Khal Drogo

From A Wiki of Ice and Fire

Khal Drogo was a rich and powerful Dothraki horselord (or khal). His khalasar had forty thousand warriors in addition to their women, children, and slaves. He married Daenerys Targaryen, promising to invade Westeros for her, but he died before the invasion could begin.

[edit] Physical Description

Drogo's skin was the color of copper, his hair and eyes were black, and he was very tall and graceful. He had a long, drooping mustache and wore his hair in a braid that came to his thighs, hung with tiny bells. His long braid had never been cut, signifying that he had never lost a fight.

[edit] History

Before the age of thirty, Drogo led the largest khalasar in the Dothraki Sea, with forty thousand warriors, and had never been defeated. He owned a palace in Vaes Dothrak and a nine-towered mansion in Pentos, given to him by the magisters of the city to appease him. While Drogo was in Pentos, Illyrio Mopatis arranged a marriage between him and Daenerys Targaryen, in return for providing Viserys Targaryen ten thousand men to retake the Iron Throne.

Drogo and Daenerys's marriage became a surprisingly happy one. Though Drogo cut a ferocious figure before his men, he was tender to Daenerys on their wedding night. He also gifted her with a magnificent silver mare. As Daenerys learned to speak Dothraki, Drogo proved a quick study learning the common tongue of Westeros, though he retained a barbarous accent. Drogo's relationship with Viserys was not as pleasant. He quickly became scornful of Viserys's pushy demeanor and frequent transgressions of Dothraki taboos. When Viserys drew a forbidden blade in Vaes Dothrak, demanding his crown, Drogo killed him by upending a pot of molten gold over his head.

At Vaes Dothrak, the wise women proclaimed that Drogo and Daenerys's unborn child would be the Stallion that Mounts the World, a prophecied conqueror in Dothraki legend. Drogo began to reconsider his promise to invade Westeros until an assassin attempted to kill Daenerys and claim Robert Baratheon's reward. Drogo reaffirmed his commitment to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. He pillaged several Lhazareen villages to acquire slaves to sell for ships. While in Lhazar, Drogo's khalasar encountered and defeated the khalasar of Khal Ogo. Drogo slew Ogo himself, but took a wound to the chest.

Though Drogo was unconcerned with his wound, Daenerys convinced him to let Mirri Maz Duur, a Lhazareen maegi she had rescued, make him a poultice. The poultice itched, and Drogo tore it off, causing the wound to fester. Drogo's condition deteriorated until he fell from his horse, a symbol to his khalasar that he could no longer lead. As he lingered near death, Daenerys convinced Mirri Maz Duur to use her magic to preserve his life. The maegi betrayed her, and the ritual only returned Drogo to a catatonic state, while costing the life of their unborn child. Daenerys smothered him with a pillow and built him a funeral pyre as his khalasar broke apart. She burned him on the pyre along with Mirri Maz Duur and entered the flames with her petrified dragon eggs. The flames magically traded life for life, killing the maegi, preserving Daenerys, and hatching the dragons.