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| “ | Balerion is a willful beast, and not one to be trifled with. | „ |
| ~ Jaehaerys I Targaryen describing Balerion. |
Balerion, famously known as the Black Dread, is a character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. He was a legendary, gigantic black dragon who served as the personal mount of Aegon I Targaryen. He helped his rider in his conquest of Westeros as well as in the creation of the iron throne. Ever since Aegon's passing, Balerion has become the mount of several members of House Targaryen. While only appearing as a large skull in the novel series and TV show, he was mentioned by several characters as well as in the book Fire & Blood.
Biography[]
Balerion was born in Valyria and was named after one of the Gods of said region. While his exact birthdate is unclear, he was possibly born in or several years before the year 114 BC, which is centuries before the Conquest and the War of the Five Kings. He is one of the five dragons that were brought to Dragonstone by Lord Aenar Targaryen 12 years before the Doom of Valyria. Out of the five, Balerion is the only one to live longer, as the other four have died, making him the last living creature to have ever seen the Valyrian Freehold in its prime.
At an unknown point in time, he was claimed by Aegon Targaryen, who would become Aegon the Conqueror. During a period of chaos and anarchy called the Century of Blood, when Aegon heeded the call of Pentos and Tyrosh for aid against the fleet of Volantis, he and Balerion flew to meet with magisters and the prince of Pentos before burning the Volantene fleet at Lys. With the goal accomplished, Balerion and Aegon returned to Dragonstone.
Aegon's Conquest[]
Balerion destroying Harrenhal.
During Aegon's first test early in the Targaryen conquest of Westeros, Balerion killed both Lords Darklyn and Mooton. When two sons of King Harren Hoare won a victory at the Wailing Willows on the southern shore of the Gods' Eye, Aegon killed them both in retaliation as they were returning to Harren's castle of Harrenhal. A few days later, the Conqueror and Balerion flew to the Riverlands. When they arrived, the riverlords immediately rebelled against King Harren and sided with Aegon, swelling his ranks. After Harren refused to yield by sunset, Aegon took Balerion high into the sky under cover of darkness before plunging back down, and Balerion unleashed his dragonfire on Harrenhal. The Black Dread's flames were so hot that the towers of the castle went up in flames like candles before twisting and melting down into the shapes they are today.
Balerion at the Field of Fire.
On the Field of Fire, when Aegon and his sisters face off against the combined army of Houses Lannister and Gardener on a large dry field of wheat, Balerion, together with Vhagar and Meraxes, set the wheat field ablaze, which upwinds the enemy army, allowing the Targaryen army to finish off those who emerge from the flames. Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes, as a whole, had killed a total of 4,000 men from the Lannister-Gardener army. King Mern IX Gardener and nearly all of his family were among the victims. A nephew of King Mern survived but soon died from burns, eliminating House Gardener all together, though the bloodline still continued through the female line.
The Field of Fire was noted as the only battle where all three of the Targaryen dragons went to battle at the same time.
Though Aegon intended to head for Oldtown next, upon hearing that the King in the North, Torrhen Stark, was leading an army of 30,000 savage northmen into the Riverlands, he flew on Balerion to meet them ahead of his army. When King Torrhen and his army arrived at the Trident, he saw that the Targaryen army had encamped on the other side while Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes circled in the sky above. When Brandon Snow, a bastard son of Torrhen Stark, offered to assassinate one of the dragons while they slept, this was refused, and his father instead bent the knee to Aegon. Later, after Aegon the Conqueror was crowned king by the High Septon at the Starry Sept, he flew Balerion through the streets of Oldtown while tens of thousands of onlookers cheered on.
At the end of the conquest, according to song, Balerion had a hand in forging the Iron Throne of Westeros, in which he used his dragonfire to melt down the swords of Aegon's enemies, which were surrendered to Aegon or wrenched from the dying. In 2 AC, Balerion flew with Aegon to invade the Iron Islands, where a conflict for succession had occurred following the death of Harren Hoare.
First Dornish War[]
During the First Dornish War, Aegon flew Balerion during their brief siege on Ironwood, the seat of House Yronwood, only to find it defended by civilians. Later, after Dorne was put under Targaryen rule, as the seat of House Martell, Sunspear, and many Dornish seats were found empty, the Dornishmen, who were actually in hiding, immediately revolted after Aegon departed on Balerion. When Aegon's rumored bastard half-brother Orys Baratheon and his men were captured and their sword hands were multilated by the Wyl of Wyl, this provoked Aegon into burning several keeps owned by House Wyl as revenge. In 8 AC, Balerion and Aegon, with the aid of Queen Visenya Targaryen and Vhagar, later attacked and burned down the seats of Sandstone, Vaith, and the castle of Hellholt, causing the Dornish to retaliate by invading the realm and sacking half a dozen villages and towns while also setting half of the rain wood in Cape Wrath on fire.
Balerion during the Dragon's Wroth.
Aegon has Balerion burned the seat of House Fowler, Skyreach, in response to the attack on the castle of Nightsong, the seat of House Caron, which was burned down by Lord Fowler. After Meraxes, one of the Targaryen dragons, was shot down at Hellholt by a scorpion bolt, which possibly in turn caused the death of Queen Rhaenys Targaryen, Aegon and Visenya, in rage and grief, had every Dornish keep, with the exception of Sunspear, burned twice during a two-year event known as the Dragon's Wroth. In the aftermath of Aegon and Visenya's destructive rampage, Dorne was left in ruin, though the Dornish stubbornly continued to fight the Targaryens.
