Why Doesn’t Viserys II Have a Dragon in Fire & Blood?
During the events of episode 8 of House of the Dragon, we met the sons of Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon, and they were named Aegon and Viserys. Of course, the reason why Aegon was later able to survive some of the events of his childhood was his dragon named Stormcloud. But the thing is that Viserys II wasn’t as lucky as Aegon was because he didn’t have a dragon. So, why doesn’t Viserys II have a dragon in the Fire & Blood book?
Viserys II didn’t have a dragon in Fire & Blood because his dragon egg never hatched. He was presented with an egg on his cradle, but this dragon egg never hatched until he reached his teenage years. When Baela’s daughter Laena’s egg hatched into a wyrm, Aegon III had Viserys’s egg confiscated.
Like what Lady Laena Velaryon told her daughter, Rhaena Targaryen, not all dragon eggs hatch. That was the case for her first egg, which never hatched. The same thing happened to Viserys II’s egg, as it never hatched as well. So, with that said, let’s talk more about why Viserys II never had a dragon throughout his entire lifetime.
Did Viserys II Have A Dragon?
It was often mentioned by King Viserys Targaryen that one of the roles of a king is to further his bloodline so that the Targaryen dynasty would live on for generations to come. That was what Princess Rhaenyra did when she had a lot of children throughout her two marriages. She had three children during her marriage with Ser Laenor Velaryon. And she ended up having two sons with Prince Daemon Targaryen.
In episode 8 of House of the Dragon, we got to meet Rhaenyra’s children with Daemon when she introduced them to King Viserys while he was lying on his bed. The first child was named Aegon. Meanwhile, the second boy was named Viserys, who was obviously named after his grandfather. And true to the nature of the Targaryen royal family, an egg was placed on the cradle of both of these boys so that they would have their own dragons that are instantly bonded with them upon the hatching of the eggs.
During the Dance of the Dragons, Aegon the Younger and Viserys were sent to Pentos by their older brother, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, to make sure that they were safe from the events that were happening in Westeros. However, their ship was ambushed by the Triarchy, and Aegon the Younger was able to escape on his dragon, Stormcloud. But Viserys wasn’t so lucky. So, did Viserys have a dragon as well?
The reason why Viserys wasn’t able to escape the attack by the Triarchy while he and his brother were on their way to Pentos was the fact that he didn’t have a dragon that he could ride. But the fact is that Prince Viserys still had a dragon egg at that time. He even hid the dragon egg when he pretended to be a simple ship’s boy. Still, his identity was discovered, as he was passed on from one family to another while he was living in Essos.
Why Didn’t Viserys II Have A Dragon?
As mentioned by Lady Laena Velaryon during the events of episode 6 of House of the Dragon, not all dragon eggs hatch. She said this during the time when her daughter, Rhaena, was holding her dragon egg by a fireplace in the hopes that it would hatch. But it never did, even though Rhaena got a new dragon egg later in her life and was able to make it hatch.
In the same way, Viserys didn’t have a dragon because his dragon egg never hatched. During the time when the Targaryen princes were still just babies, they were given dragon eggs to be placed by their cradles so that the dragons would instantly bond with their riders upon hatching from their eggs. But the problem was that Viserys’s egg just never hatched when he was still a baby.
Nevertheless, he continued to hold on to his dragon egg during his younger days, even though it never hatched. He still hoped that it would someday hatch and become a powerful dragon. But it never did hatch during his entire lifetime.
Unlike Rhaena, who acquired a new dragon egg, Viserys didn’t have the luxury to get a new dragon egg because he spent most of his childhood years in Essos. By the time he returned to Westeros, dragon eggs were already incredibly rare because only four adult dragons survived the Dance of the Dragons. This is also the same reason why he couldn’t just claim a dragon as his mount, as there were hardly any dragons in the world by the time he was rescued from Essos.
What Happened To Viserys II’s Dragon Egg?
As mentioned, Viserys II continued to hold on to his dragon egg during the time he was in Essos. He was still hoping that this dragon egg would hatch. When he was rescued from Essos in the middle of his brother King Aegon III’s rule, he brought his dragon egg with him back to Westeros.
Still, while he was in Westeros, the dragon egg never hatched. Things escalated when Baela Targaryen’s daughter, Laena Targaryen, had a dragon egg that hatched. However, what hatched was a wingless wyrm that had no eyes. This wyrm bit a chunk off of Laena’s arm, and Alyn Velaryon had to hack it to death due to the incident.
When word reached King Aegon III about what happened to Laena Velaryon’s dragon egg, he ordered Viserys’s dragon egg to be confiscated and sent to Dragonstone. Nobody knows what happened to the egg after that, but all we know is that it never hatched while it was on Dragonstone.
Viserys served as the Hand of the King for three kings, as he began by serving his own brother. He continued to serve the sons of his brother. But they never left heirs of their own. As such, when he became King Viserys II, he was the only Targaryen king to have lived through the Dance of the Dragons but never had an egg of his own.
