In the latest episode of House of the Dragon, the divide within the Targaryens has deepened as Aemond loses an eye for gaining a dragon. With a growing number of children in the series, we can expect more dragons to be added while the divide between the Blacks and the Greens is fueled further by the politics in the seven kingdoms. In a new featurette, the makers of the series define the new age of the dragons that has come upon the fans.
In the Game of Thrones world dragon translates to power, Daenerys Targaryen gained everything she could thanks to the three dragons she had and the theme continues with House of the Dragon. Series co-creator Ryan Condal explains that in the original series dragons hadn’t lived at that point for 150 years and when they are born, it’s a miracle. Whereas in the new series “not everyone has seen a dragon but they are around” so, what they tried to do was to create a world where dragons existed. “At this point in the history, there have never been as many dragons in the world since the time of old Valyria, when there were a thousand dragons alive.” And these dragons have their own personalities, colors, shapes, and forms. By far the series has showcased a number of dragons of varying shapes and sizes, co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik revealed that George RR Martin really wanted the dragons to be colorful. “I thought it was great, the idea that dragons are reptiles. And if you look at reptiles, they traditionally have very, very colorful coats,” he tells.
The first dragon we meet is Syrax, who at the time is a young adult. Condal says “Syrax was hatched to Rhaenyra when she was a child. I think the dragons that are born to their riders have a shared, deeper bond than any of the other dragons.” He further says that they approached her like a bird of prey, “So she’s an eagle she’s built for speed, she’s very proud and honorable.” Next, we meet Caraxes, the Blood Wyrm, Daemon’s dragon. Martin explains him as “Vicious, and short-tempered” hinting that maybe the dragon and the rider have a little in common there. “Caraxes has burned a lot of people and seen a lot of battles, and has earned that name of the Blood Wyrm,” Martin says.
And then we certainly meet Vhagar, who is the oldest and largest dragon in the world, whom Aemond recently claimed. Per Martin, it's “an act that actually enflames the dislike between the two branches of the family even more.” Condal explains that the way they’ve approached dragons in this story is that they never stop growing. They essentially grow until they die, and part of their death cycle is getting too large, too big for the world. Further he adds, “Vhagar is so large that she doesn’t really fit anywhere anymore. Not even in the Dragonpit And that’s created a bit of a loner personality in her. And she’s very grumpy, she sleeps a lot. You, know she’s like an old cat.”
Martin also poses the most pertinent question, “You’ve got the dragons are you going to use the dragons? Are you going to burn entire cities and armies or try to? That’s a big step for any king or lord or claimant to try to take.” Answer to that time will tell, for now apart from Aemond’s Vhagar, Rhaenyra’s Syrax, and Daemon’s Caraxes, we also have Rhaenys’ Meleys, Rhaenrya's son Jacaerys’ young dragon Vermax, and Alicent's daughter's Helaena’s Dreamfyre to look forward to. Also, we’d get to know who gets to ride Laenor’s Seasmoke.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air every Sunday, meanwhile, check out the featurette below: