What Dragon Is Daemon Singing to in House of the Dragon?

Episode 9 of the epic HBO show House of the Dragon aired this past Sunday, and the blowout of King Viserys’ death shook the realm to the core. Now, the preview for the season finale emerged, and in a single minute, it gave us so much to unpack. Namely – Daemon Targaryen’s High Valyrian singing to a dragon. The question is, which dragon was Daemon singing to?

Daemon is singing to Vermithor, aka the Bronze Fury, one of the largest dragons in existence. Vermithor remained dormant in his lair on Dragonstone since his rider, King Jahaerys, passed away (King Viserys’ predecessor).

It wasn’t revealed, however, who the rider of Vermithor will be since Daemon already has his dragon in Caraxes, aka the Blood Wyrm. So, without further ado, let’s dig into the source material, as well as the season finale preview, to see what we can expect from the last episode of this awesome first season of action (yes, I’m really hyped on the show).

What dragon is Daemon signing to in the season finale preview?

While it hasn’t been officially confirmed, all the sources suggest that Daemon is singing to Vermithor, a huge dragon that remained dormant in his lair on Dragonstone for decades, not allowing anyone to come near. Another theory is that the dragon was Cannibal, but you can botch that, as Cannibal was a mad, wild dragon who was never tamed.

So, who is Vermithor, aka the Bronze Fury? Well, Vermithor was the dragon of King Jahaerys, the predecessor of King Viserys, who gave the people the right to vote for who they wanted as his heir. The people chose Viserys over Princess Rhaenys, The Queen Who Never Was. 

Rhaenys showed them just how wrong they were and what an epic Queen she would have been in the final scenes of Episode 9, but that’s a whole other topic to discuss.

Anyways, after King Jahaerys passed away, Vermithor refused to take on a new rider. Instead, the huge, almost 100-year-old dragon remained riderless and spent his days dwelling in his lair on Dragonstone.

In the season finale preview, we see Daemon enter the Bronze Fury’s lair, singing to him in High Valyrian in an attempt to tame him. It makes sense that Daemon was the one to risk his life to get Vermithor for two reasons. 

One, he genuinely loves Rhaenyra and would do anything to help her get her birthright back. And, two, he’s King Jahaerys’ grandson, which only strengthens the connection between Daemon and Vermithor and explains why he’d be the one to go into the lair to try and tame the Bronze Fury again.

For those who don’t know, Vermithor is a majestic dragon, larger than Rhaenyra’s Syrax, Rhaenys’ Meleys, or even Daemon’s Caraxes. The only living dragon larger than Vermithor is Vhagar, the female dragon ridden by prince Aemond, who kind of stole her and lost an eye because of it.

That being said, Daemon’s signing to a new dragon had some fans wondering – what’s up with his former dragon, Caraxes?

Did Daemon change his dragon in House of the Dragon?

I’ll give you the straightest answer: No, Daemon did not change his dragon Caraxes. Instead, he summoned the courage to try and tame Vermithor for a new rider. 

Seeing that the Dance of the Dragons is brewing and the war between the Greens and the Blacks is inevitable, Daemon, Rhaenyra, and their followers will need all the dragons they can get if they want to defeat the Greens. Aemond having Vhagar on their side is huge – not just because of her size, but her power and battle experience.

As for Caraxes – don’t worry; the Blood Wyrm is still alive and kicking and will play a huge role – if not the biggest of all dragons – in the upcoming Dance. Well, at least if we’re following the source material. 

The show did a masterful job of staying true to George R. R. Martin’s work but implementing a few epic changes that only amplified the awesomeness of the show without changing too much of the Westeros history – like the survival of Laenor Velaryon or the epic scene with Princess Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys in Episode 9.

What does all this mean for the show?

We know that the Dance of the Dragons is coming. We know that Daemon risked his life to go and tame Vermithor – but we also know that he won’t be his rider, as Daemon already has Caraxes. So, what does all of this mean for the show?

WARNING: Potential spoilers for the season finale and the show House of the Dragon’s future.

If the show decides to follow the source material, Rhaenyra and Daemon will realize they need all the dragons they need. However, they’ll also realize that they have more dragons than dragon riders. Luckily for them, there are countless Targaryen bastards out there for them to find.

So, they develop a scheme – those who believe to be Targaryen bastards will get a chance to tame the riderless dragons – one of which was Vermithor -and if they succeed, they will claim their place as rightful Targaryens. If they don’t succeed… well, it’ll likely smell like barbecue.

In the books, Vermithor was successfully tamed by a bastard named Hugh Hammer, who rode the Bronze Fury’s back for the rest of the Dance. Whether the show will follow this notion from the source material or will Vermithor’s rider be changed is unknown.

Perhaps we’ll learn more this Sunday, October 23, when the House of the Dragon season finale premieres on HBO.