House of the Dragon: All dragons and dragonriders

House of the Dragon season 1 saw a lot of politicking. As factions and animosity grew in equal measure, the Targaryen family spent a lot more time fighting and yelling in the rooms of King’s Landing than they did riding dragons. But by the final episode, the dragons — and their use in the coming Dance of the Dragons — take center stage.

And now that House Targaryen is in full civil war, every dragon counts — as does every dragonrider. As we’ve seen in season 2, Rhaenyra is taking this lesson a bit more to heart than her siblings in King’s Landing, with the Targaryen queen offering family bastards (even lowborn ones) the opportunity to bond with and ride a dragon on her behalf. The road won’t be easy; after all, as we’ve seen in episode 10, even with the proper rider, dragon warfare can lead to calamitous consequences. But, this is the Dance of Dragons, after all; there’s bound to be a bit of talon on talon.

Especially since, as Daemon (Matt Smith) noted in the season 1 finale: Not all the dragons in Westeros are accounted for; there are “neutral” dragons, which are dragons that (for one reason or another) have no rider. In a war where the varying strength, might, and size both dragons and their riders impacts who controls which part of the map, any dragons up for grabs are likely to be important.

So with season 2’s war underway, it’s worth taking a second to account for each of the dragons that House of the Dragon has set up so far, whose side they’re on, and who their rider is.

[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers through season 2 episode 6 of House of the Dragon.]

Vhagar

Image: HBO

Riders: Laena (deceased), Aemond Targaryen

The oldest and biggest of the Targaryen dragons in Westeros, and the only living remnant of Aegon’s conquest, Vhagar was once ridden by Visenya Targaryen when she, her brother, and her sister united the seven kingdoms. Vhagar then passed to Baelon Targaryen, before being claimed by her most recent (previous to episode 7) rider, Laena Velaryon. After Laena’s death, the dragon remained riderless for only a short time before being claimed by Aemond Targaryen, whose dragon egg baby gift did not 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 blast his way through this civil war. Alicent (et al.) are not so stoked on that plan, and would actually prefer Vhagar be left in King’s Landing as much as possible for defense.

Sunfyre

Image: HBO

Rider: Aegon Targaryen

A bright-gold dragon with pink-membraned wings, Sunfyre is the dragon of Aegon Targaryen and a swift flier, though far from the biggest of the Targaryens’ remaining dragons. Nonetheless, Aegon feels good about a Sunfyre and Vhagar team-up being enough to bring houses that haven’t declared for them to heel.

Or at least he did, until episode 4 brought a sobering reality: Turns out Targaryens in House of the Dragon are not fireproof, and Sunfyre becomes yet another dragon to lose in an airborne scuffle to Vhagar. Though Aegon survived (albeit it with plenty of injury), Sunfyre slowly died after plummeting from the skies above Rook’s Rest.

Dreamfyre

Rider: Helaena Targaryen

Dreamfyre is a pale-blue dragon, older but more slender than most of the others. She is claimed by Helaena Targaryen.

Syrax

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 the dragon at 9 years old. Syrax was nearly as large and threatening as Caraxes, though Rhaenyra has not ridden her into a true battle.

Caraxes

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 it’s seen war most recently. Caraxes has red scales and was ridden by Daemon Targaryen during the Prince’s many battles around the world, most notably in the Stepstones.

Meleys

Image: HBO

Rider: Rhaenys Targaryen

Death: Eaten by Vhagar above Rook’s Rest

Meleys was known as the Red Queen thanks to her red scales and pink wing membrane. Meleys was an old dragon, but in her younger days she was perhaps the swiftest and most nimble of all the Westerosi dragons. Despite her age, however, she remained fearsome in battle.

In the opening of season 2, Rhaenys and Meleys have been patrolling over “a hundred miles of open sea” to hold the Sea Snake’s blockade. Ultimately, when Rhaenys and Meleys go to stop Ser Criston Cole from taking over Rook’s Rest, they meet an untimely death by Vhagar.

Vermax

Image: HBO

Rider: Jacaerys Velaryon

Vermax hatched from the egg that was given to Jacaerys when he was an infant in a stunt partially designed to show his status as a true-born Targaryen. Because of this, the dragon remains fairly small by the time House of the Dragon picks up with Jace.

Arrax

Image: HBO

Rider: Lucerys Velaryon

Death: Eaten by Vhagar somewhere in the skies above Storm’s End.

Just like his brother’s dragon, Luke’s was hatched from an egg he was given at birth. This means that the dragon is quite small at this point, but will grow would’ve grown larger in time.

Seasmoke

Photo: Theo Whiteman/HBO

Seasmoke’s only previous rider was Laenor Velaryon, who gave up the dragon when he slipped away from his life in Westeros and escaped to Essos. Since Laenor’s death, Seasmoke has resided in the Dragonmont on Dragonstone.

But as we see in the final few episodes of season 2, Seasmoke is kind of over being riderless, and seems to have selected someone new: Addam of Hull. In “The Red Sowing,” Addam meets Rhaenyra on the beach and pledges fealty if the Targaryen queen will teach him to be a dragonrider.

Vermithor

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

Vermithor is one of the oldest living dragons in Westeros and resides in the Dragonmont on Dragonstone. Despite his old age and massive size, we don’t know much about the riders that Vermithor has previously had, with the one 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 besting him in size. As Rhaenrya tells the Targaryen bastards she’s assembled at Dragonstone, Vermithor is known as the “Bronze Fury.”

And in “The Red Sowing,” those same bastards are lined up to try to bond with Vermithor. Ultimately, Hugh Hammer — a Targaryen bastard of (apparently) Viserys and Daemon’s illegitimate aunt — is the one who wins Vermithor’s favor.

Silverwing

Silverwing was once bonded with Queen Alysanne Targaryen, the wife of King Jaehaerys. Seemingly mirroring the couple’s love, Silverwing and Vermithor often coiled together in the same lair inside the Dragonmont on Dragonstone.

So it stands to reason that the dragon we see Ulf bond with in episode 7 of the second season — or, more specifically, the one who knocks him on his ass when he’s running frantically from Vermithor’s carnage — is Silverwing, the only other dragon we know of in Dragonstone’s lair.

---

Neutral

The neutral dragons are dragons that remain riderless. In some cases these are dragons have never accepted riders, while others are dragons whose riders have died, but haven’t yet bonded with another rider.

The Vale’s mystery dragon

Image: HBO

In episode 6, “Smallfolk,” we see the wreckage of a mystery dragon that has been lurking around the Vale. Based on the remnants it left behind, Rhaena believes the dragon is large, wild, and (per the Lady Arryn’s limited debrief) appeared in the region just after the war broke out.