Only a die-hard and ardent GOT fan like me would know what it means to hear a Targaryen say ‘Dracarys’. Well, when Game Of Thrones: A Song Of Ice And Fire had its finale I had convinced myself to live a life without Westeros. But the makers had other plans, they announced a prequel to the iconic show, I’m glad it recently premiered on Disney Plus Hotstar for us to watch. This time it turns out for us to know Daenerys’ family a little better with House Of The Dragon. And it seems I am only growing fond of the Targaryen clan with every passing episode. However, what I have recently learned about these dragon riders has not just left me flabbergasted but also quite amused. Turns out that we will get to see 17 might dragons this season, all in different shapes, colours, and sizes.
Though Balerion: The Dread (the one who forged the iron throne) is my favourite, I would totally love to know more about them. From the book ‘Fire and Blood’, House Of The Dragon is set 200 years before the events that captivated us in Game of Thrones. The 10-episode series is a gripping saga that takes us deep into the extraordinary dynasty of dragons that dominated the skies of Westeros. The series explores the Targaryen family – the all-powerful dragon riders who are the seemingly invincible rulers of the seven kingdoms, and their animals are the ultimate symbols of their power, lethal weapons capable of destroying any enemy.
So far we have seen Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen’s Syrax, who swoops and dives like a golden eagle, to unpredictable Caraxes, ridden by Prince Daemon Targaryen. But going ahead on the show we will see the largest and the most powerful dragon Vhagar, who is 130 years old and the size of a 747 aircraft, among the 17 dragons. I can only imagine how visually stunning that would be.
Explaining how each dragon has a character, co-showrunner, Ryan Condal shares…
There is a humanity in the dragons, they form a bond with their riders, they have a connection with them, and each has a distinct personality. At the height of our story, there will be 17 dragons, and you need to be able to differentiate them and identify them by colour, silhouette, size, and age,
Co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik also recalls how there was a huge discussion on the colours of the Dragons…
I remember we had a big conversation with George (R. R. Martin) about the dragons where he said ‘please, please can we make the dragons colourful because that’s how I always imagined them, that you could see them from afar, up in the sky, and know exactly which dragon it is.’ And that’s exactly what we’ve tried to do. In our world, there are different kinds of dragons: there are workhorse dragons and more canine-like dragons, and there are more dinosaur-like dragons. And we came up with the idea that dragons continue growing until they die because they simply get too big. Our oldest dragon, Vhagar, is like a cantankerous old lady and she’s grumpy. So it was all about adding character to the dragons.
Even though the series is a prequel to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon has an entirely new story with new characters played by an impressive cast. Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, and Rhys Ifans bring life to several characters from Martin’s book. Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, Clare Kilner, Geeta Vasant Patel and Greg Yaitanes, the series has been executive produced by George R. R. Martin, Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik, along with Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz, Vince Gerardis, and Ron Schmidt, the show streams every Monday, 6:30 am IST on Disney Plus Hotstar.