[Book Spoilers] The Dragons

[It is known.]

I was impressed with the CGI even if they could've been a bit bigger. Most of the CGI has been spectacular for a TV show. I do wish that they'd made them more distinct from each other though. They were basically just the same dragon but with different colouring. Just a personal preference as in my head they look very different to one another. In my head: Drogon has a sort of solid neck frill around his head and he's obviously a bit beefier than the others. Viserion has much smaller horns and an almost beak-like snout, Rhaegal's much more serpent like and has super long horns and a much more pointed snout. Obviously unrealistic of me to expect the D+D to read my minds though :P

That was my thought when looking at the pictures Iheartseverus posted, they're basically identical but with different colours. Maybe as they get bigger they'll emphasise differences between them.

I always envisioned Drogon as being the biggest, with quite a solid build (like Drogo). Rhaegal in my mind was sort of similar to Drogon, but slimmer with a bit more slight and graceful build; and Viserion was very slender and quite 'snakey', I imagined him with a much narrower snout and a more delicate build than the other two. I suppose my ideas of how they looked was based on the men that they were named after, Drogo, Rhaegar and Viserys :)

[iheartseverus]

I'd guess the reason they made all the dragons the same 'breed' was to avoid having to create 'personality' differences for different breeds--like the Harry Potter dragons had. There was Norweigian Ridgeback, Hungarian Horntail, Chinese Something and I can't remember if there were others. Each had different characteristics and I think that for this show, there simply isn't time or space to develop all the characters' discussions and exposition that different breeds of dragons would entail.

[boojam]

I was surprised they were as small as they were, yes.

In the book only Drogon went with Dany, and seems George did not give his size exactly but got the impression he was about twice a big as these, which would make him still small.

I like Drogon blowing a steam smoke ring first, not sure about the book , it being a ring, but George made me laugh about the dragons learning by blowing steam.

[Impish]

I'm fairly confident the dragons being the same size (and conveniently absent for half the season...) were both cost-saving measures.

I suspect adding the whole theft storyline was deliberately done as a clever way to avoid showing them.

[boojam]

Have I missed something?

Why has, why didn't Dany give them their names? Seems to only call them 'my dragons'.

It seems implied she already has, but not once is one dragon name mentioned.

Not clear if there is dramatic narrative reason for this.

(Without checking, I am sure she (well George) has named them by this point in the story.)

[Prince of Dragonstone]

All I gotta say is the dragon CGI costs for the ADWD season is going to be INSANE.

[Prince of Dragonstone]

Have I missed something?

Why has, why didn't Dany give them their names? Seems to only call them 'my dragons'.

It seems implied she already has, but not once is one dragon name mentioned.

Not clear if there is dramatic narrative reason for this.

(Without checking, I am sure she (well George) has named them by this point in the story.)

I might be mistaken but I believe she called Drogon by his name during the scene when she first discovers "dracarys" triggers their flame-on! power.

[Which Tyler]

Presumably the reason they look the same, bar colouring, is simple cost; cut, paste and re-colour would be much cheaper than 3 seperate designs.

However, with CGI, the size out to be really, really easy and cheap to increase as the season goes on - you use the zoom button; it's not like they'd need a complete redesign to show them slightly larger.

That would, however, get in the way of the dragon-theft - to a degree at least.

I can buy into the theory that they've spent a lot of time in cages and enclosed spaces; so wouldn't grow - but just seems like self-justification, rather than though out theory.

the dire wolves have the same problem - if anything, they look smaller at the end of the season than early on.

[iheartseverus]

I can buy into the theory that they've spent a lot of time in cages and enclosed spaces; so wouldn't grow - but just seems like self-justification, rather than though out theory.

errrmmm, its not 'self-justification, rather than thought out theory.' Jeebus. :rolleyes: Its book canon. George R. R. Martin invented these dragons, their history, their etiology. Their rate of growth, or lack thereof, based upon whether they were allowed ro roam free or whether they were confined. Note: Dragons grow throughout their lives, but it is unknown how long they can live or how large they can grow. The largest and oldest Targaryen dragon, Balerion, lived about 200 years and could swallow a mammoth whole, but dragons raised in captivity are thought to be smaller than their wild brethren .

The last dragon was a stunted, sick and misshapen thing, and died young during the reign of King Aegon III, the Dragonbane.^[8] She had been a green female, small, stunted with withered wings. She laid a clutch of five eggs,^[9] which never hatched.^[10] It has been suggested by maesters that dragons were meant to be beneath the sky rather than cooped up in cages or cells in the Dragonpit, however massive.

