Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Balerion may not be in House of the Dragon, but Game of Thrones has still managed to solve one mystery about the Black Dread. Ever since hearing or reading mentions of him in Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, I’ve long been fascinated by Balerion. He is, after all, the Conqueror’s dragon, used to help take command of Westeros alongside Meraxes and Vhagar.
Daenys Was Balerion's Dragonrider Before Aegon The Conqueror This Reveal Only Applies To Show Canon So Far In the behind the scenes video for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1, “A Son for a Son,” , there’s a brief shot of one of the history books that apparently belonged to King Viserys I Targaryen. The pages contain some illuminating details, though, notably revealing that Daenys Targaryen had bonded with Balerion.
It’s worth noting this reveal only applies to show canon - meaning House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones - and has not yet appeared in any of George R.R. Martin’s books. The text used surrounding the reveal, however, is taken from The World of Ice and Fire companion book, but that doesn’t mean it is part of book canon. Still, I do think it’s the kind of thing Martin might have planned, because it fits with Balerion’s history.
House of the Dragon revealed Aegon’s prophetic A Song of Ice and Fire dream, and also showed that Viserys had these dragon dreams himself too. It seems telling that at least three of Balerion’s dragonriders were all confirmed dreamers, which may suggest there’s something deeper at play here and perhaps a greater power or connection that comes from Balerion himself. He was the last known dragon to have come from Valyria directly, so there may well be a greater magic to him than other dragons.