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The Dance of the Dragons occurs after long-drawn-out years of waiting for the end of King Viserys Targaryen's reign. As seen in House of the Dragon, two scions of House Targaryen fail to resolve their differences in the late King's lifetime and want to place their blood on the Iron Throne. Divided into the Blacks and the Greens, the former are represented by Viserys' decreed heir, Rhaenyra, while the latter are represented by the late king's male heir, Aegon II.
The Dance of the Dragons is arguably the deadliest civil war in Game of Thrones lore. It marks the elimination of the key members of House Targaryen and their dragons and the nobles in the realm. Because of an overwhelming death toll, the victory of the monarch who sits on the Iron Throne and his allies who run the Kingdoms for him is tantamount to defeat. Here are the characters that survive the Dance of the Dragons in lore, and are expected to live until the end of House of the Dragon.
House Of The Dragon: Every Dragon That Dies In The Storming Of The Dragonpit
Given its importance, the Storming of the Dragonpit will make it to House of the Dragon's future. But, which dragons die in the Dragonpit?
Cregan Stark
The Lord of Winterfell, Cregan Stark, is the most formidable person in the Dance. He sides with the Blacks and fights for Rhaenyra in the civil war. Cregan is merely thirteen when Lord Rickon passes away. Winterfell comes under the regency of Rickon's younger brother, Bennard, who is unwilling to relinquish control once his nephew comes of age.
Cregan takes his ancestral seat in 126 AC by incarcerating Uncle Bennard and his three cousins. He lives through the Dance, fights valiantly for Rhaenyra, and is dubbed the Wolf of the North. Tom Taylor's Cregan features alongside Jacaerys Velaryon in the House of the Dragon Official Black Trailer.
How Does Cregan Stark Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
After declaring for the Blacks, Cregan dispatches the first host of Northmen under the Lord of Barrowton, Roderick Dustin's command. Dubbed the Winter Wolves, they fight in the Riverlands but lose the First Battle of Tumbleton.
Cregan is at Winterfell when Rhaenyra flees King's Landing in the wake of the Storming of the Dragonpit. Most dragons and key players, including Rhaenyra, perish in the Dance. Cregan marches south with a second host to fight in the name of his Queen. In the meantime, Aegon II is poisoned and Borros Baratheon loses to the Rivermen in the Battle of the Kingsroad. Cregan briefly holds court as Hand to Rhaenyra and Daemon's son, the eleven-year-old, Prince Aegon, aka Aegon the Younger. Known as the Hour of the Wolf in lore, Cregan establishes order and dispenses justice during his stay. He takes Alysanne Blackwood as his betrothed and marches north within a fortnight after Aegon III's ascension.
Aegon The Younger
Rhaenyra and Daemon's sons, Aegon and Viserys, are shipped off to Pentos until the Blacks secure the capital, King's Landing. Aegon and Viserys' Pentoshi Cog, the Gay Abandon, encounters the Triarchy in the Gullet. Aegon escapes on Stormcloud while Viserys, who only has a dragon egg, is taken captive.
As the Dance proceeds, Aegon is forced to watch his half-uncle, King Aegon II, or Aegon the Elder, feed Rhaenyra to his dragon, Sunfyre. The war's trauma continues to haunt him until the end of his life.
How Does Aegon The Younger Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
Rhaenyra names Aegon her cupbearer after she takes King's Landing. The duo can be best described as a paranoid mother and a joyless son. Aegon the Younger takes no part in the war but watches the Storming of the Dragonpit from atop Maegor's Holdfast. He survives because his half-uncle chooses to hold him hostage against the advice of Ser Alfred Broome. He remains in his uncle's captivity for half a year and inherits the Iron Throne upon the latter's assassination. Rhaenyra's loyalists, especially, Cregan, install Aegon the Younger on the throne in 131 AC, and he is wed to Aegon II's daughter, Jaehaera. Though this political marriage unites the factions of House Targaryen, it does not end well for Jaehaera.
Prince Viserys Targaryen
Viserys survives the encounter in the Gullet and falls into the custody of the wealthy House Rogare of Lys. He is also married to their daughter, Larra. In 134 AC, Alyn Velaryon retrieves him from Lys, and he reunites with his brother. King Aegon III was guilty of leaving Viserys behind, so this reunion brings him joy. Viserys is the only person he trusts at court.
