Back in episode 9 of House of the Dragon, Prince Aemond Targaryen ranted about how he was the one who was fit to rule the Seven Kingdoms instead of his brother because he actually did his duties, was a better swordsman, and was the rider of Vhagar. Meanwhile, although not a slouch, Sunfyre was King Aegon II’s dragon. In that regard, who between Vhagar and Sunfyre is bigger and stronger?
Vhagar is a lot bigger than Sunfyre, who wasn’t even one of the biggest dragons in House of the Dragon due to how relatively young he was. Still, Sunfyre was big enough to handle his own in battle and was bigger than the dragons of the Strong Boys. But he was no match for the bigger and stronger Vhagar.
While we haven’t seen Sunfyre a lot in House of the Dragon, we do know that he will be one of the most formidable dragons during the upcoming House of the Dragon, especially in the battles that Aegon II will participate. But we do know that Vhagar is on an entirely different level. That said, let’s look at what we know about Vhagar and Sunfyre.
Vhagar History And Size Explained
We all know for a fact that hardly any other dragon can come close to the legendary status of Vhagar, who lived through the Century of Blood and was already alive more than 50 years before Aegon’s conquest of Westeros. She was one of the three dragons that conquered the continent and was the personal mount of Queen Visenya Targaryen. However, at that time, Vhagar was the smallest of the three dragons that conquered Westeros, even though she was already quite big.
However, Meraxes died early during the Targaryen dynasty, and this meant that the second-largest dragon in the world was Vhagar. As Vhagar grew older, she was the only dragon that came close to Balerion the Black Dread’s size, as dragons never stop growing. Due to her massive size and innate strength, Vhagar was often called the Queen of All Dragons. And after Balerion died a natural death, Vhagar became the biggest dragon in the known world.
Throughout her history, Vhagar has had quite a number of riders. Of course, the first one was Visenya, who was Vhagar’s rider for around 70 years. It took a while for Vhagar to have another rider, as Prince Baelon eventually claimed her nearly 30 years after Visenya died. After Baelon was Laena, whose death allowed Prince Aemond to claim the massive dragon as his own mount.
As such, during the Dance of the Dragons, Aemond was happy enough that he was the rider of the world’s largest dragon, even though he may have lost an eye in his attempt to claim Vhagar several years back. In fact, even Otto Hightower said that claiming Vhagar was more than enough for the eye that Aemond had to sacrifice to acquire the Queen of All Dragons.
Vhagar and Aemond were two of the most important pieces that the Greens had during the Targaryen civil war, as Vhagar was already an army all on her own. And even burned the different settlements all over the Riverlands during the time when Princess Rhaenyra was occupying King’s Landing.
As big as Vhagar was, she met her match in the form of Caraxes, who may have been half her size but had a better dragonrider and was quite agile. Due to the agility of the smaller, nimbler, and leaner Caraxes, Daemon Targaryen defeated Aemond. But the battle ended up costing them their lives, as Vhagar and Caraxes died in the Battle Above the Gods Eye as well.
Sunfyre History And Size Explained
Although Sunfyre’s year of birth was never stated in Fire & Blood, it was mentioned in House of the Dragon that he bonded with Prince Aegon as an egg because he was his cradle-side companion. As such, when Sunfyre hatched from his egg, he immediately bonded with Aegon. As such, it can be estimated that Sunfyre was a little over 20 years old during the Dance of the Dragons.
Prior to the Targaryen civil war, Sunfyre saw little to no action. Even during the war, Sunfyre didn’t participate in a lot of fights but played important roles in the ones that the battles that he fought in.
Sunfyre was huge but not exactly big. He was big for a dragon of his size, as he was said to be bigger than Seasmoke, who was an older dragon. As such, Sunfyre was not a slouch for a dragon of his size, although he was smaller than older dragons like Caraxes, Meleys, and Syrax.
The most prominent thing about Sunfyre was his golden scales, as it was often said that he was the most beautiful dragon in history. That is why he was called Sunfyre the Golden. On top of that, it was also said that Sunfyre was capable of breathing golden flames.
Due to his capabilities, Sunfyre was a great asset in the ambush against Princess Rhaenys and Meleys. King Aegon II and Prince Aemond ambushed her during the siege on Rook’s Rest, and they were able to kill the fastest dragon in the world in that battle. However, this battle left Sunfyre significantly wounded, as he lost half of his wing.
The injuries that Sunfyre suffered at the hands of Meleys made it difficult for him to fly properly, even though the dragon made a full recovery. Still, Sunfyre was pretty strong as he was able to defeat the larger wild dragon called Grey Ghost in Dragonstone. After that, Sunfyre defeated Moondancer and Baela Targaryen in a fight that left King Aegon II’s dragon significantly wounded and unable to fly or fight anymore. Sunfyre died soon after the fight against the smaller Moondancer but not before he killed and devoured Princess Rhaenyra.
Vhagar vs. Sunfyre: Who Is Bigger (And Stronger)?
Even though Sunfyre was a formidable dragon that was able to fight the likes of Meleys, Grey Ghost, and Moondancer, the fact of the matter is that he was still a particularly young dragon that could not defeat Vhagar. Based on size estimates, Vhagar is probably at least three times bigger than Sunfyre.
Nevertheless, Sunfyre was still a formidable fighter that proved himself in all of the battles he participated in. But Vhagar was on an entirely different level in terms of size and strength, as only Caraxes and Meleys were able to match the large dragon’s prowess in a one-on-one battle.
