Game Of Thrones: 10 Hidden Details About The Dragons You Didn’t Notice

Good news for fans of House Targaryen – the Valyrian dragonlords will be returning in the upcoming Game Of Thrones spin-off show, House Of The Dragon. The prequel series will center around Daenerys’ ancestors and the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of Dragons.

With the Targaryens returning, fans can expect to see more dragon action than ever. This will delight fans who fell in love with Game Of Thrones’ epic dragon scenes and the journeys of Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. Until then, though, here are ten hidden details about the Game Of Thrones dragons you didn’t notice.

10 They’re Different Colors

It is hard to tell when watching Game Of Thrones as Rhaegal and Viserion often take a backseat compared to Drogon, but all three of Daenerys’ dragons are different colors. In the books, Drogon is described as black with red markings, Rhaegal green with bronze markings, and Viserion cream with gold markings.

In A Song Of Ice And Fire, the dragons each breathe different colored flames that correspond with their coloring. Rhaegal and Viserion’s coloring echoes the deaths of their namesakes; Rhaegar Targaryen, who died in the grassy banks of the Trident and Viserys Targaryen, who was killed with molten gold.

9 Drogon Resembles The Most Famous Targaryen Dragon

Balerion the Black Dread was the mount of Aegon the Conqueror, the first Targaryen monarch who ruled Westeros. He was the largest dragon to ever exist and was said to be so huge he could swallow a mammoth whole.

In the books, the Dothraki proclaim that Drogon is Balerion reborn due to his size and inky black coloring. As of now, it is unknown if Drogon will ever reach the size of his Valyrian ancestor.

8 They’re Named After Dany’s Lost Loved Ones

The dragons’ names are not mentioned in Game Of Thrones until season five when Dany struggles to control her children and balance her obligations as Queen of Meereen and the Mother of Dragons.

Drogon is named after Khal Drogo, the first husband of Daenerys Targaryen whose funeral pyre awakened the dragons from their stone eggs. Rhaegal and Viserion are named after her brothers Rhaegar, who was killed by Robert Baratheon before she was born and Viserys, the cruel brother who was killed by Drogo after he threatened Dany’s life.

7 Drogon Is The Biggest

Drogon is much bigger than his brothers. This could be genetics or his mystical connection to Balerion, but the winged shadow also had advantages that his siblings did not.

Dragons do not grow as much when they are confined in small spaces, something Dany’s ancestors learned after they began locking their dragons up in the Dragonpit. Having spent so long in the catacombs of Meereen whilst Drogon flew freely, Rhaegal and Viserion are smaller than their big brother.

6 Dragons Have No Gender

This is something that is more explicitly stated in the books, but the show does also allude to it briefly. When Melisandre arrives at Dragonstone, Missandei translates the prophecy for Daenerys, informing her that she could be the princess who was promised as the noun has no gender in High Valyrian.

In A Song Of Ice And Fire, the Maesters confirms that dragons have no fixed gender and can change their sex at will. Could this mean that Dany’s dragons laid eggs of their own?

5 They Came From Asshai… Allegedly

Magister Illyrio informs Daenerys that her dragon eggs came from Asshai, a mysterious city in Essos cloaked in magic. This could be true, though with new details in George RR Martin’s Fire And Blood having been released, the dragon eggs might have different origins after all.

In the Targaryen history book, it is revealed that Elissa Farman stole three dragon eggs from Dragonstone and sold them to the Sealord of Braavos. Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion could have hatched from those eggs over a century later as true Targaryen dragons.

4 Drogon Channels Dany’s Mood

The bond between dragon and dragonrider is mystical and not fully understood even by Maesters. The show touches on this, with Dany and Drogon’s bond stronger than her bond with Rhaegal and Viserion, and the books further explore the dynamic.

In the show, Drogon visibly channels Dany’s mood. Whilst waiting on the hill overlooking the battle in “The Long Night,” Drogon snaps at Jon’s mount Rhaegal as Dany snaps at Jon, channeling his mother’s anger… until the season finale.

3 Drogon Helps Daenerys Climb On His Back

The dragons seem to have a rebellious teenage phase in season four of Game Of Thrones. After Drogon kills a child, Dany locks Rhaegal and Viserion in the catacombs of the pyramid whilst her other dragon flees, and the Dragon Queen laments to Daario that she can no longer control them.

Dany doesn’t have this problem in season six, however. After returning to Meereen with her khalasar, Dany expertly calls Drogon to call her when confronting the masters, and the dragon even visibly bends his wing into a step so she can climb on his back.

2 Rhaegal & Viserion Follow Drogon

There is no doubt that Drogon is the alpha dragon in Game Of Thrones. The largest, fiercest, and most aggressive of his siblings, the winged shadow monopolizes his mother’s attention, and his smaller brothers fall in line.

Rhaegal and Viserion are shown to follow Drogon’s lead throughout the series, especially in season six’s “Battle of the Bastards” when the Targaryen dragons torch a slave ship.

1 They Weren’t Fully Grown

Rhaegal and Viserion sadly perished in the series, whereas Drogon was said to have flown to Volantis with Daenerys Targaryen’s body. As colossal as the dragons grew to be, they were still young and weren’t even fully grown at the times of their deaths.

As long as dragons have open sky and plentiful food, then they never stop growing. With Drogon still at large in Game Of Thrones, the winged shadow could still outgrow Balerion in the future.

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