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House of the Dragonhas no shortage of dragons in Season 2, and House Targaryen is at the height of its power with many dragons under their claim. But since House Targaryen has been divided into the greens and the blacks, the realm is in shambles and dragons are the one creature that turns the tide of battle significantly in favor of whomever rides the dragon.
After the Dance of the Dragons, no victor emerges as both factions rule for a short time before losing the throne. Even the mightiest of the dragons fell, like Vhagar and Vermithor, and after this civil war, only four dragons survived. Most of them died in battle, and dragons went extinct not long after,leading to the foreseeable downfall of House Targaryen.
Massive Spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
Every Dragon That Survived The Dance Of The Dragon
Silverwing
As the mount of Queen Alysanne Targaryen, Silverwing played a significant role in theunification of the Seven Kingdoms, carrying the good queen on her travels throughout the realm.
During the Dance of the Dragons,Silverwing was bonded with Ulf White, a dragonseed who managed to claim the dragon and initially fought for the Blacks.
She participated in several battles, alongside Ulf, and wasone of the more fearsome of the dragons. After Ulf’s death,Silverwing returns to the wild, choosing to make her home on an island in Red Lake.
Some believeshe lived a long life in the wild, while others say that she may have eventuallyperished due to old ageor unknown circumstances, but at least she survived the war.
Morning
This young, pink dragon wasconsidered a symbol of hopeafter the devastating Dance of the Dragons. She hatched during the war andwas bonded with Rhaena Targaryen.
Unlike some of the older, battle-hardened dragons,Morning was relatively small and inexperienced.
After the Dance,Morning remained with Rhaena, becoming a familiar sight in the skiesafter she grew enough to fly.
She represented a new generation of dragons, born into a world scarred by war, but not long after Morning’s death,the dragons went extinct.
Sheepstealer
This dragon was an outlier among his kind, since he was a wild dragon and untamed since his birth. Known for his preference for sheep,Sheepstealer lived in the wild, with no contact with anyone or anything else.
In the books, during the Dance of the Dragons, Sheepstealer remained unclaimeduntil his path crossed with Nettles, a young lowborn girl who used an unconventional method to tame the dragon.
In the TV show,Sheepstealer is apparently residing in the Vale of Arrynand will likely beclaimed by Rhaena Targaryen.
Nettles and Sheepstealer become a powerful duo,but they disappear from the main conflictof the Dance afterRhaenyra brands her a traitor.
People believe they found refuge in the Mountains of the Moon,where they lived out their dayswithout any role in further conflict.
The Cannibal
This fearsome dragon was the scariest, oldest, and largest wild dragon on Dragonstone, known for hisreputation as a cannibal, which came from his habit ofpreying on other dragons, including hatchlings and even their eggs.
The Cannibalremained unclaimed and untamedthroughout the Dance of the Dragons as no rider dared to approach him, and his territory was avoided by both sides of the conflict.
If we do not trouble him, the Cannibal will not trouble us.
After the Dance,the Cannibal disappeared, but a story speculates how the Cannibal took to the skiesduring Lord Corly’s funeral as a final salute to the man. A lot of people believe it perished, but it is not a fact yet that the Cannibal died of old age.
It’s possible thatthe Cannibal’s wild natureand the fact that it’sconsidered a different species of dragonthan the ones belonging to the Targaryen lineage may meanthat it’s still alive out there, somewhere, continually growing. It ispossibly the largest dragon ever.
How Did The Dragons Go Extinct?
The extinction of dragons in the world of Westeroswasn’t a sudden event, but rather a slow decline brought on by a combination of factors.
The Dance of the Dragons, a brutal Targaryen civil war,was the initial catalyst. Many of the oldest dragons perished in the fighting,drastically reducing their numbers.
The dragons kept in the Dragonpit in King’s Landingalso suffered furtherdue to the cramped and unnatural conditions thatled to a decline in their health.
The king that came afterboth Aegon II and Rhaenyra, Rhaenyra’s son, Aegon III Targaryen (Aegon the younger),was traumatized because of the dragonsand wanted nothing to do with these creatures.
Get that wretched creature out of my sight.
— Aegon upon seeing Rhaena Targaryen’s hatchling dragon.
Some conspiracies state that the maesters, who were always wary of the Targaryens' power,may have had a hand in the dragons' demise. There are hints in the stories of possible poisonings,further weakening an already vulnerable population.
In the end, even without these external factors,dragons had a natural lifespan. The remaining few may have simply died of old age, marking the end of an era.
Aegon III had witnessed the last dragon’s deathand was deeply affected by it, foreverassociating dragons with destruction and sorrow. Despite his aversion, several Targaryens, including Aegon himself,attempt to revive the lost power of their house.
Aegon IIIsent mages across the Narrow Seato hatch dragon eggs, while later rulers like Baelor the Blessedresorted to prayer. Even Aegon IV, known for being possibly the second-worst Targaryen king, commissioned theconstruction of mechanical dragons, a failed attempt to replicate their power.
The Maester conspiracy is one of the most popular conspiracy theories in A Song of Ice and Fire, but it has not been proved and shouldn’t be taken as fact.
These attempts ultimately proved futile, solidifying the extinction of dragons in Westeros. After several generations and kings,eventually a new generation of dragons would be born; Daenerys and her three hatchlings.
