As the wise Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt and the Breaker of Chains once said, “Where are my dragons?!”
It’s all hands on deck as Game of Thrones season 8 premieres, aka the final season ever, and while fans are eagerly awaiting to see who sits on the Iron Throne by the end of the series there are three characters who we should be the most worried about: Let's refresh our memories of what happened to the dragons in Game of Thrones season 7.
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Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion, the three dragons, are the MVPs of Game of Thrones so far, and honestly most of the heart stopping action wouldn’t exist without them. But their fates have never been more uncertain as we begin the final journey of Game of Thrones.
Where are each of Dany’s three dragons now and what will happen to them before the finale? Let’s go over each one individually.
Drogon
One of three dragons born to Dany during her husband Khal Drogo’s funeral by fire, Drogon is special. He’s Dany’s personal mount, meaning he is the dragon she’s always riding in battle or for travel. He was also the dragon Dany rode on as she arrived at the parley with the Lannisters in King’s Landing in the Season 7 finale. Named after her late Dothraki husband, Drogo has black and red scales and red-black wings. As we head into the final season, he’s still alive and well, journeying north with Dany and Jon Snow to help defend Winterfell against the army of the undead currently venturing south of The Wall.
But given George R. R. Martin’s penchant for killing the characters we love the most, it’s highly unlikely he’s going to make it out of the series unscathed. Since he's Dany’s favorite, Drogon’s death would hit her the hardest, so he’s probably not making it out of these last few episodes alive. If he does get killed by the Night King or Cersei’s forces, hopefully his death scene will be epic. He deserves the best.
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Rhaegal
Dany’s second dragon is Rhaegal, named after her late, eldest brother Rhaegar Targaryen (aka the real father of Jon Snow). Covered in green and bronze scales, he has yellow-orange wings and does not have a rider but he always (mostly) obeys whatever commands Dany tells him. He was last seen flying above the parley in King’s Landing as a show of power, but the sight of Drogon and Rhaegal without Viserion correctly tips off Cersei that something happened to Dany’s third dragon. But at least Rhaegal is still alive and well with Dany, traveling with Drogon north to Winterfell and preparing for the coming war against the Night King.
Rhaegal has the best chances of surviving the final season out of his brothers, for no reason other than he’s not the dragon that Dany chooses to ride. If any dragon is going to make it out of the final season alive, it’s him. But there’s always a chance that no dragons will survive the final few episodes, which would honestly be too much heartbreak to handle. So if all three dragons are going to die, at least give Rhaegal the chance to avenge his brother Viserion!
Viserion
Last, but certainly not least is Viserion, Dany’s third dragon. Named after Dany’s other, late brother, Viserys, aka the guy from Season 1 that Khal Drogo killed by giving him a “golden crown” of molten hot gold pouring over his head. Viserion has cream and gold scales with red-orange wings — or at least he did when he was alive. Unfortunately not all of Dany’s dragons have made it to the final season alive and well: During Jon Snow’s most recent adventure north of The Wall to capture a wight to bring to King’s Landing, the Night King attacked the hunting party. Dany took all three of her dragons north of The Wall to save Jon and his men, but the Night King was prepared. He hurled an ice spear at Viserion’s throat, killing him almost instantly. He was last seen by Dany as he was dying, falling into the frozen lake and not coming back up.
But Game of Thrones viewers know the awful truth: Viserion has been resurrected by the Night King as an undead ice dragon. His corpse was pulled up from the bottom of the lake by an army of wights and turned into the Night King’s weapon of mass destruction. His eyes now glow blue and he follows the orders of the Night King. In the season 7 finale, the Night King rode an already decaying Viserion to Eastwatch and forced him to blast blue fire at The Wall, destroying a big enough portion of it so the army of the dead could finally breach and pass through to begin their invasion of the Seven Kingdoms.
There’s more than one way to kill a member of the army of the undead: if you kill the one who sired/made them, they will automatically die. That means if/when the Night King is finally killed (probably by Jon Snow or Dany herself), then Viserion will die as well. So unless someone can find a cure to bring Viserion (and all the other wights) back from the undead, Viserion is likely going to have to die for good in the final season, so start preparing yourselves for that tragic moment now.