Game Of Thrones Made One Big Mistake With Daenerys’ Dragons (& House Of The Dragon Exposed It Further)
HBO’s Game of Thrones was infamous for book inaccuracies in its later seasons, and one regarding Daenerys’ dragons stands out in particular now that House of the Dragon has aired. Dragons are a prominent component of George R.R. Martin’s worldbuilding in the A Song of Ice & Fire books, and they’re a tremendous part of what made Game of Thrones such a massive cultural phenomenon. To this day, there’s still nothing like Dany’s dragons and the battles they were able to pull off in terms of scale on television.
Building toward the divisive Game of Thrones ending, it felt like each episode was detracting further and further from the source material. Not every change matters in and of itself, but they’re still worth examining, as the accumulation of changes was a considerable part of what led to such a divisive ending. With House of the Dragon now ongoing and changing aspects of the world the original series left out, it’s even more intriguing to break down the details.
Dragons continue to grow as they age in George R.R. Martin’s world, which is why Aegon the Conqueror’s Balerion was so massive.
Game Of Thrones Made Daenerys’ Dragons Too Big
Dany’s Dragons Are Still Very Young
Daenerys needed to grow her dragons and ride them to Westeros just as much as the White Walkers had to breach the Wall. These were two of the primary expectations for Game of Thrones, and expediting that process was a harmless tactic. However, it’s worth noting that her dragons in the books are significantly smaller, at least where we last left off. Daenerys rides Drogon for the first time at the end of A Dance with Dragons, just like she does in Game of Thrones season 5, but Drogon’s wings are described as being roughly twenty feet in the novel.
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Daenerys Targaryen believed she couldn’t have children in Game of Thrones, but the show left out A Song of Ice and Fire’s best explanation for why.
Typically, art of Drogon in this scene depicts the dragon as being roughly the size of a horse or a cow. Drogon is given more freedom than his brothers, and flight and feeding are natural ways that dragons grow in the A Song of Ice & Fire books. Some of the most enormous dragons in the Game of Thrones franchise are the wild ones who have never been confined to chains. While it makes sense he’d be bigger than them, he’s still significantly larger than his book counterpart. The following contains an unofficial but fairly accurate demonstration.
House Of The Dragon Does A Better Job With The Size Of The Dragons
HOTD’s Dragons Vary Significantly In Size
Dragons in the Game of Thrones universe grow as they age, which is demonstrated clearly by the size of dragons like Vhagar and Vermithor in House of the Dragon. Compared to Rhaenyra’s considerably younger dragon, Syrax, their size represents their age. Daenerys’ dragons were likely between 5–10 years old by the show’s ending, while Syrax has been alive for decades. Granted, the she-dragon has been in chains for a significant portion of her life, but Drogon would still probably be a fair bit smaller.
Game of Thrones
- Released
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May 15, 2012
- ESRB
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m
- Developer(s)
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Cyanide Studio
- Publisher(s)
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Atlus, Focus Home Interactive
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 3
