House of the Dragon: 8 Things You Didn't Know About Dragons

8. No One Knows Where Dragons Came From

Seeing how House Targaryen is obsessed with their dragons, it’s weird to think about — but no one really knows how dragons came to be. There are theories about them appearing from volcanoes, the second moon, the Shadow Lands, or the Jade Sea. Every nation has its own version, but the truth has never been disclosed directly.

7. Blood Magic Binds Dragons to Dragonriders

The most popular dragon theory claims that Valyrian bloodmages used selection to breed firewyrms (breathe fire, can’t fly) and wyverns (can fly, don’t breathe fire) into dragons. Then, they used blood magic to finalize them as creatures who recognize Valyrian blood and can bond with their riders on a deep, truly magical level.

6. Dragon’s Bonds Are Extremely Strong

Speaking of the bond between a dragon and its rider, it goes beyond any other connection in Martin’s world, save for maybe the Three-Eyed Raven’s abilities. When Daemon was hit by an arrow, we saw Caraxes cry out in pain as if the dragon felt it just the same, and several other scenes confirm that the connection works like that.

5. Dragon Sizes Depend on Many Factors

The main reason why dragons were becoming progressively smaller was the Dragon Pit. Dragon sizes vary based on many factors, but freedom and battle seem to be the most important: that’s why wild dragons are so huge and powerful and why Drogon grew larger than previous generation’s Syrax after roaming free for a few years.

4. Dragon Bones Are Canonically Black

While many dragon bones we see in the series are white-ish, George Martin specifically points out they should be black. The reason for that is a bizarrely high concentration of iron in them which is yet another mesmerizing fact about dragon biology. Over time, however, it seems that dragon bones begin losing their color.

3. Dragon Breath’s Temperature Can Reach 3090°F

Balerion was the mightiest dragon that survived the Doom of Valyria, and with his dragonrider Aegon the Conqueror, he laid waste to any and all enemies of House Targaryen. It was recorded that Balerion’s black fire could melt through steel and stone and even turn sand into glass which means it reached 3090°F (1700°C)!

2. Dragons Used to Be an Entire Industry

Thanks to House of the Dragon, we know just how huge of an industry dragons were back in the Targaryens’ days. Between saddles, dragon-riding clothes, trained dragon-keepers, and other stuff, there were entire jobs solely focused on servicing them. And then, we had Daenerys just clinging to her dragons’ backs for dear life.

1. Dragon Naming Had Weird Rules

We’ve seen numerous dragons by far, all with their unique names — but admittedly, there were only three major dragon-naming conventions. They could be called like brutal Vikings ( think Vhagar), Ancient Greek heroes (think Caraxes), or brand new My Little Pony characters — that would be Sunfyre, Dreamfyre, Seasmoke, Silverwing, Stormcloud, and many others. Weirdly, the third way was all too popular.