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George RR Martin explains what makes HotD’s dragons so great

George RR Martin has had plenty of time on his hands in the last decade or so - enough time to become an expert on dragons - and he demands realism!

Vhagar in House of the Dragon

If there’s one thing you come to fantasy movies and series for – it’s dragons, let’s be honest. And if there’s one thing those dragons have to be – it’s realistic! George RR Martin has had years of not writing very much to think about the aerodynamics of dragons, and he’s very much prepared to body-shame your dragons if they aren’t up to snuff.

Martin is not interested in Puff the Magic Dragon, or Pete’s Dragon, or any of your namby-pamby cartoon dragons. He wants his dragons to be grounded, gritty, dirty and realistic – like the rest of his worlds which are filled with violence, betrayal, murder, and more. This certainly describes Vhagar – the new dragon that has caused a storm in Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon.

On the House of the Dragon season one Blu-ray (via GameReactor), Martin does some dragonsplaining; “You see some of these dragons in some of these shows, and they’ve got like, little bitty wings and they’re big fat things. They would never get off the ground. The aerial dynamics just don’t work. They have to have very large wings and a relatively slender kind of serpentine body, a long tail, a long neck. They’re more like pterodactyl dinosaurs.”

House of the Dragon fans will be excited to see more dragons, such as Caraxes, Sunfyre, Seasmoke, and Vhagar in the second season, as well as more family strife – hey everyone is related in Westeros – your enemies, your lovers, all one big unhappy family! Check out our Targaryen family tree to detangle all of that white hair and make things a lot clearer.

Martin would be proud of us here at TDF because we’ve become dragon experts – especially related to Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. So, we can answer all of your burning questions, such as: which dragon became a white walker? And who is bigger – Balerion or Smaug?

While we wait for more news on House of the Dragon season 2, and the next book from Martin (don’t hold your breath), check out our guide to how many seasons we think there will be.