How Does Prince Viserys Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
Viserys survives the Dance because he is spirited away in the middle of the war of succession. However, in the ensuing encounter, he is taken captive by a Tyroshi captain and brought before the Triarchy's admiral, Sharako Lohar. The First Magister of Lys, Bambarro Bazanne, takes Viserys' stewardship. But because Bazanne dies in debt, Viserys is passed into the care of House Rogare.
Lord Corlys Velaryon
Corlys Velaryon aka the Sea Snake, is one of Rhaenyra's greatest strengths in the Dance. In House of the Dragon season 1, episode 10 "The Black Queen," she remarks:
There's no port on the Narrow Sea that would dare to make an enemy of the Velaryon fleet.
Lord Corlys will become Rhaenyra's Hand after Rhaenys and Meleys' deaths at Rook's Rest. In the Official Black Trailer, he advises his Queen to "crush this beast at its head."
How Does Lord Corlys Velaryon Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
Lord Corlys loses his wife, Rhaenys, in the Battle at Rook's Rest and his legal grandsons, Lucerys at Shipbreaker Bay, Jacaerys in the Battle of the Gullet, and Joffrey in the Storming of the Dragonpit. After Rhaenyra takes the Iron Throne, Corlys presents a peace proposal to his Queen, which she rejects. Rhaenyra becomes more paranoid than ever in the wake of the betrayal of the Dragonseeds, Ulf and Hugh. The innocent Dragonseed and rumored Velaryon bastard, Addam, is saved from her ire by Corlys.
Corlys himself is imprisoned in the dungeons below the Red Keep and released only after Rhaenyra flees the city. While there are conflicting reports on who freed him, the Greens, under Alicent, offer to pardon him. Corlys, in return, demands pardons for those who fought on the other side, his granddaughter, Baela's release, and a political marriage between the Green and Black scion, Aegon the Younger, and Jaehaera. Once Cregan takes control of the Red Keep, Corlys and the other conspirators are arrested for Aegon II's poisoning. However, Lady Alysanne Blackwood requests Corlys' pardon and Cregan listens.
Lady Baela Targaryen
Prince Daemon and Laena Velaryon's daughter, Baela, rides Moondancer in the Dance. As seen in House of the Dragon, she lives with Queen Rhaenyra and King Consort, Daemon on Dragonstone. She is to be wed to Rhaenyra's heir to the Iron Throne, Prince Jacaerys.
How Does Lady Baela Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
After the Blacks capture King's Landing, Baela divides her time between Dragonstone and her grandparents' seat, Driftmark. Per lore, Baela doesn't participate much in the fighting, except after the Fall of Dragonstone in the latter half of 130 AC. Her combat with Aegon II's Sunfyre marks the death of Moondancer. She is imprisoned at Dragonstone and Aegon II has her brought out for execution after Sunfyre succumbs to his injuries from battling Moondancer. As Baela is Lord Corlys' granddaughter, Aegon II acts on the advice of his Maester and summons Lord Corlys' rumored grandson, Alyn of Hull (legitimized as a Velaryon) to swear fealty to him on Dragonstone. Baela is spirited away at Lord Larys Strong's orders, while Aegon II is poisoned.
Lady Rhaena Targaryen
Corlys' granddaughter, Rhaena, spends most of the Dance at the Vale of Arryn, as she and her half-brother, Prince Joffrey, are sent away in the middle of chaos. While Joffrey has Tyraxes, Rhaena carries three dragon eggs, one of which hatches into Morning.
How Does Lady Rhaena Survive The Dance Of The Dragons?
Rhaena Targaryen and Morning are away from the madness at Dragonstone and King's Landing. She is the safest in the impregnable Vale of Arryn. She sails from Gulltown to King's Landing with Lady Jeyne Arryn at the war's end. Her small dragon, Morning, is one of the last four dragons that survive the Dance.
House of the Dragon - season 2 premieres at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, June 16 on HBO.
House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is HBO's prequel series to Game of Thrones. Set hundreds of years earlier, the show follows the inner machinations and rivalries of the Targaryen royal family. The show was created by Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin, and stars Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Rhys Ifans, and Olivia Cooke.
House Of The Dragon Season 2 - Green Trailer Breakdown And Analysis
Aegon II is eager to go to war, and use his dragons against the Blacks, per House of the Dragon Season 2 Official Green Trailer.
