How about they make it so that if one's player profile in the game contains the word "ragnarok" then the tadpole is just a second late in activating during the opening cinematic of Act 1? Some people might dislike that a little bit... But I swear I would love it!
On a serious note, I wouldn't mind the dragon being activateable while it is around, but I don't think it should stick around to wipe out a low level party by default. That is overtuning the encounter. and frankly there's no reason why someone who was gifted with their very own oversized lizard-bird should feel the least bit interested in roasting a couple of rag-tag level 3 or 4 nobodies.
So if you want a shot at killing that dragon early on, you would have to start the fight by attacking the dragon. In that case it and the fellow on it stick around and you'll have to contend with a dragon and five giths.
