The Bond Between Dragon and Rider

The Bond Between Dragon and Rider is a consequential yet unknowable connection in the history of the Dance of the Dragons. Dragons are not horses to be mounted at will, and familiarity with a person does not necessarily make that person an acceptable rider. At the same time, the account leaves open whether a dragon can sense a rider’s presence or share a rider’s loyalties, making the bond a source of both power and uncertainty.

Familiarity and the Limits of Control

Syrax belonged to the queen and had never known another rider. Although Prince Joffrey was familiar to her by sight and scent, that familiarity did not make him her rider. In his haste to escape, he climbed onto her without a saddle or whip, apparently hoping either to fly her into battle or cross the city to the Dragonpit and his own dragon, Tyraxes; he may also have intended to release the other dragons there. Syrax resisted the unfamiliar rider. The episode distinguishes recognition from acceptance, and underscores that a dragon cannot simply be controlled through human assumptions about its bond with a rider.

The Uncertain Loyalties of a Riderless Dragon

At Second Tumbleton, Seasmoke had a rider, Ser Addam Velaryon, while Vermithor and Tessarion fought amid the battle. Addam had come to demonstrate his loyalty by attacking the Two Betrayers and their dragons; when Vermithor turned against men who had joined him, Addam and Seasmoke entered the fight. Tessarion then descended and joined the struggle, but the account cannot establish whether the Blue Queen meant to help either combatant or was driven by bloodlust. It raises, without answering, whether a riderless dragon can distinguish friend from foe or whether the bond makes a dragon share its rider’s loves and hates. The dragons’ actions therefore do not provide clear evidence of allegiance: the bond remains a possible explanation, not a key that resolves every choice.

Sunfyre’s Return and the Limits of Inference

After disappearing from the historical record for more than half a year, Sunfyre reached Dragonstone, where King Aegon was concealed. The account offers two possible explanations: the wounded dragon may have been drawn back to the Dragonmont, where he hatched, or may have sensed Aegon across the sea and sought to rejoin his rider. Septon Eustace goes further, suggesting that Sunfyre sensed the king’s desperate need. None of these explanations is confirmed. By placing the dragon’s return beside the questions raised at Second Tumbleton, the narrative gives the bond emotional and political significance while preserving the boundary between observable action and inaccessible animal intention.