Field of Fire

The Field of Fire was the most devastating battle of Aegon's Conquest, in which Aegon Targaryen and his sister Visenya and Rhaenys unleashed all three of their dragons against the combined armies of the Reach and the Westerlands. It remains the only time in the history of Westeros that three dragons were loosed together upon a battlefield.

The Battle

King Mern IX of House Gardener, lord of the Reach, joined his host to that of King Loren I Lannister of the Rock, fielding the largest army Aegon ever faced, said to number some fifty-five thousand men. Against them Aegon brought Balerion the Black Dread, while Visenya rode Vhagar and Rhaenys rode Meraxes.

Outcome

The dragonfire swept the field and broke the host. King Mern was burned to death along with all his line, ending House Gardener, the kings of the Reach. King Loren Lannister fled and later bent the knee, preserving his house. Roughly four thousand men died in the flames, and many more were burned. The Reach passed to House Tyrell, the Gardeners' former stewards.

Significance

The Field of Fire demonstrated the overwhelming power of dragons in open battle and convinced many lords that resistance to the Targaryens was futile. It is recounted as a defining moment of the Conquest in Fire & Blood.