Highlights
- Dragon warfare in the Dance of the Dragons poses huge risks and dangers, potentially changing the status quo of Houses in Westeros.
- The Cannibal and Sheepstealer, untamed wild dragons, play a significant role in the casualties of the Red Sowing during the war.
- Silverwing, once ridden by Alysanne, survives the Dance of the Dragons riderless and remains wild, free, and lairs in the northwest Reach.
The Targaryen dragons are bound to become a casualty of the realm-wide civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. Per the House of the Dragon‘s canon, the Black Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen will surely strike back after learning she lost her secondborn son, Lucerys, and his dragon, Arrax, in Aemond’s chase above Shipbreaker Bay. Rhaenyra and her council have taken stock of their capabilities and discussed at length the enormous risk and danger of taking their dragons to war.
Dragon warfare is risky because dragons can quite literally set the realm on fire and dangerous because the Blacks and the Greens will potentially lose them, leading to a change in status quo vis a vis other Great and Minor Houses in the Seven Kingdoms. In the House of the Dragon season 2 teaser trailer, Alicent Hightower gives two cents about the rise of a brutal war, saying, “…many will die, and the victor will eventually ascend the throne.” Though Alicent modestly omits that their dragons will die, as it turns out, some will still fly the skies of Westeros at the end of the Dance.
1 The Cannibal
The Wild Dragon Of Dragonstone
The Cannibal, as the name suggests, feeds on dragons and their ilk on Dragonstone. The wild dragon lives through the Dance of the Dragons, and because none of the baseborn dragonriders known as Dragonseeds in Game of Thrones lore attempt to tame him during the Sowing, he remains riderless until the last.
The Cannibal is feared by the residents of Dragonstone, and the popular theory that he lived on the island way before the Targaryen colonization finds ground among the smallfolk of the said island. If this were true, then the serpentine beast is older than the Bronze Fury, Vermithor, and the oldest living dragon in Westeros during the Dance – Vhagar. The Cannibal does appear intermittently during the Sowing. When a baseborn man named Silver Denys loses his arm trying to mount another wild dragon named, Sheepstealer, the Cannibal appears on the scene and preys on him and his sons.
How Does The Cannibal Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
Since the Cannibal remained riderless throughout his life, and no one dared to seek him out, much less, attempt to mount him. He continued to live in his natural habitat. He vanished after the Dance, but lore doesn’t reveal how.
2 Sheepstealer
The Second Wild Dragon Of Dragonstone
Similar to the Cannibal, Sheepstealer inspires fear and is untameable until “a skinny brown girl” named Nettles arrives on the scene. Sheepstealer lives on Dragonstone and is mostly present at the back of Dragonmont. The wild dragon usually hunts his prey between Driftmark and the Wendwater.
Though many try their luck with Sheepstealer during the Sowing of the Seeds, the dragon ultimately bends his neck to Nettles. A hostile dragon, Sheepstealer’s casualties outnumber the combined kill count of the three riderless dragons, namely, Vermithor, Seasmoke, and Silverwing. With so many deaths caused by riderless dragons, it is understandable why the Sowing is also dubbed as – the Red Sowing. Sheepstealer injures Alyn of Hull and the man bears his dragonflame scars for the rest of his life. Nettles takes a different approach to taming the wild dragon. She exploits his weakness for mutton and leaves out freshly slaughtered sheep every morning. At first, this elicits no response, but over time, Sheepstealer gets used to this and bonds with her.
How Does Sheepstealer Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
Nettles rides Sheepstealer into the Battle of the Gullet and the capture of King’s Landing. However, the duo takes off after two Dragonseeds named Ulf and Hugh betray Rhaenyra’s faction at the First Battle of Tumbleton. The rumors that Nettles has an illicit relationship with the King consort, Daemon Targaryen, at Maidenpool have Rhaenyra demanding her head. Dubbed as a traitor, Nettles flies away on Sheepstealer’s back. Though reports of occasional sightings are heard, Sheepstealer and his rider leave the war scene for good.
3 Silverwing
Takes No Part In The Second Battle Of Tumbleton
Unlike the Cannibal and Sheepstealer, Silverwing is a Targaryen dragon, once ridden by the Wise King Jaehaerys’ sister-wife, Alysanne. A she-dragon, Silverwing, and Jaehaerys’ Vermithor would often swoop and swirl in the skies. Silverwing, as the name suggests, is of silver colorings and comparatively friendly and docile in temperament. Per Daemon’s assessment in House of the Dragon:
Vermithor and Silverwing dwell on the Dragonmont, still riderless.
A man-at-arms, Ulf the White, claims Silverwing in the Dance of the Dragons and uses her to set the Triarchy’s fleet ablaze in the Battle of the Gullet. When the Blacks led by Rhaenyra take King’s Landing, Silverwing and Ulf land on Rhaenys’ Hill, and the dragon makes a lair in the Dragonpit. Shortly after, Ulf betrays the Blacks and sets Tumbleton on fire.
How Does Silverwing Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
Worried about the repercussions of the betrayal, Ulf resides at Tumbleton, and Silverwing remains outside the town walls. The Second Battle of Tumbleton sees Addam Velaryon atop Seasmoke ambush the Hightowers. While Ulf sleeps through the commotion, Silverwing takes a bolt. She survives, but Vermithor, Seasmoke, and Tessarion perish in the battle. Silverwing is rendered riderless when Ulf is poisoned by Ser Hobert Hightower after expressing a distasteful ambition for the Iron Throne. Silverwing doesn’t take another rider, remains wild and free, and lairs in the northwest of the Reach.
4 Morning
Lady Rhaena Targaryen’s Dragon
Morning is the last of the four dragons who survive the kin strife. Lady Rhaena’s mount, Morning, is born during the war at the Vale of Arryn. As seen in House of the Dragon, Daemon’s daughter, Lady Rhaena, remains without a dragon. Per lore, she and her half-brother, Joffrey Velaryon, and his dragon, Tyraxes, are sent to the Vale of Arryn for their own good. Rhaena is fostered at Eyrie, where she prays for the dragon eggs to hatch.
How Does Morning Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
It is at the end of the Dance that Lady Rhaena, Morning, and Lady Jeyne Arryn set sail from Gulltown towards King’s Landing. The smallfolk of the capital are delighted to witness Morning fly overhead as she is a reminder of the heyday of the Targaryen glory and is the last of her ilk. Rhaena’s brother, Aegon the Younger (Aegon III), cannot stand the sight of dragons, but she takes pride in her dragon saddle. Morning makes a lair in the Dragonpit, and Rhaena loves the dragon saddle.
House of the Dragon – season 2 debuts on HBO in June 2024.
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