon egg failed to hatch. Despite Vhagar's age, she remains one of the most fearsome and dangerous dragons in Westeros, and is now ridden by one of the Greens' most ardent supporters.

Vhagar and Aemond were directly responsible for Lucerys’ death at the end of Season 1. Now, Aegon is eager to use Vhagar to fight his way through this civil war. Alicent (and company) aren’t as thrilled with that plan, and would actually prefer Vhagar stay in King’s Landing as much as possible for the defense.

Still, Vhagar did do some things in Season 2, killing two more dragons (see below) and Burning Sharp's PointTechnically, this was on Aemond's orders, but no one gives Vhagar the benefit of the doubt anymore.

Sunfire

Image: HBO

Rider: Aegon Targaryen

Sunfyre is a bright golden dragon with pink-webbed wings, Aegon Targaryen's dragon and a swift flier, though he is far from the largest of the remaining Targaryen dragons. Still, Aegon is happy that an alliance between Sunfyre and Vhagar will be enough to bring the houses that have not supported them back to earth.

Or at least it did, until episode 4 brought a sobering reality: it turns out that… Targaryen in House of the Dragon are No fireproofand Sunfyre becomes another dragon who loses in an aerial fight against Vhagar.Although Aegon survived (albeit with many wounds), Sunfyre slowly died after falling from the skies above Rook's Rest.

Dream Fire

Rider: Helaena Targaryen

Dreamfyre is a pale blue dragon, older but slimmer than most of the others. Helaena Targaryen claims her as her own. Although Aemond tries to get Helaena to ride Dreamfyre into battle in the Season 2 finale, she refuses.

Syracuse

Image: HBO

Rider: Rhaenyra Targaryen

Rhaenyra is likely the first rider of Syrax, a dragon she named after a Valyrian goddess when the princess claimed him at age 9. Syrax was nearly as large and menacing as Caraxes, though Rhaenyra has not ridden him in a real battle, even as of the end of Season 2.

Snails

Image: HBO

Rider: Daemon Targaryen

Caraxes is one of the largest and most dangerous of all the remaining Targaryen dragons, thanks in part to the fact that he has been at war recently. Caraxes has red scales and was ridden by Daemon Targaryen during the Prince's many battles across the world, most notably at the Stepstones.

Meleyes

Image: HBO

Rider: Rhaenys Targaryen

Death: Eaten by Vhagar on Rook's Rest

Meleys was known as the Red Queen because of her red scales and pink wing membrane. Meleys was an old dragon, but in her youth she was perhaps the fastest and most agile of all the dragons in Westeros. However, despite her age, she was still fearsome in battle.

In the Season 2 opener, Rhaenys and Meleys have been patrolling over “a hundred miles of open sea” to maintain the Sea Serpent's blockade. Finally, when Rhaenys and Meleys go to Prevent Ser Criston Cole from taking over Rook's Restsuffer an untimely death at the hands of Vhagar.

Vermax

Image: HBO

Rider: Jacaerys Velaryon

Vermax was hatched from the egg given to Jacaerys as a baby in a trick partially designed to show off his true Targaryen status. Because of this, the dragon is still quite small by the time he is born. House of the Dragon resumes with Jace.

Arrax

Image: HBO

Rider: Lucerys Velaryon

Death: Devoured by Vhagar somewhere in the skies above Storm's End.

Like his brother's dragon, Luke's dragon was hatched from an egg given to him at birth. This means that the dragon is quite small at the moment, but will grow It would have grown bigger over time.

Marine smoke

Photo: Theo Whiteman/HBO

The only previous rider of Seasmoke was Laenor Velaryon, who gave up the dragon when he abandoned his life in Westeros and escaped to EssosSince Laenor's death, Seasmoke has resided at Dragonmont in Dragonstone.

But as we see in the last episodes of season 2, Seasmoke is a little fed up with not having a rider and seems to have chosen someone new: Addam of HullIn “The Red Sowing,” Addam meets Rhaenyra on the beach and pledges loyalty if the Targaryen queen teaches him to be a dragonrider.

Vermithor

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

Vermithor is one of the oldest living dragons. Vermithor is a dragon in Westeros and resides on Dragonmount at Dragonstone. Despite his advanced age and massive size, we do not know much about the riders Vermithor has had before, with the sole exception of King Jaehaerys Targaryen, who rode the dragon until his death. Vermithor is one of the largest dragons to ever reside in Westeros, with only Vhagar and Balerion surpassing him in size. As Rhaenrya tells the Targaryen bastards she has gathered on Dragonstone, Vermithor is known as the “Bronze Fury”.

And in “The Red Sowing,” those same bastards band together to try to establish a bond with Vermithor. In the end, it’s Hugh Hammer (a Targaryen bastard of Viserys and Daemon’s (apparently) illegitimate aunt) who wins Vermithor’s favor.

Silver wing

Silverwing was once bound to Queen Alysanne Targaryen, wife of King Jaehaerys. Reflecting the couple's love, Silverwing and Vermithor would often huddle together in the same lair within Dragonmont on Dragonstone.

Ulf confirms that Silverwing is the dragon he bonded with in Season 2 (or, more specifically, the one who leaves him in the dust when he runs frantically from Vermithor’s rampage), which makes sense given that she’s the only other dragon we know of in Dragonstone’s lair. He’s very excited to get to ride her into battle soon.

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Neutral

Neutral dragons are dragons that remain riderless. In some cases, these are dragons that have never accepted riders, while others are dragons whose riders have died, but have not yet joined another rider.

The mysterious dragon of the valley

Image: HBO

In Episode 6, “Smallfolk,” we see the remains of a mysterious dragon that has been lurking in the Vale. Based on the remains it left behind, Rhaena believes the dragon is large, wild, and (according to Lady Arryn’s brief report) appeared in the region just after the war broke out.

Although we see Rhaena come face to face with the dragon in the season finale (after desperately chasing it through the hills), technically this dragon has yet to be named or claimed.