Who was Riding the Third Dragon Which Left Dragonstone in the HOTD Finale?

The HOTD finale was filled to the brim with dragons, something that we all have been waiting for. After all, a wise man once said dreams did not make the Targaryens Kings, dragons did. Among many majestic and familiar dragons, there’s one dragon which many of you may have missed.

In the finale, Rhaenyra asks her sons Jace and Luke to fly to the North and Storm’s End respectively to ask for the support of House Stark and House Baratheon. In the next scene, we see Jace and Luke flying off to their respective destinations on their dragons.

However, there was a third dragon that followed them. Though there were a couple of long-shots that focused on this unnamed third dragon, the rider’s face was not revealed to us. But we’ve some guesses.

Dragons cannot be ridden by anyone and everyone. The dragon which left Dragonstone with Jace and Luke had a proper rider. From what I noticed, the rider was a child or a teenager at best. In that case, my best guess would be Joffrey Velaryon, Rhaenyra’s third son from Laenor.

Joffrey Velaryon rides a dragon named Tyraxes. Maybe Rhaenyra also wanted Joffrey to deliver a message to some other Lord. However, Joffrey is too young to go alone on such a mission.

In that case, maybe Joffrey was accompanying his elder brother, Jace to learn more about how such messages are delivered. Maybe he was feeling left out and wanted to be part of the action.

Apart from Joffrey, there isn’t anyone who would be old enough to ride a dragon among Rhaenyra’s children. Aegon III and Viserys are both babies and toddlers at best. I would say that there’s a fair chance of the rider being Baela or Rhaena, but from the short glimpse that we see of this rider, it is not a girl. Moreover, the rider had black hair, so I am ruling them out.

All arrows point at Joffrey. There’s almost no way that the rider could have been someone else, unless we missed something and random caretakes or knights can ride dragons. In that case, maybe someone was accompanying the princes on their mission. However, if that were to be the case, Luke would not have had such a terrible fate.

Another far-fetched theory could be that it was a spy from King’s Landing who was following Jace and Luke. Back in that age, there existed several dragons, May be with some training, even messengers or hired spies could ride dragons. Though if I am honest, this seems too absurd. I would still go with Joffrey.

Nevertheless, I am sure season 2 will have more to tell us in case the rider or his identity was of any significance.

About House Of The Dragon

House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.

Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.

Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.