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Viserion's Fate On 'Game Of Thrones' Could End In Heartache

by Chrissy Bobic

If all of Daenerys’ dragons on Game of Thrones are named in tribute to the fallen men in her life, then Viserion, named for her brother Viserys, would be the most expendable, in a way. While Rhaegal is named for Rhaegar, who is more than likely Jon’s birth father, I can’t see him dying before Jon potentially gets to ride him, and Drogon (named after Khal Drogo) has already been through enough. So will Viserion die on Game of Thrones? Daenerys’ dragons might be in trouble if she does the unthinkable and flies north to go beyond The Wall.

If Dany's vision in the House of the Undying has any truth to it (which showed her making an appearance at The Wall), she may end up deciding to put her Iron Throne plans on hold to save Jon and his merry band of misfits who think they can just capture a White Walker and take it back to King’s Landing like it's no big deal. Before we think about how utterly illogical that plan even is, it’s important to consider what other defenses the Night King might have in case Daenerys decides to set her three dragons loose upon the army of the dead — thinking all she needs to do is say a few commands of "Dracarys" and, quite literally, burn them all. It’s not the worst plan, but she’s had too many wins recently. What if her dragons encounter a different kind of dragon and meet an icy fate?

Yes, believe it or not, there are such things as ice dragons, at least according to the lore talked about in the Game of Thrones books. Back in Season 1, Old Nan told Bran about giants and the White Walkers and though her stories were brushed off as old fables, there was obviously a lot of truth to them. In the books, she even mentions "cold as the breath of the ice dragon," and no it’s not just an expression. When it comes to Game of Thrones, you can’t assume that anything is just coincidence.

Especially since long before George R. R. Martin sat down to write A Game of Thrones, he wrote a book called The Ice Dragon. As more of a young adult read than anything else, The Ice Dragon is about a child born in one of the most brutal winters who eventually must tame and use the elusive ice dragon to save her world. I don’t see any ice dragons on Game of Thrones being used for good, but the fact that Martin was already talking about them before his biggest book series shows that they were already a large part of his thought process.

In the Game of Thrones books, ice dragons are described in detail by Maester Margate. In The World of Ice and Fire, he says:

Colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria... said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings through which the moon and stars can be glimpsed as they wheel across the sky.

So if they’re anywhere, the ice dragons on Game of Thrones could be beyond The Wall. Jon, The Hound, Gendry, and a few other strong warriors (also Davos) are on a mission to find just one White Walker to prove to Cersei that they exist and are the bigger threat right now. But since they’re likely going to find themselves in the middle of the hundreds of dead marching that Bran saw in his vision, they’re going to need a hand, Or, you know, three dragons.

There’s a good chance Daenerys will swoop in at the last minute with all three dragons this time. Only, the Night King could be ready and call upon an ice dragon to fight Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal. We’ve already seen Drogon get hurt during battle this season and while it wasn’t a deadly blow, it showed viewers that dragons can be hurt.

That could have been foreshadowing the possibility that one of Daenerys’ dragons might not make it to Season 8 of Game of Thrones. And according to the books, ice dragons are bad news. Instead of having fire breath that can burn people alive, ice dragons apparently have breath so cold it can freeze anyone on impact. It would definitely bring a whole new meaning to the fire and ice theme of Game of Thrones.

But how are ice dragons made on Game of Thrones? I think we can all guess that it would involve a dragon dying north of The Wall and coming back to "life" at the Night King’s command. Redditor Renmoney5762 posted their theory that when Jon inevitably meets the White Walkers in Episode 6, Daenerys will come to the rescue, but that in all of the fighting, she’ll finally lose one dragon. In this case, possibly Viserion. But because they’re north of The Wall, he’ll come back as an ice dragon (or ends up getting turned into one, if that's even possible).

Why Viserion specifically, you may ask? If each Targaryen is supposed to have a dragon to ride (Dany's being Drogon, named after Khal Drogo and Jon's being Rhaegal, named after his biological father), then that leaves Viserion out in the cold — possibly quite literally. It could make sense for the Night King to either target him or turn him into his very own ice dragon to ride.

Fans have been talking about the possibility of what would happen if a dragon died north of The Wall for a while now, and since we’ve gotten a season full of reunions and returns of beloved characters, the Game of Thrones showrunners might give in and give viewers an ice dragon, even if it sadly means that Viserion dies in the process.