Balerion Was the Largest Targaryen Dragon and He (Sort of) Had an Appearance on 'GOT'

We've seen Targaryens kill each other on House of the Dragon, and now, thanks to the war aptly called the Dance of Dragons, we will see dragons kill dragons in tons of fire and blood. But there are certainly some dragons that are better suited for war than others because of their size, namely Balerion. But what happened to Balerion on House of the Dragon?

Balerion's last rider was the late King Viserys. And on the show, viewers didn't see Vicerys do any riding before he got sick and slowly died. What some fans are a little shaky on are the details involving what happened to Balerion the dragon, and if he really was the largest known dragon in the Game of Thrones universe.

Balerion is probably best known for being ridden by Aegon the Conqueror at one point. This is the same conqueror whose armor King Aegon wears in Season 2 of House of the Dragon, though he fails to actually fill out the armor and he instead looks like a kid playing dress up more than an intimidating foe.

Viserys rode Ballerion when he was younger and before he became king. But the dragon died of old age before the events of House of the Dragon, and was said in the books to be more than 200 years old. His skull is shown, however, in the series premiere, surrounded by candles and kept on display. After Balerion died, Viserys didn't bond with another dragon to claim one.

Balerion is also responsible for the rubble of Harrenhal and for using his fire to forge the Iron Throne. Despite no longer being alive, and more of a legend than anything else, Balerion's impact on the stories and wars following his death is hard to deny.

In addition tot he multiple mentions of Balerion in Game of Thrones, he appeared multiple times when his skull was shown beneath the Red Keep. His skull was also used to test the Scorpian, a weapon that Cersei and Jaime's men used against Daenerys's dragons when she invaded Westeros.

In the Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon, we hear about a dragon named Cannibal, who, as the name suggests, has no issue eating other dragons and even dragon eggs, though it's unclear where he is right now in the show's timeline. Another unclaimed dragon is Sheepstealer, named for being fed sheep every morning. And he could very well be the dragon rumored to be in The Vale, and who Rhaena is likely to claim for herself.

Another wild and unclaimed dragon, Grey Ghost, is in Fire & Blood and might make it into the show too. However, he was never claimed, at least in the book, and he was eventually killed in the Dance of Dragons. It's still not clear if House of the Dragon will deter from that for the series.

Watch House of the Dragon on Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on Max.