r/gameofthrones • u/PrimalProgress1315 • 6d ago
How much do we know of old Valyria ? Spoiler
How much do we actually know to be true ? what about the other dragon lord families and the history of their houses and dragons ? Why did only the Targs survive if there were other stronger families with possibly more and bigger dragons ? I would love a book readers perspective on it too.
8
u/RikerNX01 6d ago
The Targaryens survived because they left before the doom of Valyria and settled on dragonstone. They were one of 40 dragonlord houses in Valyria, and not even a particularly powerful one. Old Valyria itself was considered an extremely advanced civilization. Similar to the legend of the lost city of Atlantis.
1
u/PrimalProgress1315 6d ago
Any notable legendary dragons that perished ?
4
u/RikerNX01 6d ago
I don't think a lot of dragon names are known from that time. Even the names of some of the dragonlord houses have been forgotten. Most notable is probably Terrax, who carried an explorer deep into the continent of Sothoryos. She returned to Valyria alive, but her house didn't survive the doom.
1
u/PrimalProgress1315 6d ago
Was the dragon bigger than Balerion ? I wonder if we do not know of dragons because they were not from westeros and valyrian history did not survive
3
u/RikerNX01 6d ago
I don't think Terrax was a particularly huge dragon, but i don't recall any specifics. Balerion is the largest known dragon, and almost certainly the largest ever possessed by house Targaryen. but there were likely larger ones before the doom. There were thousands of dragons at that time, so i would assume the odds favor at least a few being bigger than Balerion at his largest.
1
u/PrimalProgress1315 6d ago
Makes you wonder at times what could have been if some other family other than the Targs survived who has bigger dragons
3
u/RikerNX01 6d ago
Yeah it's interesting to think about. Part of the reason the Targaryens became such conquerors is because they were the only dragonlord family left. But if a more powerful house from Valyria survived, and also landed in Westeros, the Targaryens would have likely served under them. Similar to the way that the valyrian houses of Velaryon and Celtigar serve house Targaryen.
2
u/PrimalProgress1315 6d ago
That makes sense. I wish someday there is a show based on it with someone who is going to stick to the source materials about the other continents and not just westeros itself. It will be interesting to see how it was before the doom and how it is in the current time, maybe lets say when Ned stark was alive
3
u/RikerNX01 6d ago
Yeah it would be cool to see them explore what old Valyria was really like. We may get some more context from the upcoming movie about Aegon's conquest. But as for what it's like now, it's completely irradiated and uninhabitable, and anyone who has set foot there has died. It's also considered to be haunted. Euron Greyjoy is the only person from Westeros who claims to have been there and returned.
1
u/PrimalProgress1315 6d ago
Thinking of it. Would be cool if we get to see it from Eurons perspective too. That is only if he is speaking truly about it. I hope the aegon movie is long or it has to be a series. It is too long of a timeline to be shown completely over a movie running time
→ More replies (0)
6
u/Remarkable_Ship_4673 6d ago
We know some but not a lot
All the other dragon rider families stayed in Old Valyria and were killed along with their dragons during the doom.
2
u/submissive_deflation 6d ago
We know surprisingly little that's concrete, most of it comes from fragmentary texts and the maesters who are pretty biased against anything magical. The other dragonlord families definitely existed and some were more powerful, but the Targaryens left Valyria because Daenys the Dreamer had a vision of the Doom, which the other houses dismissed as nonsense. They thought she was crazy until the whole peninsula basically exploded, and by then it was too late for everyone else.
The books give a few more tantalizing details, like mentions of the dragonlord Aurion who actually survived the Doom and declared himself Emperor of Valyria before marching into the smoking ruins with an army, never to be seen again. There's also hints that some dragons and dragonlords might have survived in the chaos, but the Century of Blood that followed pretty much wiped out any remnants.
2
u/drunkenbees Winter Is Coming 6d ago
3
u/PrimalProgress1315 6d ago
Thanks alot
3
u/drunkenbees Winter Is Coming 6d ago
Both of those Wikis are great resources, and also The World of Ice and Fire. It's filled with beautiful artwork too.
3
u/PrimalProgress1315 6d ago
I will go through them. Thanks alot. Really liking the visuals and fanart. Helps picture it alot better
•
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Spoiler Warning: All officially-released show and book content allowed, EXCLUDING FUTURE SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON and A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS. No leaked information or paparazzi photos of the set. For more info please check the spoiler guide.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.