These Dragons Can Turn the Tide in the Dance of the Dragons (SPOILERS)

This article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 5 of House of the Dragon.

Just over halfway through Season 2 and House of the Dragon viewers see Rhaenyra struggling to come up with a viable plan to attack her opponents. After Rhaenys fell at the Battle at Rook's Rest, the blacks are short on dragons to send into the fight, leaving her scrambling. As Jacaerys points out, though, there are multiple dragons available to her cause at Dragonstone — they just need riders.

Traditionally, only someone with a pure enough bloodline close to the Targaryens can become a dragon rider, or they'll face possible death should a dragon reject them. But, as Jacaerys says, "So say the histories — Velaryon histories, written to guild us in glory."

Vermithor and Silverwing are two of the biggest dragons currently resting without riders under Dragonstone, but what do we know about these two beasts? Let's break down how they could change the game for the blacks.

Vermithor is a dragon that is comparable in size to Vhagar, though it currently sits below Dragonstone without someone to ride on it. During the Season 1 finale for House of the Dragon, viewers saw Daemon sing to it, attempting to lull it into submission.

Unfortunately, viewers did not see how this turned out, though considering Daemon has not taken the dragon out for a ride yet, it's likely safe to say that he didn't manage to convince the dragon to obey him.

That said, Daemon managed to walk away from the encounter unscathed, suggesting that at the very least, Vermithor was not hostile to the prince. Vermithor was originally ridden by King Jaehaerys I, while Silverwing was led by his wife Queen Alysanne before their deaths.

The book Fire & Blood did not show anyone from Rhaenyra's side riding Vermithor, so it's unclear who will try to mount him — or if the producers will change the source material so someone is successful.

Silverwing is the other large dragon Jacaerys mentioned, though there are two more that sit below Dragonstone riderless. Seasmoke, Laenor's dragon, also currently does not have a rider after Rhaenyra's first husband fled Westeros and faked his death. The third dragon has not yet been named, though any number of these riderless dragons could turn the tides in favor of the blacks.

According to the books, Silverwing will take on a rider during the Dance of the Dragons — a man named Ulf White. It's not explained who his parents are, though it's assumed, given his surname, that he's an illegitimate child of a Targaryen. He cannot read or write, so it's not entirely clear yet just how he will be found and included as part of the Sowing of the Seeds, but he will be an integral part in the Dance of the Dragons.

House of the Dragon airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on HBO and Max.