In a brand new blog post, Recreation of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin registers his disappointment with the Home Targaryen emblem on House of the Dragon. Specifically, that its three-headed dragon has 4 legs, as a substitute of his most popular two-legged depiction.
Within the publish, Martin argues a dragon’s wings would have seemingly advanced from its forelegs, stating “four-legged dragons exist solely in heraldry. No animal that has ever lived on Earth has six limbs. Birds have two legs and two wings, bats the identical, ditto pteranodons and different flying dinosaurs, and many others. ” He then presents the right two-legged model of the symbol subsequent to its incorrect four-legged model, including, “why would any Westerosi ever put 4 legs on a dragon, once they might have a look at the true factor and will [see] their limbs?” The publish concludes with the HBO-damning assertion, “Fantasy must be grounded. It isn’t merely a license to do something you want.”
After all, the apparent counter-argument right here is that no animal that ever lived on Earth has had three heads, both, however Martin catches himself, stating, “after all no dragon has three heads. That bit is solely symbolic, meant to mirror Aegon the Conqueror and his two sisters.”
Forgetting for a second {that a} three-headed dragon seemingly would want the additional legs to help itself (or at least King Ghidorah’s dummy thicc thighs), Martin presents an attention-grabbing argument—although I’m unsure it’s essentially the right one. Should a dragon at all times be reptilian?
Many bugs, after all, are six-legged animals with extra wings, which new analysis suggests might have evolved from gills. Notably, over 5,000 species of one thing referred to as a “dragonfly” which additionally matches the bodily description of its namesake. Hell, there’s even a “flying” lizard referred to as a Draco with an extendable membrane that permits it to glide distances of over 200 toes without delay. Martin can also be adamant his dragons are “creatures of the sky” that should “breathe fireplace,” but there’s vanishingly little oxygen the upper one goes. As bigger animals want extra of it for easy mobile respiration, it additionally strains credulity they’d dwell contemporaneously with people. Hatzegopteryx, the most important identified flying animal to have ever lived, did so at a time when there was 50% extra oxygen than our present ambiance. On this case, would it not be so tough to consider a dragon might be a “dwelling fossil” descendent of an undiscovered six-limbed ancestor?
Perhaps arguing about what number of legs a three-headed dragon would possess is a dialog higher left till after he finishes The Winds of Winter—and never a second earlier than.
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