Balerion the Black Dread Explained Game of Thrones House of the Dragon ASOIAF Lore 

Hopefully they don't make him look saggy like vhagar

Probably would just make him look like a bigger version of drogon ​@@BOLT_TF_UP

I lowkey want to see just how great Harrenhal was before Aegon destroyed it. Must’ve been an amazing sight

@@BOLT_TF_UPI think Vhagar looking saggy is a brilliant piece of character design. Makes her feel old and have a distinct silouhette. That being said, if we ever get live action Balerion, I believe he will look as regal and dangerous as they can make him.

You realize cgi is just a cartoon right?

Its not about the lenght of the Dragons, thats a misconception. Most dragons were the same in lenght. Balerion is the biggest a dragon could get (as is the only dragon we know that died of old age). It was more about the amount of Dragons a family possessed. The Targaryens had just 5 dragons when the doom happened. And we know Valyria had over 300; that's 7 of average in total per family. That means that out of the 40 families, 20 had 7 to 10 dragons and 20 families had 7 to 1 dragon so that the average makes sense and so does the 300 total dragons. Targaryens with 5 were on the lower tier of families, thus had less power in Valyrian affairs that a family with more dragons.

power can also come from armies sworn to you, how rich you are, what goods or services you make etc.

the maximum dragon size is inconclusive, there are not enough evidence to say dragons were bigger in valeria only speculation.

Nonsense. Literally nothing implies this

​@@crim1188other than common sense. If there were hundreds of other dragons(thousands over the centuries), what are the odds that balerion, a dragon from a lower house, would be the biggest ever? None of the wealthy houses took care of the dragons that made them powerful? You would think dragons that were bred by rich houses would be far better. I doubt dragon eggs were just a random crapshoot

That we know of so far

Who's to say that Balerion also wasnt stuffed with worms like Aerea? Dragons are rooted to magic so maybe killing Balerion took much longer than Aerea. Maybe he could have lived more

​@@Random-fz2rg This is what I think. The worms burned Aerea from inside, which to me suggests that they're meant to infect "hot" creatures, like dragons.

The question is where dafuq did that girl go to be infested by worms that burned her from inside out?

Chad

So you mean that explains his leprosy

I never thought about that but it would be a good explanation That paired with a weakened immune system from all the inbreeding

That could make sense.

Its written Viserys* and Valyria* so you know, In the books he doesnt have that disease, and in the show he starts the disease decades after Balerion died, so most likely the answer is no.

😲

But at the end dorne is including in that seven kingdoms

Facts💯

By Marriage not by sheer force. ​@@Aegar_Targaryen

Probably not, Since the dragons are portrayed as large Reptiles, and real world large Reptiles can go long periods of time without eating

Haha

​​@@devilrider39000000 Except that more evolved reptiles always end up more like mammals. Just look at dinosaurs, they were warm blooded and larger carnivorous ones had to eat regularly much more like mammals, nothing like crocodiles or such. Edit: Or birds (direct dinosaur descendents) too which they're probably most comparable to.

@srbtlevse16 Yea but, they're clearly not based on Dinosaurs. They're most likely based on other large reptiles that grew to similar sizes as Dinosaurs and were bigger than some carnivorous Dinosaurs and would sometimes eat them. I.e. Sarcosuchus, Deinosuchus, and Titanoboa. (In Sarcosuchus and Deinosuchus case lived along side Dinosaurs at the same time.) The shows Dragons seem to fall more in line with them. That's just the creative decision the show runners chose to go with.

Imagine cleaning up the turds probably the size of hills.

There is also a theory that Drogon is some kind of reincarnation of Balerion. It would make poetic sense if Balerion was one to start great throne circle, and Drogon to end it.

Drogon, the..uh...uh....other black dread

Drogon is a black dread just like Balerion, Drogon is now wild and riderless so it makes sense he will be the biggest Dragon at some point.

