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House of the Dragon: Lucerys Velaryon’s dragon Arrax explained

House of the Dragon: Dragons seem like unstoppable engines of war but the life of Arrax the personal dragon of Prince Lucerys Velaryon proves that's not tru

House of the Dragon: Lucerys Velaryon's dragon Arrax explained

Who is Arrax? Warning spoilers for House of the Dragon episode 10. One of the best things about the House of the Dragon is the titular winged lizards. These magical fire-breathing beasts come in all shapes and sizes from the colossal Balerion the Black Dread, to the vicious Caraxes, and the quick and powerful Meleys.

The most recent addition to the cast was Arrax, who belonged to Lucerys Velaryon. Yet poor Arrax didn’t get much time to shine before he had an unfortunate run-in with Vhagar, so we thought we’d break down the brief life of the show’s littlest dragon.

Who is Arrax?

Arrax was the personal mount of Lucerys Velaryon. As a younger dragon, Arrax was much smaller than those belonging to his uncles and brother. In the TV series, Arrax is a pearlescent white with red spines running up its back.

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Arrax’s early life

Arrax was hatched from an egg placed in Lucerys’ crib by King Viserys. It’s thought that the king did this to put to bed the rumours that Lucerys, and his brothers, were the bastard sons of Harwin Strong, although we all know how that worked out. Lucerys and Arrax had a strong bond, growing up together, and once the dragon was large enough, the pair would go out flying.

House of the Dragon: Lucerys Velaryon's dragon Arrax explained

Arrax during the Dance of the Dragons

Unfortunately, Lucerys and Arrax’s peaceful life came to an end when Viserys died. Otto Hightower and his supporters, the Greens, placed Aegon II Targaryen on the throne ahead of Viserys’ chosen heir Rhaenyra Targaryen.

This would ultimately result in a civil war called the Dance of the Dragons that would ruin the Targaryen family. Yet Lucerys would not live to see the war begin. While on a diplomatic mission to Storms End, Lucerys was attacked by his uncle Aemond who was riding the dragon Vhagar.

House of the Dragon: Lucerys Velaryon's dragon Arrax explained

Lucerys could have escaped the fray during the fight, but Arrax disobeyed the boy and angered Vhagar. The great she-dragon then disobeyed Aemond’s commands and swallowed Arrax and Lucerys whole (so we won’t be seeing him in House of the Dragon season 2). In the books, the dragon and his rider’s remains would wash up on the shores of Storms End days after the battle.

If you love Game of Thrones, check out our guide to the House of the Dragon cast, or if you want to know more about the key players in the Dance of the Dragons, we have guides to Daemon Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, King Viserys Targaryen, Otto Hightower, and the White Worm, three of the most important House of the Dragon characters.

Our sister site Wargamer also has a guide to the best Game of Thrones board games if you want to play this deadly political game for yourself.