After reading Fire & Blood I again, one thing I noticed is that for the most part it was expected that the Targaryens would breed more dragons and return to the skies, especially because there were surviving dragons elsewhere in the realm. In this post I would like to look at these last few dragons and speculate heavily about what happens to them.

Fate of the Post-Dance Dragons

If interested: The Blood of Old Valyria III: The Last of the Dragons

After the dance there were four dragons at or near riding size:

There were four dragons still living at the start of his reign—Silverwing, Morning, Sheepstealer, and the Cannibal. Yet Aegon III will always be remembered as the Dragonbane, . -TWOIAF, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon III

That said there were numerous eggs and while the current king (Aegon III The Dragonbane) hated dragons (he watched his mother being eaten), the thought existed that more would hatch, etc. but we see things like the dragonpit almost immediately wanting it to be rebuilt, etc.

The Dragons

The Cannibal (Never ridden, born somewhere between ~114 BC and 34 AC)

Last Seen: 132 AC at the death of the Sea Snake (possibly)

As he was never ridden, its most likely he died of old age (at his youngest he would be 266 years old at this point which would beat the record held by the Black Dread (~210) although it could be argued that the attack in valyria/dragonpit aided in Balerion's demise.

So while its likely that he died of old age (while he may not have been alive pre Targ, its quite likely he was much older than being born in 34 AC imo so that would put his age at 300 or older.

That said, there are plenty of ties existing between The Cannibal and the island of Skagos.

If interested: Everything We Know About Skagos

My guess: Died of old age, somewhere near Dragonstone, etc. and we will find out about it in Fire & Blood II or GRRM will just leave it ambiguous on purpose.

Tinfoil:

If the Cannibal wasn't a "Targaryen" Dragon, then this quote could be read differently:

Viserys had told her that the last Targaryen dragons had died no more than a century and a half ago, during the reign of Aegon III, who was called the Dragonbane. -AGOT, Daenerys III

If interested: Pre-Targaryen Dragons in Westeros and Wild Dragons vs. Targaryen Dragons

Morning (Rhaena Targaryen, born in 129AC and died before 153AC)

She wasn't large enough to ride until 135 AC (potentially stunted by dragonpit). and died before 153 AC.

MORNING(Lady Rhaena): Too young for war, survived the Dance.

and:

During the first quarter of 135 AC, tow momentous events were the occasion of great joy throughout the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. On the third day of the third moon of that year, the people of King's Landing woke to a sight that had not been seen since the dark days of Dance: a dragon in the skies above the city. Lady Rhaena at the age of nineteen, was flying her dragon, Morning, for the first time. That first day she circled once around the city before returning to the Dragonpit, but every day thereafter she grew bolder and flew further

Only once did Rhaena land Morning inside the Red Keep, where Queen Daenaera Velaryon was delighted by the dragon, but King Aegon III again refused to go and see the dragon. Shortly thereafter, Rhaena traveled on the dragon's back to Dragonstone, where, according to Rhaena, she and her dragon would be more welcome.

Last Seen: Lady Rhaena wanted to ride Morning on Aegon III's progression. She wasn't allowed to and Aegon ended up not going anyway.

We don't get much info on even her rider after this. But as of now all we know is that Morning was likely dead by 153 AC and that after her failed attempt to ride morning on the progression she later married Garmund Hightower, the younger brother of Lord Hightower and they had six daughters.

My guess: Aegon III is named the Dragonbane for a reason, I think its quite likely he was involved in the death of Morning (and other dragons).

Sheepstealer (Nettles, born after 34AC)

Ridden by the (likely but not guaranteed) dragonseed Nettles, Sheepstealer was an ugly brown dragon that vanished after the war.

In the end, the brown dragon was brought to heel by the cunning and persistence of a “small brown girl” of six-and-ten, named Netty, who delivered him a freshly slaughtered sheep every morning, until Sheepstealer learned to accept and expect her. She was black-haired, brown-eyed, brown-skinned, skinny, foul-mouthed, filthy, and fearless … and the first and last rider of the dragon Sheepstealer.

and:

SHEEPSTEALER (Nettles): A wild dragon tamed by a dragonseed, vanished at war's end. -TWOIAF, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon II

Last Seen:

After being declared a traitor, Nettles and Sheepstealer were thought to have been seen on Cracklaw Point (all good dragon men there) and later the Mountains of the Moon. In 134 AC, Sheepstealer killed Robert Rowan and 15 of his men and wounded about 60 others before vanishing deeper into the mountains.

While not confirmed, this is likely Nettles/Sheepstealer:

Most of these clan names have some meaning, however obscure those meanings might be to us. The Black Ears take the ears of men they defeat in battle as trophies, we know. Amongst the Burned Men, a youth must give some part of his body to the fire to prove his courage before he can be deemed a man. This practice might have originated in the years after the Dance of the Dragons, some maesters believe, when an offshoot clan of the Painted Dogs were said to have worshipped a fire-witch in the mountains, sending their boys to bring her gifts and risk the flames of the dragon she commanded to prove their manhood. -TWOIAF: The Vale

My guess: Sheepstealer died of old age (it did make its lair in the dragonpit for a bit) and would be at least near the age the age of Balerion at this point.

