Game of Thrones first premiered over 10 years ago on April 17, 2011, and has since been a highly popular and decade-defining phenomenon. The on-point casting, jaw-dropping CGI that improved each season (especially the dragons), and intense battle scenes were some of the key ingredients to the show’s tremendous success.
Game of Thrones was a money-making and award-winning show for HBO. Hence, the television giant is keen on exploring the land of Westeros even more. The prequel to the show, House of The Dragon, is the first project to have received the greenlight, with several others in developmental stages. Set about 300 years prior to the events of Game of Thrones, House of The Dragon will focus on a Targaryen civil war, called the "Dance of the Dragons" from the novel Fire and Blood. This incident drastically reduced the number of Targaryens, and almost completely decimated the dragons.
And since its announcement back in 2019, House of the Dragon has fans eager to revisit the Game of Thrones universe. They have reason to be excited, because this show has the potential to improve on most of the aspects that made Game of Thrones such a joy to watch in the first place. One obvious factor is the involvement of more dragons (yes, a lot of them!), and the other is the potential for even more, intense and gruesome battle scenes.
The “Battle of Bastards” from Season 6 remains one of the highest-rated battle sequences, in both Game of Thrones and all of television history. Jon Snow, one of the protagonists of the show, finally meets the cruel and sadistic Ramsay Bolton for battle at Winterfell in the episode. What follows is one of the bloodiest and highly realistic battle scene that took 25 days to shoot, considered by many to be the greatest action segment to have ever filmed. Jon wins the war, though with some outside assistance, and Ramsay is delivered righteous justice.
Let’s have a look at some of the war stories from the Dance of the Dragons, the inspiration for House of The Dragon, which could possibly reach the heights of “Battle of the Bastards” should the makers of this new series choose to bring them to the small screen.
Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for the outcomes of these battles.
Battle at Rook's Rest
After the death of King Viserys I Targaryen, the kingdom was divided into the greens (supporters of Alicent Hightower) and the blacks (supporters of Rhaenyra Targaryen). The two groups strived to put their respective leaders onto the Iron Throne, which was the basis of the civil war, known as the Dance of The Dragons. The battle of Rook's Rest was one of the first major defeats faced by the black faction.
Ser Criston Cole was the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and the new Hand of the King to Aegon II Targaryen, son of Alicent Hightower. Criston’s greens planned a trap for the blacks at Rook’s Rest. Lord Staunton, Lord of the Rook’s Rest, closed the gates but couldn’t prevent Criston from burning down his fields or killing his smallfolk and livestock. He sent a raven to Queen Rhaenyra, asking for help.
In response, Princess Rhaenys, wife of Corlys Velaryon, arrived to aid Staunton riding on her dragon, Meleys, the Red Queen, after a period of nine days. She burned down Criston's archers and scorpions with her dragonfire. Meleys was then attacked by King Aegon II Targaryen atop his dragon Sunfyre and Prince Aemond Targaryen riding his dragon Vhagar. Meleys fought bravely against the two behemoths, Vhagar being the largest at the time. She managed to gravely injure Sunfyre, but was brought down by Vhagar.
Rhaenys’ charred corpse was found next to Meleys' broken body. However, Aegon suffered severe burns, and Sunfyre was rendered flightless for a while. Just imagine the pile of bodies from “Battle of the Bastards”, and replace it with Meleys' chopped-up body parts. It would be much more graphic with a dragon that huge, especially with “Battle of the Bastards” director Miguel Sapochnik himself on board.
Battle of The Honeywine
This battle sequence is similar to the “Battle of Bastards” in a few ways. Lord Ormund Hightower, Head of House Hightower and cousin to Alicent, found himself caught between the forces of Lord Thaddeus Rowan and Tom Flowers, the Bastard of Bitterbridge, coming in from the northeast with a huge cavalry. His retreat was cut off by Ser Alan Beesbury, Lord Alan Tarly, and Lord Owen Costayne from behind.
All hope seemed lost for the greens when a massive shadow appeared in the sky above them. Prince Daeron Targaryen and his dragon, Tessarion, laid waste to the black army, rescuing his ally, which is similar to when the Knights of Vale came to the rescue in Game of Thrones.
Battle by the Lakeshore
The Battle of the Lakeshore is often described as the bloodiest land battle in the Dance of the Dragons civil war. House Lannister of the Westerlands supported the greens, while House Stark of the North and most of the disorganized Lords of the riverlands supported the blacks. When the Lannister army headed by Lord Humfrey Lefford reached the western shore of the Gods Eye, they found a number of Lords supporting the blacks waiting for them. They included Lord Roderick Dustin with 2000 Winter Wolves, Lord Forrest Frey with 200 knights and 600 infantrymen, and Robb Rivers with 300 archers from Raventree Hall.
To make the matter even worse, Ser Pate of Longleaf blocked their escape from the South. What followed was the death of 2,000 soldiers fighting amongst the lake's reeds, including those who drowned while trying to escape. The blacks won the skirmish, but at a high price. The high number of casualties on both sides led to it being called the Fishfeed by its participants. It might just rival the amount of bloodshed shown in the “Battle of Bastards” on-screen.
Butcher’s Ball
This battle dealt a huge blow to the forces of green, costing minimal loss to the black faction. The blacks, led by Ser Garibald Grey, Ser Pate of Longleaf, and Roderick Dustin, Lord of Barrowton practiced guerrilla warfare. While heading toward the Blackwater Rush, Ser Criston Cole led his weakened greens into an ambush near Gods eye. Criston’s forces were attacked by blacks disguised as corpses. The greens were outnumbered two to one.
