Are the Targaryens immune to fire? The new fantasy series House of the Dragon takes its name from the family at the center of its story, the Targaryens. This dynasty of reprobates conquered the Seven Kingdoms over a century ago using the power of dragons, and they took the winged beasts as their personal sigil.
It makes sense no other family in Westeros shares such a powerful connection with dragons, and the Targaryen’s Valyrian blood does seem to contain a spark of magic that bonds them with the Game of Thrones dragons like Vhagar, Vermithor, Caraxes, and Meleys. As a result of this connection, the royal family have a few magical powers beyond bonding with dragons, including prophecy and innate resistance to heat, but are the Targaryens immune to fire?
Are Targaryens immune to fire?
No, Targaryens are not immune to fire. In the TV series House of the Dragon, we saw Laena Velaryon — who’s related to the royal family through her mother, Rhaenys Targaryen — take her own life using dragon fire. Similarly, Daenerys Targaryen’s brother Viserys was killed when Khal Drogo dumped a pot of molten gold over his head, so they’re clearly not immune to extreme heat either.
That said, it’s easy to understand why fans came to think the Targaryens are immune to fire. When Daenerys hatched her dragons, she was unaffected by the pyre the eggs were burning on, but in that instance, she was protected by the blood magic ritual she was accidentally performing.
We know in the latter series of Thrones, Daenerys survives another blaze when she murders the khals by locking them inside the Vaes Dothrak temple, but that seems to have been another incident of blood magic protection.
Don’t take our word for it, though. Take George RR Martin’s. “Lastly, some fans are reading too much into the scene in Game of Thrones where the dragons are born,” he wrote on a Game of Thrones website. “It was never the case that all Targaryens are immune to all fire at all times.”
If you can’t get enough of the Targaryen civil war, check out our guide to House of the Dragons season 2, or we have guides on some of the best House of the Dragon characters, including Daemon Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Otto Hightower, King Viserys Targaryen, Larys Strong, and Ser Criston Cole.
Could Game of Thrones season 9 happen? We’ve done some digging to see what’s next for Westeros and the Game of Thrones cast.