No, not happening. The more y’all fancast henry cavill as Aegon I the more show runners won’t do it. If Mr. Bulky pretty boy didn’t don a silver wig for the Witcher people wouldn’t be constantly picking him as #1 choice because people are unable to use their imagination to cast someone more realistic that hasn’t had a silver wig wearing role. Also, sorry to break your bubble but Cavill doesn’t have acting skills sufficient enough to lead an HBO show. The casting is not acting based, it’s purely based from appearance. That’s the truth. Him weird a sword is not enough to call it sufficient acting for a lead role. More than looks, acting ability is more important for the GoT and HotD show runners so that’s why daemon’s actor isn’t attractive by Targaryen standards but his acting ability fleshes out Daemon so well that we can’t imagine anyone else playing that character now. Also, the Aegon’s conquest storyline is extremely boring because it’s basically just fanservice of a perfect Mary sue chosen one hero winning at everything when he takes over some land. His failures at dorne aren’t enough to create a riveting story of grey characters, schemes, betrayal, and complicated political games that’s typical of what we’ve seen so far (and what’s appealed to so many fans) with HotD and GoT. Aegon’s conquest should stay untouched as a mysterious legend or if it is ever to be explored, we have to face the fact that it was a lie created as Targaryen propaganda (according to littlefinger’s famous line).

​@@mochalotte4702aegon doesn't need to be the focus of the show, the show could view it through the eyes of the people he conquers or faces off against. and you'd be a fool to think that people wouldn't like to see dragons at their strongest with castles like harren hall and large battles like the field of fire. I enjoy the slow and complex parts of the show but it doesn't mean that's what most casual fans like it. and it's not like hard core fans will hate it eithermost of us would like to see that whether we say it or not. hennry's acting where he is basically a statue is oddly enough fitting for the role, aegon doesn't show emotion to most people around him except his closest family members. he also has the looks for the role, which is very important and just because hotd sacrificed that aspect of their characters doesn't mean it isn't important. it literally is part of what makes those characters them in the story.

​@@mochalotte4702also you said something curious about the conquest being a lie, what do you mean by that exactly ?

​@@mochalotte4702 they don't need to make a bunch of season for aegon the conquerors story. They could do a one season type of deal or just his story for the first season then the time of other Targaryen rulers in the book. Could be maegor or others. They could even do the time when valyria is on that doomsday time. Then jump to aegons childhood all throughout the time he sets his conquest for westeros.

Henry would be more than perfect for this role! But I'm afraid showing the dragon is impossible due to financial reasons

It is possible but unlikely. Balerion grew so large it was more a detrimment to him in anything. Too large to do anything for long.

​@@crim1188nope, targaryens were only minor among the 40 clans. The more powerful families definitely had larger dragons, it's just common sense. Power in valyria is based off of military asset aka dragons. The powerful dragon lords had bigger and more number of dragons, that's what gave them power in the first place

@@arunakoyanbron8927 How is it common sense if Balerion was literally too large to do anything in later years. I know the idea of ever larger creatures is inherently very compelling but there is a limit to this.

​@@arunakoyanbron8927We dont know if they were minor. They were somewhere in the middle probably

​@@Random-fz2rgnah it was stated that the Targaryen's didn't hold any much power in valyria. That person is correct they really are at the bottom and it was stated in the show too.

The dragons in the dragon pit are smaller while wild dragons were bigger. Drogon had a sabbatical which is why he was the bigger of the three.

@@rthulesscalculus117 what?

​@@KoptlandNever watched the series or read the books,but i like Dragons(And hate seeing them die,thats why i never watched nor read any of the stories) But Drogon,for a time,as free from the Dragon Pit,different from his brothers,that made him grow alot as Dragons grow mostly when they have the free space too,giving him a headstart compared to his brothers,thats why i think that,had they all either stayed or left,they'd all be rougly the same size with Drogon being only a big bigger as he was somehow 'special'

In the books dany’s dragons are much smaller at that age lol. The show made them grow faster.

@@rthulesscalculus117 Drogon is a black dread, by genetics he was going to be bigger then his siblings regardless if captive or in the wild.

CURSE YOU BAYLE!

Hollywood has nothing to do with HBOMax.

