Arrax is a dragon in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. During the Dance of the Dragons, he is one of the many dragons who supports the Blacks, those who support Rhaenyra Targaryen in seizing the Iron Throne from the Greens and King Aegon II Targaryen. Prince Lucerys Velaryon, a son of Rhaenyra, is Arrax's only rider.
Appearance[]
In published texts, there is no mentioning of Arrax's color. However, when artist Sam Hogg commissioned for the 2021 version of the A Song of Ice and Fire calendar, he asked George R.R. Martin's team for clarification. Hogg was told that Arrax was pearlescent white with golden eyes, and a golden chest. His dragonflame is yellow.
Biography[]
During the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, Rhaenyra Targaryen, by her husband Ser Leanor Velaryon, gave birth to her three eldest sons, Jacaerys (b. 114 AC), Lucerys (b. 115 AC), and Joffrey (b. 117 AC). However, the rival faction at court who supported Rhaenyra's stepmother Alicent Hightower and her children, spread the accusation that Rhaenyra's three sons are actually bastards fathered by Ser Harwin Strong.
In an effort to confirm that he considered Rhaenyra and her sons the true heirs to the throne, King Viserys decreed that a dragon egg would be put in the cradle of each of the boys, to bond with the dragons that hatched from them. Those who doubted the paternity of Rhaenyra's sons also doubted that the eggs would ever hatch. They were quickly disappointed when each of the eggs soon were able to hatch. The hatchlings that came out of the eggs, were named Vermax (bonded with Jacaerys), Arrax (bonded with Lucerys), and Tyraxes (bonded with Joffrey). The exact date each hatched is not known, but the last seems to have hatched by no later than about 120 AC.
Dance of the Dragons[]
At the start of the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, in which Queen Rhaenyra and her half brother, King Aegon II began fighting each other for the Iron Throne, Lucerys Velaryon ("Luke" for short) was thirteen years old, and his dragon Arrax was thriving and growing every year. During Rhaenyra's first black council on Dragonstone, Luke and his brother Jacaerys ("Jace" for short) volunteered to serve as her envoys to the lords of Westeros to raise support for her claim, and to show their legitimacy as Targaryens by riding on their dragons. Rhaenyra allowed this, but she first made her sons swear on The Seven-Pointed Star that they would not take part in any fighting. While Jace flew North as a messenger on Vermax to treat with Houses Stark and Arryn, Luke, as the younger son, was sent on a mission that was considered shorter and safer than his brother's, flying on Arrax as a messenger to Storm's End, where it was expected that Lord Borros Baratheon, the lord of Storm's End, would give him a warm welcome.
Unfortunately, when Luke and Arrax arrived at Storm's End before a gathering storm, his uncle Prince Aemond Targaryen, an emissary for his brother, King Aegon II, had already arrived on Vhagar, to acquire Borros' allegiance. Luke could not match Aemond's offer, and Borros rejected Rhaenyra's attempt at alliance. Before Luke could leave, he was challenged by Aemond, who insisted that Lucerys put out his own eye to repay him for the eye Aemond had lost in a fight with Luke years before. When Luke refused, telling him he came as an envoy, not a knight, an enraged Aemond demanded Luke's eye or his life. At this, Lord Borros intervened, not wanting the blood of envoys to be shed under his roof, and his guards escorted Luke back to the castle yard where Arrax waited amidst a terrible storm. When Borros's daughter Lady Maris taunted Aemond, asking him if Luke had removed his balls as well as his eye, Aemond was angered by this and he asked Borros's leave. Lord Borros told Aemond that he had no say about what he did while not underneath Borros's roof, and allowed him to depart.
Death[]
As Aemond mounted Vhagar and went after Luke, Arrax was struggling to stay aloft in the raging storm. Though Arrax was younger and swifter, he can outfly Aemond and Vhagar, but the stormy weather impeded him, and Vhagar was five times the size of her foe and is a battle-hardened veteran (much like Caraxes). The two dragons met above Shipbreaker Bay, and according to Archmaester Gyldayn, if there was a fight, it could not have lasted long. Below at Storm's End, watchers on the castle's walls saw distant blasts of flame, and then a shriek that was louder than the thunder. Then Arrax and Vhagar were locked together, as lightning crackled around them. In the end Arrax was killed by Vhagar and his broken body fell into the waters of Shipbreaker Bay along with Luke. The dragon's head and neck washed up beneath the cliffs below Storm's End three days later, though Luke's body was never found. Gyldayn notes that some claim that Vhagar snatched Lucerys off Arrax's back and swallowed him whole, and some have even claimed that the prince survived his fall and swam to safety, but lost all memory of who he was, spending the rest of his days as a simple-minded fisherman. However, more legitimate historians, such as Grand Maester Munkun, disregard this claim, stating that Luke died with his dragon.
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