Dragon Gate

The Dragon Gate is a gate of King’s Landing whose significance in the account of the Dance of the Dragons lies in a sharp reversal: it was first part of the city’s defensive perimeter, then the route by which Rhaenyra Targaryen fled, and finally the point whose commander admitted her enemies to the castle.

Position and Defensive Role

When the Shepherd’s followers marched on the Dragonpit, Rhaenyra ordered riders to the Old Gate and the Dragon Gate. Their orders were to disperse the approaching crowd, seize the Shepherd, and defend the royal dragons. With the city in turmoil, however, it was uncertain whether the riders reached their posts. The remaining loyal gold cloaks were too few to expect success, and Rhaenyra refused Prince Joffrey’s request to send more of their own knights out, insisting that the castle itself needed every sword.

The gate was commanded by Ser Garth the Harelip, captain of the gold cloaks stationed there. Its importance therefore extended beyond access through the city walls: the men at the Dragon Gate formed part of the force charged with protecting Rhaenyra’s seat of power as the city’s defenses and loyalties broke down.

Rhaenyra’s Departure

After the attack on the Dragonpit, the loss of her dragon and her son left Rhaenyra inconsolable. Her counselors concluded that King’s Landing could no longer be held, and she reluctantly agreed to leave at dawn. The Mud Gate was in enemy hands, while the ships along the river had been burned or sunk; with those routes unavailable, Rhaenyra and a small company slipped out through the Dragon Gate, intending to travel up the coast to Duskendale.

Her party included her last surviving son, Aegon Targaryen the Younger, the Manderly brothers, four surviving Queensguard, Balon Byrch, twenty gold cloaks, and four of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting. The departure made the Dragon Gate a way out of a collapsing city, but it did not secure the castle left behind.

Surrender and Aftermath

Rhaenyra had been gone less than half a day when Ser Perkin the Flea and his gutter knights appeared outside the gates, demanding the castle’s surrender. Although the garrison was outnumbered ten to one, it might still have resisted. Instead, Ser Garth struck Rhaenyra’s banners and opened the gates, trusting in the mercy of the approaching force.

That trust proved misplaced. Ser Perkin ordered Garth beheaded along with twenty other knights who remained loyal to the queen. The Dragon Gate thus marks the final collapse of the castle’s defense: Rhaenyra’s departure through it enabled her escape from the city, while its commander’s later decision to admit the enemy left the remaining royal loyalists exposed.