Aurion's dragon would've been the size of a godamn hill to do that. Not that it's impossible though. Given that aurion came from the powerful balaerys family, his dragon would've been much larger than the dragons of minor valyrian families like the targaryens.

My bet she had successfully bonded to the balerion and flew to the ruins of the empire to prove herself. While exploring the ruins she was ambushed and captured by the abominations that still exist there. Balerion stayed but was unable to help her escape until she got herself free. Part of my theory is the maesters are intentionally withholding info about the ruins to stop the Targaryens and others from trying to reclaim its power.

I believe it's the opposite. Aerea wanted to prove herself by trying to claim and ride Balerion. But Aerea was dumb. Merely being a Targaryen isn't enough to claim a dragon as old and wise as Balerion. She tried to claim Balerion on that merit alone, and while she was able to fly on him, he never submitted to her and simply flew where he wanted, which, unfortunately for her, was Valyria. You need to have iron willpower and diamond hard determination to claim a dragon like Balerion. Aerea was a child throwing a tantrum. She had neither of those.

Both in there primes definitely Balerion

Balerion would win because it took Vhaegar like 40 years just to match Balerions length. Vhaegar never reached Balerions mass though. They would have been a sight though flying over the field of fire with Meraxes , who was even bigger than Vhaegar during the conquest.

I like more to se Balerion vs Canibal ... that would be fu*cking amazing

Balerion

Balerion already won that since he F her and had dragon babies with vhagar

They are doing aegons conquest

It fits. Dragons choose who they want to bond with as well. Balarion was old. He was done fighting. He just wanted to rest. Viserys was no warrior or even much for a hunt or tourney. He liked that Balerion was the last living creature to see Old Valyria. They were a perfect match.

Carefully

​@@jedi098765😂😂😂😂😅

Give him whatever he wants

@KageYureii No, they died in the century of blood long before that.

@KageYureii Dude, know your fictional history. I am not talking about the dragons that died during the dance. I am talking about the dragons Aenar Targaryen brought with him from old Valyria

shit smaug was the a small dragon by tolkien's standards and smaug would wax balerion. or just control his mind cause that would be more entertaining to the 7000 or so year old smaug, who was so bored he spent 60 years sleeping on a pile of gold. so not really a far comparison. like having darth vader challenge stephen hawking in a cage match.

Lmfao

And to end it you gotta add Robert's rebellion bro was a Goga Chad and ended a near 300 yr reign

She died off whatever she contracted when she flew off with balerion to who knows where. Her mother rhaena had a fallout with jaeherys and alysanne over this even though they had nothing to do with this. Fun fact aerea was maegor the cruet’s heir and was technically usurped by jaeherys when maegor died in 48 AC

There is a scene in A Game of Thrones when Tyrion remarks to himself that multiple men could ride a horses through Balerion's jaws & that he thought even a mammoth from beyond the wall would fit comfortably.

He was the largest Targaryen dragon ever

@@DemetriusJamal-he1uy how do you know? We do not know what other dragons Targaryens had while living in Valyria. Saying "he was the largest ever" is stupid.

Viserys (Rhaenyras father)

He said “targaryen dragon”, cannibal is unclaimed. Supposedly other dragon lords in valyria also likely had dragons bigger than balerion

Nope. Cannibal was the biggest of the wild dragons. But as of the DoD, Vhagar is the largest, followed by Vermithor. Cannibal being huge and ancient is just fan-wishing because he's similar in appearance to Balerion (and Drogon).

​@@anonymousanonymous8344Being the third largest living dragon is still impressive. But as the Cannibal was a wild dragon and hasn't been seen since the end of the Dance its possible he may still be out there and grown larger.

​@@SeviathTheHumanDragoA dragon's natural lifespan is about 200 years. There is about 150 years between Dance and modern Westeros so even if Cannibal would be very old and more inclined to sleep than fight

There is no way to know for sure, as the dragons of old valyria are rarely mentioned. But I would suspect that given that Balerion died of old age, he was near the limit in terms of size that a dragon can get. The Cannibal was older, but smaller than vermithor and vhagar at the time of the Dance.

@@lorerambleI thought the cannibal was the biggest one