Tyraxes

Tyraxes
Tyraxes, by Rudolf Hima ©
Rider	Joffrey Velaryon
Species	Dragon
Gender	Male
Colors	pale violet scales dark purple horns purple flames
Hatched	In 117–120 AC
Died	In 130 AC, the Dragonpit, King's Landing
Books	The World of Ice & Fire (mentioned) Fire & Blood (mentioned) The Rise of the Dragon (mentioned) The Rogue Prince (mentioned) The Princess and the Queen (mentioned)
TV series	House of the Dragon: Season 2

Tyraxes was the dragon bound to Prince Joffrey Velaryon during the Dance of the Dragons.

Appearance

See also: Images of Tyraxes

A young and strong dragon, in 129 AC, Tyraxes was thriving and growing larger every year, but he was slightly smaller than Vermax and Arrax. By the time of the Dance of the Dragons, he had recently become able to fly long distances with his rider, but was not quite big enough for combat yet.

Tyraxes's coloring is not stated in the books. However, according to Rudolf Hima, the artist who depicted Tyraxes for the tenth anniversary of the publication of The World of Ice & Fire, George R. R. Martin describes Tyraxes as "a pale violet dragon with dark purple horn[s] with purple flames."

History

Tyraxes and Joffrey Velaryon, by Jota Saraiva

Dragon Egg

Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen's three eldest sons by her husband, Ser Laenor Velaryon, were Jacaerys (b. 114 AC), Lucerys (b. 115 AC), and Joffrey (b. 117 AC). The rival faction at court, who supported her stepmother Alicent Hightower and her children, spread the accusation that Rhaenyra's three sons were not really Laenor's, but bastards fathered by Ser Harwin Strong. Rhaenyra's father, King Viserys I, in an effort to confirm that he considered Rhaenyra and her sons the true heirs to the throne, 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, but they were quickly disappointed, as each of the eggs soon hatched in turn. The hatchlings 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.

The Dance of the Dragons

Tyraxes's death, as depicted in Game of Thrones: Histories & Lore.

The Dance of the Dragons began in 129 AC. Joffrey repeatedly begged his mother to ride to war on Tyraxes, but she forbade it on account of his youth. Later on during the war, Prince Jacaerys sent Joffrey and their cousin Rhaena of Pentos to the Vale of Arryn where they would be wards of Jeyne Arryn, the Lady of the Eyrie. Joffrey flew on Tyraxes with Rhaena from Dragonstone to Gulltown, then to the Eyrie.

In 130 AC, after Queen Rhaenyra took King's Landing from the greens, she felt secure enough to recall Joffrey, the new heir to the throne. A fleet set out from Gulltown with Joffrey and Tyraxes to escort them to the capital. The nearly thirteen-year-old Joffrey was eager to prove himself a warrior, but when he was told that Tyraxes was needed to help his mother hold the Red Keep in the event of an attack on the city, he swore solemnly to do so.

During their time in the city, Tyraxes made his lair in the Dragonpit. When the city rioted, Joffrey donned squire's armor and begged his mother to let him ride to the Dragonpit and mount Tyraxes to fight for her, but she yet again forbade him from leaving the castle out of her grief for his brothers' deaths. When the Shepherd and his savage flock began to march on the Dragonpit, Joffrey pleaded to ride forth with knights, anxious for Tyraxes, though Rhaenyra refused to believe that such rabble would be able to kill the dragons. Joffrey, desperate to reach Tyraxes, defied his mother and took off on her dragon, Syrax. In mid-flight, Syrax shrugged off her unfamiliar rider, and Joffrey fell to his death from two hundred feet. In the meanwhile at the Dragonpit, Tyraxes retreated back into his lair, as would-be dragonslayers rushed after him. Tyraxes killed so many people with his fire that soon the corpses blocked the front entrance to his lair. However, the Shepherd then directed the mob to break into the lair via the back entrance, and hundreds of people rushed in with swords and spears and axes. As Tyraxes turned to face them, his steel chains tangled, entrapping him and fatally limiting his movement. Half a dozen men and one woman later claimed to have dealt the dragon his mortal blow. After Tyraxes's death, the Shepherd's followers cut off the membranes of his wings and tore them into strips to make dragonskin cloaks.

Known dragonriders of Tyraxes

• Joffrey Velaryon - first and only rider