Daenerys

Biodata

Power Progression

Daenerys’s documented development concerns dragon bonds, dreams, and riding rather than named numerical ranks.

Background / History

Birth and escape from Dragonstone

Daenerys was born after her father Aerys’s death, during a violent summer storm on Dragonstone. The storm destroyed the royal fleet and tore stones from the castle’s battlements. Her mother, Queen Rhaella, died in childbirth; Viserys blamed Daenerys for that death 76 317.

Before Dragonstone fell, Ser Willem Darry and four companions carried Daenerys and Viserys to safety in Braavos. Daenerys had left her birthplace in swaddling clothes and retained no firsthand memories of it 153.

Years in exile

The house with the red door in Braavos, its lemon tree, and Ser Willem’s kindness became Daenerys’s strongest memories of home. After Willem died, the servants expelled the siblings. They subsequently wandered through Myr, Tyrosh, Qohor, Volantis, Lys, and eventually Pentos 76 77 152 204.

Viserys insisted that assassins pursued them, though Daenerys had never seen one herself. His ambition to reclaim the Iron Throne dominated their lives, and he beat her when angered. Unlike him, she chiefly wanted safety and a place to belong rather than a restored kingdom 25 76 77.

Appearance

Daenerys is repeatedly distinguished by her Valyrian features and exceptional beauty 24 353.

• Hair: Long and silver-gold; later described as falling to her waist 24 324.
• Eyes: Violet, frequently compared to amethysts 195 220.
• Complexion: Fair and delicate 195.
• Height and build: Initially petite from years of hardship. Better living conditions allow her to develop to a little over 1.7 metres, though she still appears small beside Gendry 122 195.
• Clothing: Frequently wears purple gowns that complement her eyes. Her wedding dress is black velvet, overlaid with silk and Myrish lace, with pearl dragons on its skirt 195 214 254.
• Later battlefield appearance: Wears black scale armor and adopts a ponytail while fighting during her pregnancy 361.

Personality

Initially shy and frightened, Daenerys draws courage from her identity as Stormborn and a descendant of Aegon the Conqueror. Viserys’s abuse leaves her with an instinctive fear of being struck, but she eventually refuses his demand for her dragon eggs despite that fear 25 76.

Her compassion survives her growing independence. She tries to restrain the guards confronting Viserys, recognizes the pressures behind his madness, and regrets not intervening before he fatally wounds Doreah. She acknowledges the dying woman as Viserys’s wife and gives both of them royal funeral honors 76 77.

Daenerys gradually rejects the inherited hatreds that shaped her childhood. Learning about Aerys and Robert complicates Viserys’s account of their family’s fall, and she chooses peace and prosperity over restoring the past through vengeance. She also shows physical determination, persevering on Dragonmont’s rough terrain and preferring horseback travel to a wheelhouse on campaign 83 154 205 253.

Abilities & Skills

Dragon Bonding and Handling

• Vhagar: Her principal bonded dragon and eventual mount. Vhagar returns to her after training and accompanies her in battle 158 195 298 361.
• Viserion: Attached to both Daenerys and Gendry rather than exclusively to one rider. Daenerys feeds, encourages, and trains him 195 202.
• Dragonfire commands: Uses Dracarys to direct the dragons during training and feeding 202 255 296.
• Limit: Balerion is affectionate toward her but obeys only Gendry’s commands 195.

Dragonriding and Aerial Combat

• Learns to ride Vhagar through supervised practice with Gendry 298.
• Carries Sansa as a passenger on the flight toward the Golden Tooth 299.
• Participates in the attack on Lannisport and later joins the defense against ice dragons at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea 304 306 361.
• Is initially held back from combat until her flying becomes sufficiently reliable; Gendry also gives her a follow-up role at Lannisport for safety 298 304.

Dragon Dreams

• Reports dreams in which flames burn her and leave her stronger and sturdier, as though reborn 202.
• The reported dreams do not establish a named power rank or demonstrate personal fire immunity 202.

Languages and Historical Knowledge

• Reads the High Valyrian inscription on Dragonkeeper, identifying its name and the conditions for awakening its power 284.
• Knows accounts of earlier Targaryen dragons and seeks books about dragons and the Dance of the Dragons 158.
• Recognizes historical connections between Westerosi places and her dynasty, including the origin of Weeping Town’s name 204.

Court Diplomacy and Correspondence

• Writes letters home for soldiers 77.
• Memorizes visiting nobles’ lands, titles, appearances, children, and accomplishments, using introductions from Gendry, Barristan, and Dacey 207.
• Studies how gifts, rewards, marriage alliances, and personal attention can support royal government 205.
• Invokes shared family history when welcoming renewed friendship with Dorne 327.

Horsemanship and Travel

• Rides Little Silver, a spirited silver-gray mare presented by Gendry’s Dothraki vassals 86 151.
• Chooses to ride with the army rather than rely heavily on its wheelhouse 253.
• Has extensive experience at sea from repeatedly crossing between the Free Cities during exile 147.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Queen Rhaella’s crown — A small golden crown decorated with three-headed dragons and ruby eyes. Gendry gives it to her at their betrothal; she later places it on Viserys for his funeral. Subsequent appearances again describe her wearing Rhaella’s crown 25 77 195 254.
• Dragon eggs — Black, green, and cream-and-gold eggs kept close to her in a cedar chest. She places all three on Viserys and Doreah’s funeral pyre, where they hatch 76 77.
• Little Silver — Her silver-gray riding mare 86 151.
• Hrakkar cloak — A white lion pelt from Drogo’s khalasar, with the lion’s head serving as a hood 151.
• Rune-covered scale armor — Black armor magically modified by Gendry using patterns copied from Dragonkeeper and other runes he knows 304 361.
• Vhagar’s saddle — A black saddle secured with Gendry’s assistance before her riding training 296.

