The dragons

Daenerys Targaryen's three dragons—Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion—are the living embodiment of her claim to power, hatched from stone eggs on a funeral pyre. Yet by the time of her reign in Meereen, these creatures of fire and blood have become a source of terror and a political liability, chained in a deep pit beneath the Great Pyramid, their confinement a stark symbol of the queen's impossible choices between mercy and control, freedom and safety.

Confinement and Deterioration

After the death of a child named Hazzea, allegedly killed by Drogon, Daenerys orders her dragons chained. Rhaegal and Viserion are imprisoned in a dark pit beneath the pyramid, their necks and feet bound by massive iron links. The air is hot and smells of sulfur and charred meat. Bones are scattered on the floor. The dragons have grown larger, but their confinement stunts them. Ser Barristan Selmy warns that chained dragons will grow weak, their fires may go out. Daenerys visits them, feeling the heat of their breath and seeing the desperation in their eyes. She realizes she has become a mother who lets her children rot in darkness.

The Wildness of Drogon

Drogon, the largest and most aggressive, refuses to be captured. He hunts far afield, killing sheep and, it is feared, a child. Attempts to chain him fail, leaving men burned and dead. He flies north across the Skahazadhan, returning only when he chooses. His freedom contrasts sharply with his siblings' captivity, and his bond with Daenerys remains the most volatile. In the fighting pits, Drogon descends, kills a boar and a would-be hero, and Daenerys mounts him, flying away from Meereen, leaving her queenship behind.

Consequences and Significance

The dragons' confinement is a direct consequence of Daenerys's attempt to rule Meereen peacefully. By chaining them, she hopes to appease the city's former slavers and prevent further deaths. Instead, she weakens her own power, alienates her most loyal followers, and creates a political crisis. The dragons become a symbol of her inner conflict: the liberator who must become a tyrant to maintain order, the mother who must imprison her children. Their eventual escape—Viserion and Rhaegal breaking free during Quentyn Martell's ill-fated attempt to steal them—leads to chaos, fire, and death, underscoring the theme that dragons cannot be tamed, only ridden or destroyed.