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Meet 'House of the Dragon’s Vermithor, a century-old dragon who likes Daemon’s singing, apparently
The dragon Vermithor hasn't had a rider for almost 50 years. Daemon, it seems, wants to change that.
SPOILER WARNING: This post contains mild spoilers for “The Black Queen,” the Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon, as well as what happens with Vermithor in Fire & Blood, the book by George R.R. Martin that the HBO show is based on.
A lot happens in the tenth and last episode of House of the Dragon, a season finale that had more than triple the viewers of the show’s debut, and that had more people tune in to an HBO show since the Game of Thrones series finale. One of those things that those millions of viewers saw (9.3 million, to be exact) is Daemon singing a song in High Valyerian in an apparent attempt to woo the dragon Vermithor, aka “The Bronze Fury.”
House of the Dragon doesn’t tell us much about Vermithor before we come face-to-face with the creature’s jagged teeth (which are, we might add, in desperate need of flossing). Before Daemon (Matt Smith) makes the journey to Dragonmount where Vermithor resides, he does tell us that Vermithor is one of the realm's currently riderless dragons.
But what else do we know about Vermithor? And what does Daemon singing to him possibly mean about who may ride Vermithor in the future?
Here’s what we know about Vermithor from Martin’s writing: the dragon’s first rider was King Viserys I’s (Paddy Considine) grandfather, King Jaehaerys I. Vermithor was Jaehaerys’ dragon for over 50 years before the king died. Vermithor — who is one of the largest dragon’s out there, with the exception of Vhagar, who is now ridden by the one-eyed Prince Aemond — went riderless after the king's death and throughout Viserys' reign.
Daemon obviously wants to get another rider from Rhaenyra’s camp on Vermithor, so that the dragon will help back Rhaenyra's claim to the throne. In Fire & Blood, a bastard named Hugh Hammer ultimately ended up riding him, and the two play a significant role in the upcoming Dance of Dragons, which we’ll see the beginning of in Season 2.
The High Valyerian lullaby that Daemon sings to Vermithor along with the intense eye-to-eye connection between the two in “The Black Queen” suggests, however, that in HBO's adaptation, Daemon may ride Vermithor instead. Can one Targaryen have control over two dragons? Will Hugh Hammer’s storyline in Martin’s book become melded into Daemon’s on the show? We’ll sadly have to wait awhile to find out, as Season 2 of the show doesn’t start filming until Summer 2023.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for fantasy adventure that involves no horrific birthing scenes, check out the entire Harry Potter film saga on Peacock.