Dragon's Peace[]
Aegon would fly Balerion while making his royal progress all throughout his reign.
Maegor the Cruel[]
Balerion burning down the Sept of Remembrance.
Maegor Targaryen, the youngest son of Aegon the Conqueror, had long desired his father's dragon, as he finds other dragon hatchlings unworthy. After King Aegon died, this made Balerion available for Maegor to claim. After Maegor angered the Faith of the Seven by taking Alys Harroway as his second wife, even though he already married Lady Ceryse Hightower, he chose to go into exile, and he and Alys rode Balerion to Essos. When the Faith Militant broke out, following the marriage of Princess Rhaena, the daughter of King Aenys I Targaryen, to her brother Prince Aegon, Maegor flew Balerion to Dragonstone for his coronation before returning to King's Landing with his mother, Queen Visenya. Days later, after his victorious trial by seven against the Warrior's Sons, Maegor has Balerion burn the Sept of Remembrance, which served as the headquarters of the Warrior's Sons King's landing chapter, while 700 Warrior's Sons are at morning prayers. It is said that the screams of the dying men can be heard throughout King's Landing while a pall of smoke hangs in the air.
During Maegor's campaign against the Faith, Balerion the Black Dread participated in the battle at the Great Fork, where Maegor and his army were pitted against a great army of Poor Fellows, Warrior's Sons, and landed knights. Balerion burned down many of Maegor's enemies during the battle, though the dragon's flames were dampened by an ongoing rainstorm. In the dawn of 43 AC, Maegor and his dragon went on a destructive rampage in the Westerlands, where they burned down the seats of pious houses that support the Faith Militant, leaving pillars of smoke in their wake. Maegor and his mother then flew to Oldtown with the intention of destroying the Starry Sept, the headquarters of the Faith. However, when they reached the city, they found the gates open and the walls unmanned. As the High Septon, who resisted Maegor's rule, had passed away under debatable circumstances, Oldtown surrendered to Maegor and turned against the Faith Militant. Thus, the city was spared from destruction.
In the Battle below the God's Eye, Maegor and Balerion engaged in a sky battle against Prince Aegon the Uncrowned and his dragon Quicksilver, who used to be the mount of the now-late King Aenys. Thanks to his raw power and gigantic size, Balerion made quick work of Aegon and Quicksilver, who fell to their deaths below. Following the completion of the Red Keep, whose construction began during the reign of his father, Maegor ordered the construction of the Dragonpit, a giant stone stable to house the Targaryen dragons, which includes Balerion and Vhagar. The Black Dread returned to Dragonstone after Maegor's death.
Returning to Valyria[]
Balerion with Princess Aerea Targaryen in the ruins of Valyria.
In late 54 AC, during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, the latter's niece, Princess Aerea Targaryen, took Balerion as her mount and disappeared from Dragonstone. After being missing for a year, Balerion returned to Westeros with a severely ill Aerea clinging to him. It was discovered that during his time away, Balerion was wounded and had a huge jagging and bleeding scar down his left side. Septon Barth, who served as Hand of the King to Jaehaerys, speculated that Princess Aerea was unable to control Balerion to her will and that the dragon had taken her to his birthplace, Old Valyria. Following this incident, Balerion was housed in the Dragonpit, becoming the first dragon to be placed in the stable, where he is now guarded by the Dragonkeepers, an order of guards who served to guard the Targaryen dragons.
Further Life[]
Ever since Aerea's death, Balerion would remain in the Dragonpit for years. He was smacked in the snout by the young Prince Baelon Targaryen, one of King Jaehaerys' eldest sons, when he entered the Dragonpit. When Princess Alyssa Velaryon went to claim a dragon of her own in 75 AC, the Dragonkeepers persuaded her to not to try and claim Balerion, as the dragon is now old and has become slow, and that she should prefer a much faster dragon. Alyssa eventually claimed the dragon, Meleys (or the Red Queen) as her own. In 93 AC, Balerion was claimed by Prince Viserys Targaryen, who would become King Viserys I Targaryen. In addition, Viserys also became the last Targaryen to ride Balerion. The Black Dread was difficult to rouse and Balerion struggled when Viserys urged him to the skies. Though Viserys intended to fly to Dragonstone, Balerion could only circle King's Landing three times before landing back down, as he no longer has the strength to fly for long periods of time.
Balerion in his final moments.
Death[]
A year later, in 94 AC, Balerion the Black Dread passed away from natural causes. He was 200 years old and was the last dragon to have seen the Valyrian Freehold at its apex. Following his death, Balerion's skull was hung on a wall in the throne room of the Red Keep, where the skulls of the other dead Targaryen dragons also hang. Hundreds of years later, when Lord Robert Baratheon seized the iron throne after overthrowing the Targaryen dynasty in Robert's Rebellion, he had the skulls of the dragons, Balerion among them, removed and stored in a dark cellar.
External Links[]
- Balerion on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Balerion on the Wiki of Westeros.
