House of the Dragon repeats the Game of Thrones mistake, but in the opposite way

Years after their television debut, the fire-breathing creatures from both shows remain the biggest unsolved mystery.

As Game of Thrones demonstrated and its prequel The House of the Dragon later confirmed, the Targaryens’ long history with dragons has always had its ups and downs, despite spending decades or even centuries allying against other powerful houses in Westeros.

Dragons’ habits and even just how they live and reproduce have always been a touchy subject for both series, and even George RR Martin’s books didn’t offer significant help here.


All of this led to an inevitable but logical series of errors that House of the Dragon somehow borrowed from Game of Thrones, based mainly on the latter’s incredible success among viewers and therefore believing that some minor inconsistencies would pass. unnoticed. Ironically, the prequel changed an important detail about the dragons, but still failed to offer an accurate picture of the fantastic creatures.

Following the premiere of House of the Dragon season 2, fans were quick to gather once again to speculate on the best and worst moments of the first episode. Obviously, the dragons were not left out, as many praised a completely new level of graphics that made the creatures look even more realistic than before, although others pointed out a different and really important detail, stating that some of the dragons that appear in the episode they looked ridiculous. little.

House of the Dragon repeats the Game of Thrones mistake, but in the opposite way - image 1

Most of those numerous comments mentioned that Rhaenyra’s dragon, Syrax, was supposed to be much larger than any other fire-breathing creature, but it’s a small thing here.

All the harsh criticism of the size of the dragons in the show’s second season is a fun déjà vu moment, reminiscent of how Game of Thrones once received criticism for the same thing, but back then the original show’s dragons were criticized for be too big.

Fan comments about Daenerys riding huge creatures actually make a lot of sense, as dragons in George RR Martin’s world also had a very rough and unstable history over the centuries.

In House of the Dragon, the creatures appear in more or less large numbers, although the fall of the Targaryen dynasty will also be followed by the dragon reproduction crisis. This is subtly addressed in Game of Thrones when it is made clear that Daenerys would be willing to put everything on the line to grow those three dragons initially hidden in the eggs.

House of the Dragon repeats the Game of Thrones mistake, but in the opposite way - image 2

The original show making its dragons gigantic is the same questionable moment as House of the Dragon’s creatures, which are actually supposed to be larger. Despite the impending breeding crisis that will soon devour the dragons, the latter are still in their prime, giving their owners a huge advantage in battles with their rivals.

The Game of Thrones dragons, however, are the first to appear since the start of that years-long crisis and therefore weren’t supposed to have grown in size so quickly anyway.