Dragons are impressive creatures in the universe of Game of Thrones. They can destroy entire cities on their own. However, the most powerful dragon of the Targaryens has yet to be seen in a series. Together with him, Westeros was conquered.
Which dragon is it about? In the series Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, one can see how powerful and impressive dragons can be in Westeros. They can defeat armies and conquer entire cities.
But even before the events of both series, there were dragons that fought alongside the Targaryens. The most powerful and dangerous was Balerion, the Black Dread. Together with Aegon Targaryen, he was the first to conquer the Iron Throne.
The Biggest Dragon and a Remnant from Valyria
Where does Balerion come from? Balerion was a dragon with black scales and black fire. He is the largest and most renowned dragon in the history of Westeros and originally comes from Valyria. He was born about 114 years before Aegon’s Conquest (BC).
Valyria was a city on the continent of Essos that was quite advanced and prosperous. The Targaryens originally hail from this city. One day, however, a catastrophe occurred that destroyed the entire city and its surroundings. Before the catastrophe, Daenys Targaryen dreamed of the destruction, which is why her father Aenar fled with the family to Dragonstone in Westeros.
They brought along 5 dragons, but only Balerion survived. In the year 27 BC, Aegon was born as the son of Aerion Targaryen. Before marrying his two sisters Rhaenys and Visenya (typical for the Targaryen family), he became the rider of Balerion.
Even before his conquest, he fought alongside the dragon against Volantis, which threatened the Free Cities of Pentos and Tyrosh. Some time later, Aegon’s ambitions grew, and he wanted to rule all of Westeros.
Along with his two sisters and their dragons (Meraxes and Vhagar) and riding on the back of Balerion, he began his conquest. Since it mainly concerns Balerion, we will spare you the details here, but Aegon was successful and became the first king of the Iron Throne, thus the king of the Seven Kingdoms. Hence, the dating system AC
, or after Aegon’s Conquest, and BC
, before Aegon’s Conquest, originates from this.
In this video, you can see how George R.R. Martin talks about Balerion:
A Legendary Dragon of the Targaryens
What happened to Balerion after the conquest? Balerion survived the conquest and the accompanying battles and was symbolically a powerful weapon that cemented Aegon’s rule. After the death of Aegon I in 37 AC, his son Aenys I became king, but his younger brother Maegor became the rider of Balerion.
Maegor wanted a polygamous marriage (he had a total of 6 wives), but the High Septon, the head of the Faith of the Seven, did not approve of this, which is why he was banished by his brother, King Aenys I, to Pentos. After Aenys’ death, he returned and seized the throne violently, of course with the help of Balerion. The two killed his nephew Prince Aegon and his dragon Verrix. His actions earned him the nickname the Cruel
.
In the year 54 AC, 6 years after the death of King Maegor I, Princess Aerea Targaryen rode off with Balerion. Both disappeared for a year and no one could find them. When they returned, Aerea was ill and Balerion was injured and had large scars that were still bleeding. It is unclear what happened to the two. According to A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Barth, a friend of the then King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, suspected that Balerion flew to Valyria with Aerea (who could not defend herself), where something must have happened to them.
After that, Balerion was brought to the Dragonpit in King’s Landing and was kept there so that no one could fly away with him again. One last time, Viserys I Targaryen tried in 93 AC. After flying with the retired dragon, he decided against him, as he was already struggling to fly.
In 94 AC, Balerion died of old age. A death that no known dragon and probably not even the main characters in Westeros can achieve. His skull was displayed alongside those of other dragons in the throne room in King’s Landing until Robert Baratheon removed them.
Balerion lived to be over 200 years old and was a last remnant from Valyria. Whether another dragon can contest this record will probably be seen only in the future. However, dragons were not only used by the Targaryens. Some specimens lived freely. One of them was quite dangerous: One of the most dangerous dragons of Westeros did not heed any Targaryen and was a great threat to others of its kind.