If Nettles isn't a Dragonseed, plenty of other options come into play:

A Nettle is a Leaf by u/hollowaydivision

Nettles and R'hllor

Silverwing (Good Queen Alysanne and Ulf the Sot/White, born between 36 and 41AC)

After the Second Battle of Tumbleton, Silverwing killed 2 men who attempted to mount her, and Aegon II (previous rider of Sunfyre, and crippled himself) refused to go look for her.

SILVERWING (Ser Ulf the White): Good Queen Alysanne's dragon, mounted by a dragonseed and betrayer, survived him and the Dance both, but became wild and made her lair in an isle in Red Lake. -TWOIAF, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon II

Last Seen: She flew toward the Red Lake and made her lair, it should be noted that she was known to be there in the years after the Dance as during the planning for Aegon III's progress the made mention to avoid the area around the Red Lake due to Silverwing.

My guess: She did make a lair in the dragonpit at one point for a very short period which may have had some effect on her lifespan. But imo something has to happen in Fire & Blood II with Silverwing. If the last Targaryen dragon (although she could technically be considered wild now) was dead by 153 AC, that means that she would only have been a little over 100 years old at death.

I know there are a few tinfoil theories about House Crane/warging, but I tend to disagree.

The Last Dragon (N/A). After 135 AC, small stunted, 5 eggs, potentially poisoned by Aegon III

Not that Dunk had ever seen a dragon. The old man had, though. Dunk had heard the story half a hundred times, how Ser Arlan had been just a little boy when his grandfather had taken him to King's Landing, and how they'd seen the last dragon there the year before it died. She'd been a green female, small and stunted, her wings withered. None of her eggs had ever hatched. "Some say King Aegon poisoned her," the old man would tell. "The third Aegon that would be, not King Daeron's father, but the one they named Dragonbane, or Aegon the Unlucky. He was afraid of dragons, for he'd seen his uncle's beast devour his own mother. -The Hedge Knight

Last Seen: Died in 153 AC.

My guess: Poisoned by Aegon III and/or the maesters.

Laena Velaryon's "dragon" (N/A, 135AC) - firewyrm, Alyn Oakenfist.

The dragon the wriggled free from the egg was a monstrosity, a wingless wyrm, maggot-white and blind. Within moments of hatching, the creature turned upon the babe in her cradle and tore a bloody chunk from her arm. As Laena shrieked, Lord Oakenfist ripped the "dragon" off her and flung it to the floor and hacked it into pieces. -Fire & Blood I

This dragon seems really similar to a firewyrm (which is likely what attacked Aerea (Rhaella) and Balerion:

"Firewyrms. Some say they are akin to dragons, for wyrms breathe fire too. Instead of soaring through the sky, they bore through stone and soil. If the old tales can be believed, there were wyrms amongst the Fourteen Flames even before the dragons came. The young ones are no larger than that skinny arm of yours, but they can grow to monstrous size and have no love for men." -AFFC, Arya II

Last Seen: Killed by the Oakenfist.

My guess: Possible example of Maester intereference or sorcery to end the dragons.

Alys Rivers' "dragon" (?? , "seen" alive in 132AC).

Alys Rivers is supported to not only be pregnant with a dragon, but also in possession of a dragon after the Dance.

Alys sent a captured loyalist to Darry as a messenger the following day. The survivor claimed that he had been cursed by Alys so that he would die if anyone laughed at his story. He said Alys had instructed him that any man who approached Harrenhal without submitting to its occupants would die. The man also insisted that he had seen a dragon inside. Despite Damon's assurance that no one would laugh at the messenger's story, an onlooker did so. The messenger then choked to death in moments, with some saying they had seen the imprints of a woman's fingers on his throat. Lord Unwin Peake disbelieved Damon when he spoke of dragons and magic, and the regents concluded they would need to gather a larger force to recapture Harrenhal. Their plans were interrupted by Winter Fever in 133 AC, however.

If interested: The Witch Queen of Harrenhal: Alys Rivers

Last Seen: A man at arms returning from Harrenhal was killed via sorcery and reported she had a dragon.

My Guess: Alys Rivers is going to be a major plot point during the early portion of Fire & Blood II. While it is likely she is just using a glamour on the corpse of Caraxes (lying on the shore of the Gods Eye) as her dragon (lets see if Mel copies her).

Final Thoughts

Its quite possible that Morning, the Last Dragon, Silverwing and maybe others were killed from the maesters wanting the dragons gone, combined with the right king on the throne (Aegon III)

As I tried to convey earlier, sure the storming of the dragonpit killed numerous dragons but there didn't seem to be a worry that more would be coming. The end of the dragons wasn't the dance or the storming of the pit (although it helped) but the citadel, plotting, and a king terrified of dragons.

"Who do you think killed all the dragons the last time around? Gallant dragonslayers armed with swords?" He spat. "The world the Citadel is building has no place in it for sorcery or prophecy or glass candles, much less for dragons. -AFFC, Samwell V

It even caused a rift between Aegon III and his younger brother Viserys after he decreed that no dragon eggs be allowed in the Red Keep.

We will likely find out some of these fates in F&B (or potentially D&E) as F&B I ends at the end of Aegon III (Dragonbane)'s regency in 136 AC which is less than two decades before the death of the "last" dragon.

My guess is that the fates of some will never be given, others given out in Fire & Blood and the tiny possibility that a dragon (outside of the current 3) might be still alive.

TLDR: Speculation as to the fates of each "named" dragon that outlived the Dance.