Every New Dragon Fans Could Meet In House Of The Dragon Season 2
"House of the Dragon" Season 1 introduced a new roster of dragons to the "Game of Thrones" universe, following in the footsteps (or wingspans) of Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) iconic trio from the original series. Introduced in Season 1 of the HBO prequel is Caraxes, the serpent-like dragon of Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), as well Queen Rhaenyra's (Emma D'Arcy) golden mount Syrax, and the behemothic Vhagar.
In addition to Caraxes, Syrax, and Vhagar, fans also met other famous Targaryen dragons from Westerosi history, including Meleys the Red Queen, Seasmoke, Vermithor, Vermax, and Arrax. In total, eight dragons appear in Season 1 — not including the skull of Balerion the Black Dread, House Targaryen's most fearsome dragon, which is used as a shrine in the series. Unlike "Game of Thrones," which takes place nearly 200 years after the extinction of dragons, "House of the Dragon" is set during the height of the Targaryens' power, which is accompanied by the largest collection of fire-breathing beasts the Seven Kingdoms has ever seen.
Season 2 will introduce even more dragons to the HBO series as it continues to adapt the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war among members of House Targaryen, from George R.R. Martin's novel "Fire and Blood." Here is every new dragon fans can expect to meet in Season 2 of "House of the Dragon."
Silverwing
The Season 1 finale of "House of the Dragon" introduced viewers to Vermithor the Bronze Fury, the former mount of Viserys' predecessor, King Jaehaerys Targaryen. Season 2 is set to introduce Vermithor's companion — the she-dragon Silverwing, who was ridden by Jaehaerys' sister-wife, Alysanne. Both dragons' eggs were placed in Jaehaerys and Alysanne's cradles by their older sister, Rhaena, per Targaryen custom. Rhaena herself was a dragon rider who flew Dreamfyre, the same dragon that bonds with Viserys and Alicent's daughter, Helaena (Phia Saban), 50 years after Rhaena's death.
Silverwing and Vermithor are the only known mated pair of Targaryen dragons in Westerosi history. Whereas Vermithor is more fearsome and aggressive, Silverwing is described as being relatively friendly. The she-dragon accompanied Queen Alysanne on her many adventures across Westeros, including an expedition to the north, where Alysanne became unlikely friends with the Lord of Winterfell before taking Silverwing further north to the Wall. In a letter to Jaehaerys, Alysanne revealed that she tried to fly Silverwing over the Wall three times. Each time, the dragon refused.
Silverwing remained riderless for 29 years after Alysanne died. The she-dragon made a lair on the Dragonmont at Dragonstone, where it was often seen coiled with Vermithor. In "Fire and Blood," Jacaerys Velaryon found new riders for Silverwing and Vermithor in an event dubbed the Sowing of the Dragonseeds. Silverwing was claimed by a Targaryen bastard called Ulf the White, while the Bronze Fury was claimed by Ulf's companion, Hugh Hammer.
Grey Ghost
Another gray-colored dragon, Grey Ghost is one of three wild dragons living on Dragonstone during the Dance of Dragons. The wild dragons are named such for having never been claimed by a rider. Grey Ghost, in particular, is notoriously shy around humans, avoiding them wherever it can. The dragon gets its name from the smallfolk of Dragonstone, who briefly catch glimpses of it flying over the island — many of whom regard the shy dragon to be a thing of legend.
Nobody knows when Grey Ghost hatched, or how old the dragon was when it died, though it was assumed to be young. The wild dragon shunned people and preferred to hunt fish, often seen flying above the Narrow Sea hunting for food. During the Sowing of the Dragonseeds, some wannabe dragonriders searched for Grey Ghost in an attempt to claim it, but the dragon proved impossible to find.
According to "Fire and Blood," Grey Ghost was seen fighting another dragon above the Dragonmont in 130 AC by passing sailors. Grey Ghost's partially devoured corpse was discovered soon after. Although Ser Robert Quince believed it had been attacked by the Cannibal, another wild dragon, readers discover that Grey Ghost was actually killed by Aegon II's dragon, Sunfyre.
