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In the first book (and the first season of the TV Show if I'm not mistaken), it is quite often mentioned that Rhaegar was the last Dragon.

Why do people not consider Daenerys (before she proved she was) and Viserys (before he died) as Dragons? They were legitimate Targaryens, right?

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    Perhaps being a legitimate Targaryen is not enough? Perhaps one has to be a ruling Targaryen? Or an acknowledged heir?
    – user8719
    Commented Feb 16, 2014 at 14:45

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You misremember. I just searched through my kindle edition of book 1-4, and there is really only a single mention of Rhaegar as "the last dragon", of Ser Jorah Mormont to Daenerys. However, this makes a big impression on Dany, and she remembers it several times.

So it's really only the opinion of one man, and he dismisses Viserys as "less than a shadow of a snake" because, well, Viserys. As for Dany, she is at that point just a young girl who's been sold off to a barbarian chieftain. Besides, Ser Jorah has feelings for her that wouldn't fit well with seeing her as a dragon, and that does become an issue later on.

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    In that case, "last" could be taken to mean "most recent", not "final".
    – Niall C.
    Commented Feb 16, 2014 at 15:11
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    @NiallC.: I don't think so. There is an earlier scene when Viserys calls himself "the last dragon", and the conversation between Dany and Ser Jorah starts with a reference to Viserys' threatening that Dany is "waking the dragon" when she makes him angry. It is this notion that Ser Jorah dismisses.
    – Michael Borgwardt
    Commented Feb 17, 2014 at 16:00
  • @MichaelBorgwardt: Even if Jorah was dismissing Vyserys' arrogant claim of being a dragon, that does not contradict the fact that Jorah also seemingly dismisses Dany as a dragon by calling Rhaegar the last dragon. If he means "the final dragon", then he is outright dismissing Dany's present and future. If he means "the most recent dragon", then Jorah is only dismissing Dany's present (she was meek then, not at al like a dragon), but not necessarily her future.
    – Flater
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 16:11
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    @Flater: I think that distinction amounts to hair splitting and reading too much into the remark in hindsight.
    – Michael Borgwardt
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 18:42
  • @MichaelBorgwardt: Niall's statement only referenced the possibility (so as to prevent people from thinking it only could mean "final", as was the case for me before I read the comment). You refuted that notion, and I think you were wrong to exclude the possibility. It's not important to distinguish between the two (in the context of the scene), but a possible distinction does exist. Discussing the implications of the distinction may be too pedantic, but that doesn't mean that we should explicitely argue that no distinction exists.
    – Flater
    Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 8:10
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In my opinion this naming convention depends on their actions, too. Rhaegar had done some impressive actions like winning a big Tourney, while Dany and Viserys never appeared in the public view by doing impressive actions.

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In my opinion being "a dragon" means you have the powers of the dragonblood (like immunity to heat). As none of the brothers had shown that trait prior to the sentence of Ser Jorah,it's believed that Rhaegar was the last.

At least it makes sense to me.

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Consider that Daenerys is immune to fire and heat: she did not get burned by the heated dragon egg whereas her servant (slave) has a nice dragon egg scale pattern on her hands after handling the egg; later, she isn't burned to a crisp on Khal Drogo's pyre, although in the books she loses all hair. One could surmise that in reality Daenerys is the last dragon.

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  • Welcome to SFF:SE. I recommend having a look at the tour for tips about the sort of answers we look for here.
    – Politank-Z
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 14:45
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    The question was wondering why, given the logic you presented, no one in-universe considers her the last dragon.
    – amflare
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 14:54

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