It was only a matter of time until Jon Snow rode a dragon. In Season Seven, Game of Thrones fans were teased with the possibility when Jon met Daenerys's dragons for the first time. The typically unfriendly creatures were unusually smitten with Jon on their first meeting, which seemed to hint that he had some sort of special connection with dragons.
Well, by the end of that season, we learn that he's actually a Targaryen, the last known dragonrider family. And the first episode of Game of Thrones Season Eight wasted no time in putting Jon on the back of a dragon.
It happens somewhat casually in the show. Daenerys teases Jon a little bit, and he hops on the back of her other remaining dragon, Rhaegal—which is fitting considering he is named after Jon's real father, Rhaegar Targaryen. Jon is a little awkward at first, trying to figure out where to hold on (a scene that kind of reminded me of Harry Potter's first broom riding scene in The Sorcerer's Stone).
This is very different to how it happens in the books. Dany takes a long time training her dragons with a whip before she has a bond with Drogon to be able to ride him. In fact, bonding with a dragon is key to the entire art of dragonriding, which died along with the last dragons nearly 300 years ago. As the Song of Ice and Fire Wiki explains:
To ride a dragon, a person has to bond with the dragon. Once the dragon and the rider have bonded, that dragon will not allow anyone else to mount it while its rider lives, no matter how familiar said person might be to the dragon.
It is generally believed that Valyrian heritage plays a part is being able to bond with a dragon; In the Valyrian Freehold, the dragonlord families frequently married brother to sister to keep the bloodline pure, and during the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon called upon Targaryen bastards and their descendants, the so-called "dragonseeds", to try and mount one of the six riderless dragons on Dragonstone. Regardless, men without Valyrian descent made their attempt as well. Nor is the possession of Valyrian blood (no matter how directly) a guarantee that bonding with a dragon will be successful. Dragons who have been ridden before and thus are more accustomed to the presence of men might be more willing to accept a new rider earlier than wild dragons who had grown to adulthood without having ever been ridden.
In the books, a character named Quentyn Martell actually tried to ride Viserion but was burned alive by Rhaegal in the process. That character wasn't in the show, but it gives you a good idea when someone not of Valyrian heritage attempts to bond with a dragon.
With that knowledge, it's pretty incredible that Jon is able to ride a dragon—especially before he learns of his true heritage. So what does this mean, besides giving Jon some serious firepower in the war to come? Well, it might be some of the evidence he needs to prove he's a Targaryen.
It might not be that easy, though. Among super nerds of this show, it's generally argued that much of Westeros's noble houses have some sort of Valyrian blood in them. And since infidelity and bastards are rampant in this land, there's also a small percentage of commoners who have some dragon blood in them.
So it's possible that even a non-Targaryen could ride a dragon.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