Sheepstealer
Sheepstealer is another wild dragon living on Dragonstone during the Dance. Described as an "ugly, mud brown" dragon, the beast earned its name for its favored food, sheep. The dragon developed a reputation among the shepherds of Dragonstone for stealing and devouring cattle. Eventually, Sheepstealer's taste for mutton led to the dragon bonding with a rider for the first time — the dragonseed Nettles — who bonded with the brown dragon by bringing it a freshly-killed sheep every day.
Nettles was the third person to try to claim Sheepstealer (Silver Denys had his arm torn off, while the dragon burned Alyn of Hull). After they bonded, Nettles and Sheepstealer became important allies for Rhaenyra throughout the war. They assisted in the Battle of the Gullet before helping Rhaenyra capture King's Landing from the Greens. While Rhaenyra ruled from the Iron Throne, Sheepstealer made a lair in the Dragonpit until Nettles flew the dragon to the Riverlands to search for Aemond One-Eye and Vhagar with Daemon and Caraxes.
When Rhaenyra denounced all of the dragonseeds following Ulf the White and Hugh Hammer's betrayal, Nettles took to the skies on Sheepstealer and fled from Maidenpool, where she had been staying with Daemon. Years later, Nettles and Sheepstealer made a home in the caves of the Vale, where a wildling clan worshiped her as a "fire witch."
Tyraxes
Ridden by Joffrey Velaryon, Tyraxes is a young dragon belonging to the Blacks. "The Princess and the Queen" opens with Rhaenyra giving birth to Joffrey, her third son, before he is given the dragon egg that hatches into Tyraxes by his older brothers, Jacaerys and Lucerys. The older Velaryon boys are also dragonriders. Jacaerys rides Vermax, the young green dragon also featured in this episode, while Lucerys rides the pearlescent dragon Arrax.
The final episode of Season 1, "The Black Queen," shows Vermax and Arrax flying away from Dragonstone as the Dance of the Dragons commences. Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) and Arrax are killed at Storm's End by Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Vhagar. Meanwhile, Season 2 of "House of the Dragon" will feature Jacaerys (Harry Collett) and Vermax arriving in Winterfell to forge an alliance with House Stark, while Joffrey and Tyraxes remain at Dragonstone with Rhaenyra.
During "Fire and Blood," Rhaenyra forbade Joffrey from fighting on Tyraxes, who was barely large enough for the young prince to ride. Joffrey and Tyraxes were sent to the Vale along with Rhaena, Daemon Targaryen's daughter with Laena Velaryon, both of them making the journey on Tyraxes' back. Tyraxes later ferried Joffrey to King's Landing after Rhaenyra conquered the city.
Moondancer
Moondancer is another young dragon belonging to the Blacks during the Dance of the Dragons. A slender pale-green dragon, Moondancer is bonded to Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia), the eldest daughter of Daemon (Matt Smith) and Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell). Although she is small, Moondancer is fierce — much like her rider. In "Fire and Blood," Baela demands to accompany Jacaerys, her betrothed, into battle on dragonback. A deleted scene for Season 1 of "House of the Dragon" features a similar situation, with Baela imploring her grandmother, Rhaenys (Eve Best), to let her fight in the war like a true dragonlord.
Moondancer is too small to be deployed in combat during the Dance of the Dragons, however. Along with Baela, the two remain on Dragonstone throughout most of the war, even after Rhaenyra takes King's Landing. "Fire and Blood" describes an epic clash between Moondancer and Sunfyre, Aegon II's dragon, when Baela meets the invading king above Dragonstone for battle. Fans will likely have to wait beyond Season 2 for that aerial encounter.
Tessarion
Tessarion is a blue-colored she-dragon ridden by Daeron Targaryen, the youngest son of Viserys and Alicent. Although Daeron doesn't appear in Season 1, "Game of Thrones" author George RR Martin confirmed Daeron's existence in "House of the Dragon" on his blog in 2022, revealing the character is off-screen at Oldtown during Season 1.As such, Daeron the Daring and his trusty Tessarion are set to be a big part of the war for the Greens going forward.