Relationships

• Gendry — Guardian, betrothed, and later husband. His protection ends her wandering life, and she comes to regard him as her remaining family. Their marriage unites the dragon and storm royal bloodlines 25 199 214 215.
• Durran — Her child. During the Long Night, she hopes to return to the battlefield once he is older 361 381.
• Viserys Targaryen — Elder brother and former protector in exile, but also her abuser. She resists his attempt to seize her eggs yet mourns him and honors him with a crown after his death 25 76 77.
• Queen Rhaella — Mother, who died giving birth to her. Rhaella’s crown becomes one of Daenerys’s most cherished links to her lost family 25 76 77.
• Rhaegar Targaryen — Elder brother, known to her through others’ stories. She initially wishes to name the green dragon Rhaegal in his memory 50 78.
• Jon Snow Stark — Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark’s son, making him her nephew. She and Gendry accept his decision to identify as a Stark 220.
• Ser Willem Darry — Rescuer and childhood caretaker; one of her few happy memories of exile 50 152 153.
• Doreah — Viserys’s companion, whom Daenerys recognizes as his wife as she dies. Daenerys also acknowledges Doreah’s unborn child as her niece or nephew 77.
• Margaery Tyrell and Sansa Stark — Court companions who accompany her on campaign. Daenerys is particularly fond of Sansa and takes her flying on Vhagar 239 253 290 299.
• Dacey Mormont and Brienne of Tarth — Female guards whose independence Daenerys prefers to the manner of conventional court ladies 202 203 253.
• Melisandre — Magical protector whose help Daenerys accepts on the condition that she restrain her religious zeal 148.
• Maester Aemon — Elder Targaryen relative whom she visits at the Wall, sharing news of Viserys’s death and hearing the family’s history 340.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Betrothal to Gendry

Illyrio brings Daenerys and Viserys to meet Gendry in Myr. Viserys wants to exchange her marriage for an army, while Daenerys pleads to go home. Gendry changes the arrangement so that he will act as her guardian until she comes of age 24 25.

In private, Gendry gives her Rhaella’s crown and reveals that he is Robert’s abandoned bastard. Rather than rejecting him as the Usurper’s son, Daenerys accepts their shared experience of homelessness and offers him a home 25.

Viserys’s Death and the Dragons’ Return

While Gendry fights the Dothraki, Viserys confronts Daenerys and demands her eggs to purchase ships and soldiers. She refuses. The confrontation escalates: he fatally stabs Doreah, is wounded by an Unsullied crossbow bolt, and burns to death while attempting to use a brazier against Daenerys 76 77.

Daenerys crowns Viserys and Doreah for their funeral and places the eggs on their pyre, one for each of the three dead, including Doreah’s unborn child. Gendry returns before the cremation, and the three dragons subsequently emerge 77.

She names the white-and-gold dragon Viserion despite Viserys’s cruelty. After Qyburn warns that Rhaegal would revive old wartime hatreds, she accepts Vhagar for the green dragon 78.

Return to Dragonstone

Daenerys returns joyfully to her birthplace with Gendry and the dragons. She explores Dragonmont, asks about the Cannibal and the dragons lost after the Dance, and recruits Janei as a guide 153 154.

Dragonstone becomes a base for raising and training the dragons. Daenerys participates in their care while repeatedly expressing her desire to ride into battle beside Gendry 158 195 202.

Marriage and Queenship

Returning toward King’s Landing, Daenerys describes herself as finally coming home. Privately, she resolves to pursue her own path toward peace and prosperity rather than fulfill Viserys’s vision of restoration through bloodshed 204 205.

She marries Gendry in a ceremony attended by their three circling dragons. Their union is presented as the foundation of a new House Targaryen and a reconciliation between the Targaryen and Baratheon royal lines. The couple then officiate at Mya Baratheon and Mychel Redfort’s wedding 214 215.

Western Campaign and Reconciliation

After mastering flight on Vhagar, Daenerys accompanies Gendry toward the Golden Tooth and participates in the aerial assault on Lannisport 298 299 304 306.

At Casterly Rock, she urges Jaime Lannister to face the future despite his role in her family’s downfall. In Dorne, she learns of the secret pact promising Arianne to Viserys, recognizes that the agreement died with her brother, and supports renewed friendship with House Martell 317 326 327.

Prophecy and the Long Night

Daenerys accompanies Gendry to meet the Ghost of High Heart, Maester Aemon, and the Three-Eyed Crow, hearing accounts of Summerhall, Targaryen prophecy, and the growing threat beyond the Wall 333 340 351.

At Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, she enters battle on Vhagar despite being pregnant. Originally kept in reserve, she joins Gendry and Viserion when ice dragons threaten the defenses, concentrating their combined dragonfire on the immediate enemy 361.

Later, with Durran still young, she hopes to resume fighting once he is older. She and Gendry discuss how the magical tide, winter, and the Night’s King sustain the Long Night, identifying King’s Landing and Harrenhal as likely targets 381.

Notable Quotes

“You are his queen. No one can take your place.”
— To the dying Doreah 77

“I am the Mother of Dragons, after all, Margaery.”
— On Vhagar’s appearance above the tournament stands 228

“Face the future, Ser Jaime Lannister.”
— At the fall of House Lannister 317