George R.R. Martin established that each Targaryen dragonrider can control only one dragon, making Daenerys Targaryen appear to break the series’ rules after three dragons hatch from her eggs. However, the article argues that Daenerys is their mother rather than the rider of all three, with Drogon being her true mount. This distinction highlights how Martin uses dragons selectively within the world’s mythology.

Daenerys’s unusual bond results from her emergence from Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre, a supernatural event unlike any other in Targaryen history, alongside her loss of the ability to have human children. In the television series, Jon Snow eventually rides Rhaegal and the Night King controls Viserion, while the books suggest Daenerys still needs to understand Valyrian magic before fully controlling her dragons. Drogon is also symbolically important because he is said to resemble or possibly embody the legacy of Balerion the Black Dread.