Nicknamed the Blue Queen for her cobalt scales, Tessarion is a young dragon significantly smaller than the Greens' other mounts — Vhagar, Dreamfyre, and Sunfyre. Daeron deployed Tessarion successfully for Aegon's faction during the Battle of the Honeywine in "Fire and Blood," earning him a knighthood from Lord Ormund Hightower. Tessarion became an asset and a symbol of hope for the Greens and fought two dragons — Vermithor and Seasmoke — at Tumbleton.
Season 1 focuses on Aemond's budding bond with Vhagar, with glimpses of Aegon with Sunfyre and Helaena with Dreamfyre. Considering the blue dragon's role in "Fire and Blood," Tessarion might make an appearance in Season 2 of "House of the Dragon," with big things in the dragon's future.
Cannibal
Of the three wild dragons on Dragonstone, the Cannibal is the biggest, baddest, and most fearsome. The books describe the dragon as coal black with unsettling green eyes who produces green fire and is even larger than Grey Ghost and Sheepstealer. While we know that Sheepstealer is around 50 at the beginning of the Dance of the Dragons, the Cannibal's exact age is unknown. It is likely the black dragon hatched during Aegon the Conqueror's reign, considering its sheer size, though some smallfolk theorize that the Cannibal made its home on Dragonstone before the Targaryens, predating their flight from Old Valyria.
The Cannibal is named for its preferred diet of smaller dragons, dragon eggs, and hatchlings. During the Sowing of the Dragonseeds, most of the potential dragonriders avoided the Cannibal thanks to its menacing reputation. Nobody ever tried to claim the Cannibal and lived to tell the tale.
In the Season 1 finale, Daemon and the rest of Rhaenyra's council discuss finding riders for the wild dragons, as well as Silverwing and Vermithor, to outmatch the Greens' fiery mounts. As one of the wild dragons, the Cannibal could be making an appearance in Season 2 as the Targaryen prince moves forward with his plan.
Morghul
Fans of "Game of Thrones" will recognize this dragon's name from the Valyrian mantra Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) learns from Jaqen H'ghar (Tom Wlaschiha) in her gradual training to become one of the Faceless Men — "Valar morghulis." The popular Braavosi phrase translates to "all men must die," an appropriate slogan for the shadowy sect of secret assassins. Quite literally, then, this dragon's name means 'death' in High Valyrian, the native language of House Targaryen.
Morghul is a young dragon bonded to Aegon II and Helaena's daughter, Jaehaera. She and her twin brother, Jaehaerys, make brief appearances as toddlers in Season 1. Neither Morghul nor Jaehaerys' dragon, Shrykos, are large enough for the Targaryen twins to ride. Despite being bonded to her dragon — who, we can assume, hatched from the egg placed in Jaehaera's cradle — Jaehaera never gets to fly on Morghul as a true dragonlord, thanks to a riotous attack on the Dragonpit.
Morghul might have a cameo appearance in Season 2 of "House of the Dragon" as the HBO series continues to adapt the Dance of the Dragons from George R.R. Martin's "Fire and Blood." The Season 1 episode "The Princess and the Queen" featured the young Jacaerys Velaryon (Leo Hart) in the Dragonpit learning to control his baby dragon, Vermax — Season 2 could contain a similar scene with Jaehaera and Morghul.
Morning
A young she-dragon set to debut on "House of the Dragon," Morning is the hatchling of Rhaena Targaryen, Daemon and Laena's youngest daughter, portrayed by Phoebe Campbell in the HBO series. Throughout Season 1, Rhaena is the only member of her family without a dragon. Daemon rides Caraxes, Laena rides Vhagar, and Baela rides Moondancer. Rhaena laments her lack of a dragon to her mother during "The Princess and the Queen," mournfully cradling her dormant dragon egg in the hope it will hatch.
Rhaena eventually gets her wish. When Rhaenyra sends her son, Joffrey, and Rhaena to the Vale in "Fire and Blood," Rhaena takes the three dragon eggs laid by the queen's dragon, Syrax, with them. One of them eventually hatched. Rhaena bonded with her baby she-dragon instantly, naming her Morning.
