The dragons have been a big part of the game of thrones. The Drogon is male and the elder brother of Rhaegal and Viserion. The Dragon and Balerion did exist in two different eras but the Targaryen family.
In season seven of the game of thrones, Cersei Lannister stands in front of Balerion (the black dread). It gives the idea of how giant the dragon of Aegon, the conqueror, was.
After seeing the Balerion skull, many started comparing its size to the Drogon of Daenerys Targaryen. In this article, I have made a comparison between the sizes of the two dragons.
Drogon Vs Balerion Size
The dragon is much smaller in size than the Balerion. The wingspan of Drogon is about 20 feet.
The Balerion is 76 meters long, and that is monstrous. In this modern world, you can compare it with the Boeing 747.
Again, for better visualization, it’s two and a half longer than the blue whale. Currently, the blue whale is the largest mammal and animal in the world.
However, the comparison between the size of Drogon and Balerion is somewhat unfair. It’s because Drogon was only seven years while Balerion was two hundred years.
Drogon
It is named after Khal Drogo, the husband of Daenerys Targaryen. The dragon has black scales, teeth, blood, and flame. However, the flame has some red pits.
Other parts like the spinal plates, eyes, and horns are red. On-air, its wing produces a sound like a thunderclap.
Dragon has other brothers known as Rhaegal and Viserion.
The three were born the day the body of Khal Drogo was being burned. Daenerys went inside the flame with the three eggs.
Clash of Kings
During this time, Daenerys enters Qarth. The residents marvel at the sight of Daenerys and her three dragons. During her entry to the ancient city, Drogon is on Daenerys shoulder.
While in Qarth, she receives news of King Roberts Baratheon’s death. Drogon reacts to the news by removing a pale smoke that rises just in front of Daenerys face.
Again Daenerys goes to the house of the undying with Drogon. Drogon reacts to all Daenerys vision and even protects her by enabling her to escape the house. In the process, the Drogon somehow damages the place.
The dragon appears to be larger than a puppy. There is a time when Daenerys goes to acquire the unsullied army in Ataspor.
The dragon is part of the deal to pay for the unsullied entirely. After all, has been done and the unsullied are on her side, she orders the killing of good masters.
The good masters were the owners of the unsullied army. Drogon then returns to her queen Daenerys.
Dance with the Dragon
As the dragons grow, they become to look after. Drogon, for instance, attacks and kills Hazzea. Hazzea is a child to a man from the new territory under Daenerys.
After the incident, Daenerys orders the capturing and imprisonment of the dragons in a pit. However, this comes at a cost.
Rhaegal and Version are imprisoned, but Drogon manages to escape and disappears for some time. The reappearance of Drogon is bad news again.
He kills a boar and burns the arena. This causes tension among the citizen.
Dragon is attacked by Harghaz, an animal handler with a long spear.
He injures Drogon badly, but it manages to kill him. Daenerys comes to rescue her child and finds it with several injuries. She manages to climb on its back, and it takes her to the dragon stone.
Balerion
The Balerion was also known as the black dread. The dragon belonged to the house Targaryen.
During the conquest, Balerion was ridden by Aegon I Targaryen alongside his sisters Meraxes and Vhagar.
Other known riders of the dragon were prince Viserys, princess Aerea and King Maegor. Dragon Balerion died of old age, having lived for about two hundred years.
History
Origin
Balerion was born in Valyria. Its name is from an ancient god of the Valyrian. It was born together with the other five dragons.
Aenar brought them with him to the Dragonstone when he fled the fall of Valyria. Later, four dragons died, and Balerion was the last one to reach its prime.
Aegon the Conqueror
Lord Aegon Targaryen claimed Balerion. Later he married his two sisters Rhaenys and Visenya. Balerion was quite helpful in the various wars that Aegon was involved in.
The wars include that of the disputed land. He joined the wars after Tyrosh and Pentos approached him for a grand alliance.
They knew how much Balerion could be useful and help them get the victory. They could only have this excellent dragon support with Aegon on their side.
Aegon flew on Balerion to meet the prince of Pentos. After the meet up he flew to the disputed land and set ablaze the Volantine fleet.
After this success, Aegon turned his focus to the seven kingdoms. With the help of Balerion and other dragons, he was able to achieve this dream.
During his inauguration, he flew on Balerion as the onlooker cheered. The Balerion helped to make the iron throne. It did this by melting all the swords of fallen enemies.
Appearance
Balerion had a unique look. Its wings and fire were black. However, the fire had red swirls at times. At full power, the fire from Balerion could melt stone, steel, and many more.
Of all the Targaryen dragons, the Balerion was the largest. Its shadow could cover the whole town when it flew overhead. The dragon had big teeth and large jaws.
It could swallow whole aurochs and other big mammals. Balerion stopped growing in 93 AC. It became slugging and took time to take to the air.
The dragon had little strength that couldn’t allow it to fly from kings landing to the Dragonstone. The existence of the Balerion made the enemies even fear starting a rebellion.
Maegor
King was the younger son of King Aegon. He took over the throne after the death of his father.
Prince Maegor has coveted his father’s throne for a long time.
After the death of his father, he was not interested in any other dragons. He saw them as being unworthy. He always wished to ride the Balerion, and he actualized this when he rode Balerion to the Vale of Arryn.
Because of polygamous marriage, Maegor was exiled from his home to Pentos. He went with Balerion.
Immediately after King Aenys, I died, Maegor flew back to Westeros to take the Iron throne. He successfully became the king. Balerion did play a significant role in many war victories.
He also used it to kill his cousin, who was known as Prince Aegon. When he died, Balerion went back to the Dragonstone to reside.
Princess Aerea
Princess Aerea went for Balerion from the Dragonstone in 54 AC. After this, Prince Aerea and Balerion went into exile for more than one year.
Expeditions were sent to try and locate the young princess and the dragon. A reward was set for anyone who could give the whereabouts of.
All that came forward had unreliable information. The funny thing is that Balerion was the giant creature in the world at the time.
However, there was no sighting of the creature anywhere. Lack of sighting of Balerion meant that it was not in Westeros.
The return of Balerion to Kings landing was in 56 AC. On its return, it did land at the Red Keep courtyard. The princes did not even have enough energy to cling to the dragon.
Aerea was seriously ill and died after. The dragon also had wounds; some were healing while others were still fresh.
Speculations are that when Aerea took over Balerion, she could not make it bend to her will. Balerion then took her to the place he had been born, that’s in Valyria.
The dragons are free animals. Imprisoning and caging dragons can make them more dangerous. However, Balerion was the first dragon to be housed. He was put in the dragon pit and has guards known as dragon keepers.
Prince Viserys
He was the last Balerion rider. He did claim it from the dragon pit. During this time, the dragon was already so old. It was hard to rouse.
He struggled to get to the sky. It only flew in kings landing three times. Prince Viserys had dreamed of flying Balerion to the dragon stone, but he was sure it could not make it.
The dragon did not have enough energy. The death of Balerion was some years after being claimed by Prince Viserys. That’s in 94 AC.
Conclusion
Indeed, Drogon never stops growing. If it’s fed well, it can be a massive creature. On the contrary, Balerion was an ancient creature, and naturally, big plus grew regardless of food.
Again Balerion was much older compared to Drogon. Balerion lived two hundred years while Drogon was only seven years old.
Balerion received proper training and was hardened by the many wars it was a part of. It existed before doom.
