Battle of Dragonstone

### Outcome

**Baratheon-Targaryen victory*** Dragonstone castle is levelled in a wildfire explosion
* Viserion is destroyed for the final time
* The Night King is left stranded on Dragonstone for several days
* Baratheon forces successfully withdraw to King's Landing
* Euron Greyjoy and his Iron Fleet desert Cersei's cause and flee Westeros for the Free Cities

Factions| * House Baratheon
	+ House Seaworth
	+ House Tarth
	+ House Swann
* House Targaryen(late battle)
* Golden Company
* Alchemist's Guild

* White Walkers (late battle)
	+ Army of the Dead (late battle)

Leaders|  Lord Gendry Baratheon Ser Edric Storm Ser Davos Seaworth Ser Devan Seaworth Ser Brienne of Tarth Lord Gulian Swann Queen Daenerys Targaryen (late battle) |  King Euron Greyjoy

Casualties| **Light** | **Heavy**

**Moderate*** Viserion (final death)

The **Battle of Dragonstone** was a three-way naval skirmish, infantry landing, and dragon duel that took place on, around and above the castle of Dragonstone and the eponymous island in Blackwater Bay on which it was located, during the Great War. It lead Euron Greyjoy's forces to abandon Cersei Lannister's cause, and trapped the Night King on Dragonstone island for several days, buying the forces of the living much needed time to capture King's Landing and sure up its defences before the climatic Battle of King's Landing.

## History

### Prelude

Following the Fall of Winterfell, the forces of the living retreated southward down the Kingsroad to the Inn at the Crossroads, where they were met by reinforcements from House Tully and House Arryn. However, Daenerys Targaryen deemed that these new forces would not be sufficient, and decided to send Gendry Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, Brienne of Tarth, Edric Storm and Devan Seaworth further south to the Stormlands to raise an army of Baratheon-loyal troops.

Ravens were sent to the various storm lords ahead of their arrival at Storm's End, and thus a large army was already gathering when the group got there. After the last of his new forces arrived, Gendry ordered his men to board the former royal fleet of Stannis Baratheon, which had remained moored in Shipbreaker Bay following Stannis's death. Jon Snow and Daenerys planned to march on King's Landing, so the Baratheon fleet set sail for Blackwater Bay, hoping to link up with their allies at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush.

Guarding the entrance to Blackwater Bay stood the island of Dragonstone, apparently still under the control of Daenerys Targaryen's Unsullied and Dothraki. Gendry planned to stop at the island to relieve the garrison and bring the men along to King's Landing. Unbeknownst to Gendry however, the island had in fact been captured by Ironborn and Golden Company men under the leadership of Euron Greyjoy, who planned a sneak attack on any approaching fleet loyal to House Targaryen.

Meanwhile, Bran Stark was granted a vision of the Night King's current whereabouts. Upon informing Daenerys, she concluded that the Night King intended to destroy the Baratheon fleet with Viserion. Daenerys mounted Drogon and raced to intercept the Baratheon fleet before the Night King could.

### The battle

As the Baratheon fleet approached Dragonstone, all seemed normal. Men donned in Unsullied armour lined the battlements in the distance, while Targaryen banners hung from the castle walls. A smaller group of ships, led by Gendry and Edric, broke off from the main fleet, and prepared to land. Then, all of a sudden, the 'Unsullied' opened fire on Gendry's fleet with scorpions, and a massive fleet bearing the white kraken of Euron Greyjoy emerged from behind the island. After the initial shock, Gendry steeled himself, and ordered the landing to go ahead.

Several small boats approach made for landfall on Dragonstone's beaches, while the Baratheon ships engaged the Iron Fleet. After landing on the island, Baratheon troops began making their way to the castle itself, cutting through Greyjoy and Golden Company soldiers, many still adorned in their Unsullied disguises. Just as they began to breach the castle gates, Daenerys Targaryen arrived atop Drogon, burning away the Iron Fleet and offering a massive moral boost to the Baratheon forces on the ground.

However, the screech of a second dragon soon filled the air as the Night King attacked the dragon queen atop Viserion. The two dragons once again found themselves locked in a deadly duel, while Gendry continued his efforts to root out Euron Greyjoy in the castle below.

Elsewhere, Edric Storm came across a large cache of wildfire, being tended to by a group of alchemists. After indicating their intention to destroy the castle, Edric killed the pyromancers, although some of the wildfire was spilled out onto an open courtyard during the fight, but failed to ignite. Upon being reunited with Gendry, Edric told him of his encounter, and the duo began hatching a last ditch plan.

As the battle in the skies intensified, Euron fled the castle, followed soon after by Gendry and his forces. Eventually, Drogon finally got the upper hand on Viserion, badly ripping one of Viserion's wings and sending the ice dragon and it's rider careening into the castle below. However, before Daenerys could do much else, the Night King hurled an ice spear at Drogon, forcing Daenerys and Drogon to flee the scene.

As the Baratheon fleet slowly sailed away from Dragonstone, Gendry and Edric watched on as the Night King entered the open-to-the-elements Painted Table room, and began to raise the dead all around. At that moment, Gendry nodded to Edric, and Edric fired a flaming arrow into the castle. Seconds later, the castle was engulfed in a green fireball of wildfire, obliterating the centuries-old castle and incinerating every corpse and ship on the island.

To the horror of the onlookers, the Night King emerged from the explosion, angered, and completely unharmed. Defeated but determined, the Baratheon fleet continued on for King's Landing. Upon witnessing the true power of the White Walkers first-hand, Euron Greyjoy directed the remainder of his Iron Fleet to disengage and turn east, away from Westeros, leaving Cersei and the continent as a whole to it's fate.

### Aftermath

Despite surviving the explosion, the Night King remained trapped on Dragonstone for several days, until his White Walkers, having commandeered a ship, retrieved him and returned him to the mainland. The delayed return of the Night King ultimately proved crucial, as Cersei had refused to yield to Jon and Daenerys's forces (who were soon after joined by the Baratheon forces as planned) as they laid siege to King's Landing, thus forcing a direct confrontation with Lannister troops before the city was ultimately taken for a final stand against the Army of the Dead.

Euron Greyjoy remained in exile in the Free Cities for the next nine years, but eventually returned to Westeros during the War of the Narrow Sea.

## See also

* Battle at Dragonstone on Game of Thrones Wiki