According to "Fire and Blood," Morning had pale pink scales with black horns. The hatchling accompanied Rhaena everywhere perched on the princess' shoulder until the dragon finally grew large enough for Rhaena to fly during the third month of 135 AC, four years after the conclusion of the war. If "House of the Dragon" adheres to the source material, then Morning will be one of only four dragons to survive the Dance of the Dragons.
Shrykos
Shrykos is another young dragon sworn to the Greens, though she is never utilized during the Dance. Like Morghul, Jaehaera Targaryen's dragon, Shrykos is too small to be flown by its rider — Jaehaera's twin brother Jaehaerys — and spends the majority of its life in the Dragonpit at King's Landing.
"House of the Dragon" showrunner Sara Hess has confirmed that Season 2 will depict the infamous Blood and Cheese scene from "Fire and Blood." The scene in question sees Daemon Targaryen send the assassins Blood and Cheese to infiltrate the Red Keep and murder one of Aegon and Helaena's sons in retribution for the death of Lucerys Velaryon. As if that wasn't bad enough, Blood and Cheese force Helaena to choose which one of her sons dies. When Helaena eventually chooses her youngest son Maelor, Blood and Cheese instead kill Jaehaerys, Aegon's eldest son and heir.
It's a brutal moment set to rival the Red Wedding from Season 3 of "Game of Thrones," which saw nearly all of House Stark — including fan-favorites Robb (Richard Madden) and Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) — slaughtered by the Freys. Season 2 might just devote some screen time to Jaehaerys' bond with his fledgling dragon to further underscore the tragedy of the six-year-old prince's impending death.
Sunfyre
Sunfyre technically appears in Season 1 — though only very briefly. The golden dragon can be glimpsed among the many dragons gathered on Driftmark during Episode 7 for Laena Velaryon's funeral. Later in the episode, Sunfyre can be seen again from a distance as Vhagar takes flight from Driftmark, bearing its new rider, Aemond, back to King's Landing alongside his siblings' dragons.
Sunfyre is ridden by Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) throughout the Dance of the Dragons. Although Sunfyre never faces Rhaenyra's dragon, Syrax, in direct combat, the golden dragon — described in the books as being the most beautiful dragon to grace the skies of Westeros — takes on plenty of foes throughout the war. Aegon deployed Sunfyre in an ambush against Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragon, Meleys, during the Battle at Rook's Rest in "Fire and Blood." Meleys badly wounded Sunfyre, but Vhagar intervened and saved the day for the Greens, killing Rhaenys and Meleys in the process.
The golden dragon later fought Grey Ghost for territory while recovering from its wounds. Eventually, Sunfyre reunited with Aegon and fought Moondancer and Baela above Dragonstone, where the golden dragon was wounded once more. Although Sunfyre eventually overpowered Moondancer, the dragon could not make a second recovery and died a few days later.
Dreamfyre
Another dragon to have cameoed in Season 1 but is yet to make a true introduction is Dreamfyre, the mount of Helaena Targaryen. Dreamfyre appears briefly in "The Princess and the Queen" when a young Aemond (Leo Ashton) ventures into the Dragonpit to claim a dragon. The she-dragon scares away the young prince with a blast of fire and the promise that this dragon belongs to a different Targaryen rider.
Helaena claims Dreamfyre off-screen but can be seen (very) briefly in the distance flying from Driftmark in Episode 7 with Vhagar and Sunfyre. "Fire and Blood" describes Dreamfyre as being very dear to Helaena, who loved her dragon and shunned their bond as she was consumed by grief for her children. This is something fans could see in "House of the Dragon," with Season 2 focusing on the deterioration of Helaena and Dreamfyre's relationship.
Dreamfyre's lineage possibly extends to Daenerys Targaryen's three dragons — Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion — in "Game of Thrones." In "Fire and Blood," it is revealed that three of Dreamfyre's eggs were stolen by Elissa Farman and sold to the Sealord of Braavos. Some fans speculate that these eggs would later be gifted to Daenerys by Magister Illyrio at her wedding to Khal Drogo, later hatching into the first known living dragons in over a century.