His wingspan would cast a shadow over entire towns as he flew overhead, his jaws large enough to swallow a mammoth whole. Balerion the Black Dread was the largest of the three dragons and a true sight to behold. His sister wives Visenya and Rhaenys rode Vhagar and Meraxes into battle, but the Conqueror rode another.

Aegon the Conqueror brought three dragons to Westeros, allowing him to dominate all but the Dornish in his war of Conquest. For the next two millennia, a bond grew between the dragons and their masters, so that by the time of Aegon's conquest, the nobility from Valyria were said to contain the blood of dragons within them. The lords of the Valyrian houses had discovered dragons over five thousand years ago and quickly learned to tame the great beasts. After finding the book from Old Valyria in the library of the Red Keep, Rhaegar spent many months studying and learning about the history and lore surrounding the dragons.