Criston came face to face with the three Lords of the black army. He offered to surrender, but was refused. He prepared to fight all three of them on his own, but before he could do so, was struck down by arrows fired by Red Robb Rivers and two of his longbowmen. With Criston dead, the greens collapsed quickly, with hundreds of them being killed while trying to flee. Remember how Jon Snow took on Ramsay Bolton one-on-one towards the end of the “Battle of Bastards”? The scene involving Criston's death would be similar to that, except the odds will be three-to-one and Criston may not even have a chance to defend himself.
First Battle of Tumbleton
The first battle of Tumbleton is infamous in the Dance of The Dragons lore due to the act of treason committed by two Dragon seeds (Targaryen and Velaryon bastards), Ulf White and Hugh Hard Hammer. The greens led by Lord Ormund Hightower marched towards King’s Landing, which at the time was held by Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. The two dragon seeds along with their dragons, Vermithor and Silverwing, were sent to protect the blacks stationed in the market town of Tumbleton.
Although the blacks were outnumbered ten-to-one, they managed to reach the commander of the greens. Roderick killed Lord Ormund and his cousin, Ser Bryndon Hightower, before succumbing to his wounds. The defenders of Tumbleton thought the battle was won when the Hightowers were killed, but the two betrayers, Hugh Hammer and Ulf White, turned their dragons upon them. They joined Prince Daeron Targaryen and his dragon, Tessarion, and together they burned the blacks at the market town to ashes. Ser Roderick's struggle to reach Bryndon would remind you of how Jon and Tormund struggled to get past Ramsay’s shielded soldiers before the Knights of the Vale arrived in the “Battle of Bastards”. Roderick did manage to get to his target, however, at the cost of his own life, without any outside help, unlike Jon and his army, making the scene absolutely worth watching.
Second Battle of Tumbleton
The second battle of Tumbleton was actually the result of inactivity and distrust amongst the greens. The two betrayers, Ulf and Hugh, were reluctant to help Daeron advance toward King's Landing. Hugh, who was in possession of the largest of the remaining dragons, Vermithor, named himself the King. They decided to stay at Tumbleton for the night as there was no agreement between the senior and junior nobles about the next course of action.
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra had condemned baseborn dragonrider Ser Addam Velaryon after hearing of the two betrayers. He was resolved to defend his honour by retaking Tumbleton from Ulf and Hugh. Addam attacked the sleeping greens at night. Though with only 4000 men he was greatly outnumbered, he possessed the element of surprise. Hugh and Prince Daeron were killed in the battle, while Ulf slept through the whole ordeal. Addam, atop his dragon Seasmoke, gave his life fighting the riderless Vermithor and Tessarion. The three dragons perished in the fight as well.
A single brave man rushing straight to battle with a small army behind him against insurmountable odds, seeking revenge. Sound familiar? Unlike “Battle of Bastards”, the leaders of both the fighting units die, a gruesome end fit for the brutal world of Game of Thrones.
Battle of The Kingsroad
The last battle fought in the Dance of the Dragons surprisingly did not involve any dragons. Most of the heavy hitters were dead. Aegon II Targaryen had captured and killed Rhaenyra, but her cause lived on. Lord Borros Baratheon secured King’s Landing for King Aegon, and then went on to face the allied black forces led by Lord Kermit Tully.
Borros greatly underestimated the remainder of Rhaenyra’s forces. The two armies met on the Kingsroad two days away from King's Landing. The green army was attacked on three fronts, in a similar fashion to “Battle of Bastards” where Jon Snow’s army was surrounded by Ramsay’s forces, and was utterly crushed. Many of the soldiers refused to fight, while some others fled the field. Borros fought bravely till the end, taking out a number of men such as Lord Roland Darry and Lord Jorah Mallister, but he was weakened by his wounds. Lord Kermit Tully killed Borros with his morningstar after he refused to surrender. The blacks eventually won, even after the death of Rhaenyra Targaryen. It would provide the audience with a sense of relief and satisfaction, which they felt when the Battle of Bastards was finally over.
Honorable Mention: Battle Above the Gods Eye
This battle was different from the rest, as it was not a typical war sequence involving a lot of soldiers. It was a one-on-one fight between the two strongest and most feared members of each faction. Prince Aemond Targaryen, atop his dragon Vhagar, came face to face with his uncle Prince Daemon Targaryen who was riding his dragon Caraxes. Vhagar was much older, the biggest and most feared of all the dragons during the time of Dance of the Dragons. Prince Daemon was the most experienced fighter at the time, and his dragon Caraxes was no less. Caraxes was half in size when compared to Vhagar, but was younger, faster, and way more slick in movement.
The two faced off in an aerial duel that took place in the skies above Harrenhal and the Gods Eye. Caraxes flew straight up into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. Aemond, too confident of his victory, followed his uncle. In a split second, Caraxes came crashing down and locked his jaws on Vhagar's neck, and Daemon leapt directly towards his nephew, driving his sword Dark Sister, right through Aemond’s eye. All four of them dove into the Gods eye lake. Caraxes succumbed to the wounds he had suffered by the claws of Vhagar, who had ripped open his belly. Vhagar and Aemond's corpses washed ashore years later. Daemon's body was never found.
The confrontation between Caraxes and Vhagar is perhaps the most famous battle involving dragons from the Dance of the Dragon lore. It marks the end of an era, the death of the last surviving dragon from Aegon the Conqueror’s period. There is also a shrouded mystery about the fate of Daemon Targaryen, as his corpse was never found.
This scene is more in sync with the ending of “Battle of Bastards,” except it is much bloodier, and of course, two of the fiercest dragons in Dance of The Dragons lore are involved. This battle might turn out to be the most iconic one yet, even rivaling the famed Game of Thrones episode.