This page is about the dragon. For the god, see: Vhagar (god)

Vhagar,^[c][d] called the Queen of All Dragons,^[1] is the dragon who was ridden by Visenya Targaryen during Aegon's Conquest.^[6][2] Although during this time she was the smallest of the trio that included Balerion and Meraxes, Vhagar was still large enough to swallow a horse whole, and her flames could melt armor.^[7][8] A hundred years later, during the reign of Viserys I Targaryen, she is the largest of all known living dragons and the last remaining dragon from the days of Aegon's conquest.

Biography[]

Background[]

Vhagar, named after one of the gods of Valyria, was flown by Aegon's sister-wife Visenya during Aegon's Conquest. She was one of the three dragons present at the Field of Fire, the decisive battle of the conquest that ensured Targaryen mastery of the Seven Kingdoms. She has deep jade-green scales and yellow eyes.^[4]

Nonetheless, House Arryn thought that the Vale could still resist Targaryen domination by hiding behind the impregnable Mountains of the Moon along their borders, and fortifying the mountain passes beyond any hope of attack. Similar to how Aegon had dealt with Harrenhal, Visenya simply flew Vhagar directly over the mountains, and came to rest in the courtyard of the Arryn's own castle, the Eyrie. At the time, the King of the Mountain and the Vale was only a small boy, Ronnel Arryn, whose mother Sharra was acting as his regent. Visenya did not need to burn the Eyrie as Aegon had burned Harrenhal: her display of force with Vhagar and easily befriending Ronnel was enough to convince the Arryns to surrender. Young Ronnel did ask one condition for his surrender: in return, Visenya would give him a ride around the Eyrie atop her dragon. The Vale surrendered, and true to her word, Visenya gave Ronnel a ride atop Vhagar, flying around the summit of the Eyrie three times before they landed.^[9]

Following the death of Balerion sometime before the accession of Viserys I Targaryen to the Iron Throne, Vhagar remained the last of the three dragons who had come to Westeros with the Targaryens.^[10] She eventually became the mount of Prince Baelon Targaryen until his death.^[3]

House of the Dragon: Season 1[]

Queen Aemma Arryn tells her husband, King Viserys, that their daughter Rhaenyra has picked a dragon egg that reminds her of Vhagar for her unborn sibling, who she hopes will be a girl named Visenya.^[10]

In conversation with Lady Laena Velaryon, Viserys tells her that Vhagar has not been seen for some time, but that the Dragonkeepers believed she had made her nest along the coast of the Narrow Sea. By this time, Vhagar's size was such that she was too large to remain in the Dragonpit. Laena says that traders in Spicetown on her native Driftmark claim to hear her song at times, and that it sounds sad. Viserys muses that even dragons can get lonely.^[11]

More than a decade later, Vhagar is the mount of Laena herself. Laena takes great pride in riding the largest known living dragon in the world, riding alongside her husband Daemon and his own dragon Caraxes. Sometime later, Laena suffers a difficult birth, with everyone believing the child must be cut out of her to survive. Unwilling to die in bed, she stumbles outside to find Vhagar, before giving the command "Dracarys." Vhagar hesitates, unwilling to burn her rider despite her repeated pained commands. Eventually, she complies and unleashes her dragonfire, incinerating Laena to prevent a more drawn out and painful death.^[4]

Days later, as she sleeps on the beach of High Tide, Vhagar is awakened by Aemond Targaryen, who desires to ride a dragon. She initially ignores his attempt to mount her and goes back to sleep, but when Aemond tries again, Vhagar nearly unleashes her dragonfire on him but is successfully commanded by Aemond in High Valyrian. Having now claimed and bonded with her, Aemond takes her for a first flight; though he nearly falls to his death having not properly fastened himself to the saddle, he is able to fly her around Driftmark. Later, during the royal family's return to King's Landing, Aemond rides Vhagar home.^[5]

Aemond rides Vhagar to Storm's End to treat with and gain the support of Lord Borros Baratheon for Aegon. She notices the arrival of Lucerys Velaryon and Arrax. After Lucerys and Arrax leave, Aemond pursues on Vhagar to scare him and take one of his eyes as revenge for losing his own shortly after he claimed Vhagar. After nearly snatching him several times, she loses track of Arrax when the small dragon flies into a ravine, far too narrow for her to follow. But Arrax, against Luke's wishes, turns around and blasts Vhagar with dragonflame. Enraged, Vhagar pursues, ignoring Aemond as he desperately tries to regain control of her. Above the storm, Vhagar catches Arrax in her mouth, even as Aemond commands her to stop her attack. Being about five times larger than the younger dragon, she easily rips him apart with a single bite, sending his and Lucerys's corpses plummeting to the ground below.^[12]

House of the Dragon: Season 2[]

Vhagar and Aemond return to the Red Keep as the people of King's Landing prepare the city's defenses.^[13]

Vhagar and Aemond are waiting for Ser Criston Cole's signal to attack Rook's Rest when they see Sunfyre and Aegon flying above them. Vhagar and Aemond wait until Sunfyre and Meleys are wounded before they fly into the battlefield. Vhagar blasts Sunfyre and Meleys with her fire breath, which results in Sunfyre crashing into a nearby forest, badly burned. Vhagar and Meleys breathe fire and lock claws with each other before Meleys slashes Vhagar's underbelly. Vhagar and Meleys spiral through the air before she eventually crashes into the earth and inadvertently kills numerous Greens. However, she recovers swiftly and ambushes Meleys and Rhaenys by hiding behind the castle and the cliffs below. As they ascend higher, Vhagar clamps her jaws around Meleys's neck, killing her with a crushing bite. Vhagar then releases Meleys's body, causing the smaller dragon to plummet and crash onto the walls of Rook's Rest in a fiery explosion.^[14]

