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Throughout all the scenes when Daenerys has ridden a dragon, we only see her riding the same dragon which is Drogon,

Why does she always ride the same dragon?

Can't she ride the other dragons?

EDIT: If a drogon can only be ridden by one rider at a time, why did we see Jon Snow making bond with Drogon on a cliff in episode 5 of the 7th season?

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    I think that's a question for the writers of the show and/or the book to answer. But if we're being logical, given the dragons are her children, she probably has a favorite child :P In this case, it is Drogon.
    – Shreyas Tripathy
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 10:50
  • Drogon didn't bond with Jon, he just let him touch his face. Dany was still on Drogon's back and Drogon didn't kick her off him.
    – Aegon
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 11:02
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    @Aegon, yes but i still think that Drogon bonding with Jon has something to do with riding him.
    – Mourad
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 11:04
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    @Mourad Drogon allowing Jon to get close to him is to back up the "theory" of R+L=J. And to further give evidence if Jon is to ride Rhaegal later on though that is my opinion.
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 11:05
  • @Mourad That was just foreshadowing to show Dragons can sense his Targ blood. Rhaegel is the one Jon will bond with.
    – Aegon
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 11:06

4 Answers 4

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Maybe she can, but is is implied in the show and even more in the books that dragons form special bond with one human for life. Since dragons live longer it is usually for life of the human, then someone else may ride the dragon again. But it never works like rider changing the dragons or dragon changing riders. Aegon always rode Balerion, and his sisters had their own dragons. There was never mixing of who rides which dragon.

As for Daenerys, dragons love her as their mother. But riding connection was created with Drogon when he saved her from arena. I suppose she will ride only Drogon for as long as she lives.

I'm not sure, but I think in the books Daenerys often contemplates who could be other two riders in order to achive three-headed dragon symbolism. At one point she even thought of marrying both Daario and Jorah, since they are both in love with her and get it over with.

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  • Was the riding connection not formed earlier than the arena? I was under the impression that she formed the bond early on, like when she commanded the very young Drogon to burn her enemies, Unsullied masters and earlier.
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 10:55
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    @TheLethalCoder I don't recall if this happened in the show but the command dracarys was with what Dany trained all three from young age. The trio spat fire whenever she said those words or whenever someone else said those words (Reason why she chose high valyrian, so that no one would utter the command by mistake). That doesn't show the bond, just training. I think Marko is implying from Books. In Books the bond was indeed formed in the pit when Dany beat Drogon with whip and took flight
    – Aegon
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 10:57
  • @Aegon Ah okay I haven't read them all yet. And she does train them in the show, I believe, but when she commands them to attack it seems only Drogon responds. Though I may be remembering incorrectly.
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 10:58
  • @TheLethalCoder In Battle of Meereen (Show version) last season, All three responded to Dracarys and spat fire on Slavers' ships
    – Aegon
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 10:59
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    @Aegon: Yeah, that's why I said it wouldn't be cool for the show, dragon burning people for no reason. Probably for the viewers one burned child was already too much... you know, when Danny decides to lock up two dragons.
    – Marko Stanojevic
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 9:33
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A rider may only have one dragon at a time and a dragon may only have one rider at a time.

In the case of Dany she can only ride Drogon. If you look more closely at Viserion and Rhaegal she can't properly control them. This is evident in the scene on the cliff side when they are climbing around her and they snap at her.

The reason she has some form of control over them is that she is their mother and so has a bond with them. This bond is not strong enough to form a close enough attachment to be the rider though.

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Historically, Dragons only accept one rider. And no person can ride more than one dragon in the same time frame. In his histories Martin explains this explicitly. It is the reason why Aegon the Conqueror only ever rode one of his three dragons. His sister-wives each rode one of the others.

The exact reason why this is true is unknown. But it is also unknown why anyone can ride a dragon at all. "Scientifically" it might be explained by pheromones and the territorial nature of dragons. But, given the flavor of Martin's world, it probably has more to do with the mystical connection between the man and beast. We know that such mystical connections are possible from the mechanisms of the various wargs in the books and show.

As for why Jon was able to make friends with Drogon, that likely has to do with his parentage. It also may have been an unconscious manifestation of innate warg capabilities. But not being eaten by a dragon is not the same as riding it. Daenerys's other two dragons like her and are friendly towards her, but she cannot ride them.

So the million dollar question for Game of Thrones is who will ride Daenerys's other two dragons.

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    Did you watch the episode 6 of season 7?
    – Mourad
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 17:33
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    @Mourad, there technically still are 3 dragons on the show.
    – Timothy
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 11:46
  • I think we all know who one of those riders is going to be though :D
    – Tim B
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 13:03
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Your daughter's a beauty too. Those brown eyes, those lips, perfect Dornish beauty. I imagine she's your favourite. I know, I know we're not supposed to have favourites, but still, we're only human. We love whom we love.

-Cersei Lannister.

Drogon’s her Favorite for many reasons.

  • He’s bigger than Viserion and Rhaegal.
  • He’s named after Khal Drogo, her moon and stars.
  • He’s the feisty kid among them. Mothers love the most naughtiest kid in the lot.

enter image description here

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  • Some really awesome life advice here :)
    – pal4life
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 22:48
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    Favouritism has nothing to do with it. Have you read the other answers?
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 10:52

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