Vhagar is resting outside of King's Landing before Aemond rides her to pursue Silverwing and Ulf. But upon seeing Silverwing roaring alongside Vermithor and Syrax on Dragonstone, Aemond commands Vhagar to fly back to King's Landing.^[15]

Aemond commands Vhagar to burn the castle of Sharp Point in retaliation for Rhaenyra finding three new dragonriders.^[16]

Game of Thrones: Season 1[]

Viserys tells Doreah that Vhagar's skull decorated the throne room of the Red Keep prior to Robert's Rebellion.^[6]

Game of Thrones: Season 2[]

While Arya is in the service of Tywin in Harrenhal, she mentions that Vhagar was one of the three dragons used in Aegon's Conquest, ridden by Visenya Targaryen.^[2]

Game of Thrones: Season 3[]

While incarcerated and learning to read, Davos has trouble reading Vhagar's name.^[8]

Game of Thrones: Season 5[]

Shireen is reading The Dance of Dragons: A True Telling and retells the story of Vhagar and Ser Byron Swann to Davos, which they share a laugh over.^[17]

Quotes[]

Spoken about Vhagar[]

In the books[]

Visenya continued to ride Vhagar to war during the Faith Militant uprising, burning out rebel castles in the Riverlands as once she had burned out castles in Dorne (even though Visenya was over 70 years old at the time). Visenya eventually died late in Maegor's reign: her riders during the next 60 or so years, if any, are unknown.

Vhagar remained riderless for many years following Visenya's death, lairing first in the yards of Dragonstone and later in the Dragonpit of King's Landing. It was during the reign of King Jaehaerys I, when his and Good Queen Alysanne's children produced an abundance of Targaryens to claim the remaining dragons, that Vhagar finally gained a new rider in the King's second son, Prince Baelon. Baelon would ride Vhagar into battle during the Fourth Dornish War, alongside his father (astride Vermithor) and his elder brother Prince Aemon (astride Caraxes). Later, after Aemon was killed on Tarth by Myrish pirates, Baelon exacted a terrible vengeance for his beloved brother's death by unleashing Vhagar's fury on them. Baelon was made the Prince of Dragonstone and the Hand of the King for his exploits during the war on Tarth, but died several years later of a burst belly, leaving Vhagar riderless yet again. Later during the Old King's reign, Balerion died of old age, making Vhagar the oldest and largest of the Targaryen dragons.

After Meraxes and then Balerion died, Vhagar was the last of the original three Targaryen dragons. Meraxes died fighting in Dorne, while Balerion later died of old age. Vhagar was the mother of several of the second-generation Targaryen dragons, but exactly which ones have not yet been specified

Vhagar fought in more major Westerosi wars than any other Targaryen dragon: Aegon's Conquest, the Faith Militant uprising, and the Dance of the Dragons. Meraxes only fought in Aegon's Conquest. Balerion did fight in the Faith Militant uprising (ridden by Visenya's own son Maegor after Aegon died), but he died before the Dance of the Dragons - though Balerion did fight in previous wars outside of Westeros, such as the "Century of Blood" in the Free Cities.

Despite being one of the more famous dragons in the story, mentioned since the first novel, Vhagar's coloration went unrevealed for 25 years. Of the three original Targaryen dragons, Balerion was stated to be black with red highlights, while Meraxes's color (silver) wasn't revealed until The World of Ice and Fire was published in 2014. This became a point of contention among fans, repeatedly pressing George R.R. Martin about it in Q&A, but he would only respond that he hadn't decided yet and kept putting it off. Vhagar's color was finally revealed in the official 2021 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar: artist Sam Hogg had to make an illustration of Vhagar, and asked for direct clarification from Martin's team, who responded that Vhagar was "bronze, with greenish blue highlights, and green eyes".^[18]

In homage to Vhagar, Daenerys Targaryen renames one of the ships Illyrio Mopatis sent her after her.

Appearances[]

• – "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things" (mentioned)
• – "The Field of Fire - House Targaryen" (illustrated)
• – "House Lannister" (illustrated)
• – "A Man Without Honor" (mentioned)
• – "House Tyrell" (illustrated)
• – "Harrenhal" (mentioned indirectly)
• – "Second Sons" (mentioned)
• – "The Vale" (illustrated)
• – "Dragons" (illustrated)
• – "The Dance of Dragons" (mentioned)
• – "The Seven-Pointed Star" (illustrated)
• – "Dorne" (mentioned indirectly)
• The Dance of Dragons (illustrated)
• – "Casterly Rock" (illustrated)
• – "Highgarden" (illustrated)
• – "Invasion" (illustrated)
• – "House Lannister, Kings of the Rock & House Gardener, Kings of the Reach" (illustrated)
• – "House Stark, The Kings of Winter" (illustrated)
• – "House Arryn, Kings of the Vale" (illustrated)
• – "House Martell, Princes of Dorne" (illustrated)
• – "The Heirs of the Dragon" (mentioned)
• – "The Rogue Prince" (mentioned)
• – "King of the Narrow Sea" (mentioned)
• – "The Princess and the Queen"
• – "Driftmark"
• – "The Green Council" (mentioned)
• – "The Black Queen"
• – "A Son for a Son"
• – "Rhaenyra the Cruel" (illustrated)
• – "The Burning Mill" (mentioned)
• – "The Red Dragon and the Gold"
• – "Regent" (illustrated)
• – "Smallfolk" (mentioned)
• – "The Red Sowing"
• – "The Queen Who Ever Was"

References[]

Notes[]

External links[]

• Vhagar on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (potential spoilers for House of the Dragon)
• Vhagar on The Official Guide