You better contact the author and tell him how wrong he is, that he hasn't 'thought it out.' Whereas, you have.

[iheartseverus]

double post

[Harrad]

The dragons grow at a rate to support the books (and HBO). They have to be little when Dany is still weak. They get middle-sized when she begins to amass power. And, I'm just guessing here, they get humongous when she contends for the Iron Throne.

[boojam]

the dire wolves have the same problem - if anything, they look smaller at the end of the season than early on.

That was kind of odd, was it not?

The last shot of them looked CGI to me, and yet as you say they looked smaller, and it's not a matter of perspective.

Where is Ghost?

[boojam]

The dragons grow at a rate to support the books (and HBO). They have to be little when Dany is still weak. They get middle-sized when she begins to amass power. And, I'm just guessing here, they get humongous when she contends for the Iron Throne.

Says Book Spoiler here.

In ADwD Drogon gets big (not humongous) enough for Dany to ride.

However Dany's quest for the Iron Throne is side tracked for some mark-time 'ruling' , which I am still trying to figure out.

Seems, I remember , in the books, has nothing to do explicitly with Dany's powers, but the ability of the dragons to free range!

(Which causes Dany a problem.)

[Harrad]

Says Book Spoiler here.

In ADwD Drogon gets big (not humongous) enough for Dany to ride.

However Dany's quest for the Iron Throne is side tracked for some mark-time 'ruling' , which I am still trying to figure out.

Seems, I remember , in the books, has nothing to do explicitly with Dany's powers, but the ability of the dragons to free range!

(Which causes Dany a problem.)

The mark-time 'ruling' is so the dragons get even bigger. Taking over a couple of effete Eastern cities with mid-sized dragons is one thing. Taking down the contenders in Westeros, armies of knights, some with their own wildfire, is entirely different. Better to wait for the industrial strength dragons before going there.

[sennahoj]

The mark-time 'ruling' is so the dragons get even bigger. Taking over a couple of effete Eastern cities with mid-sized dragons is one thing. Taking down the contenders in Westeros, armies of knights, some with their own wildfire, is entirely different. Better to wait for the industrial strength dragons before going there.

I sincerely hope that Dany visits Valyria before going to Westeros. Maybe going there will boost their growth, who knows.

[Harrad]

I sincerely hope that Dany visits Valyria before going to Westeros. Maybe going there will boost their growth, who knows.

Does GRRM really want to re-institute a Targaryan monarchy? They were able to conquer the 7 Kingdoms 300 years ago with 3 grown dragons. Somehow I don't see that happening again. What will happen? I believe the magic beasts will cancel each other out and a democratically elected Nights-Watch-like government will be instituted, that will legislate sword control and legalize same-species marriage.

[sennahoj]

Does GRRM really want to re-institute a Targaryan monarchy? They were able to conquer the 7 Kingdoms 300 years ago with 3 grown dragons. Somehow I don't see that happening again. What will happen? I believe the magic beasts will cancel each other out and a democratically elected Nights-Watch-like government will be instituted, that will legislate sword control and legalize same-species marriage.

If GRRM intends an endgame against the Others, I don't see how Dany's bonsai dragons are supposed to help, so therefore the dragons will need to grow some. I'm not saying they'll rival Balerion but I expect them to be considerably larger than they are at the end of ADWD. The size of Draco in Dragonheart seems about right to me.

[Harrad]

If GRRM intends an endgame against the Others, I don't see how Dany's bonsai dragons are supposed to help, so therefore the dragons will need to grow some. I'm not saying they'll rival Balerion but I expect them to be considerably larger than they are at the end of ADWD. The size of Draco in Dragonheart seems about right to me.

I agree, they just wont be big enough for world domination, or they wont be used for that. Although as we know dragons dont kill kingdoms, people with dragons do.

[baxter]

I don't necessarily buy into the cage theory, remember, its hinted at now that the Maesters were killing off the dragons, they could have been stunting them in other ways. Plus I dont know how these dragons do it, but they had a limited population pool as well, which means its possible they were inbreeding themselves smaller.

[boojam]

Does GRRM really want to re-institute a Targaryan monarchy? They were able to conquer the 7 Kingdoms 300 years ago with 3 grown dragons. Somehow I don't see that happening again. What will happen? I believe the magic beasts will cancel each other out and a democratically elected Nights-Watch-like government will be instituted, that will legislate sword control and legalize same-species marriage.

By the end of ADwD all the dragons are 'free range', so they should get big as hell soon.

Drogon is , impression I got, a lot bigger than a horse, maybe as big as an elephant, in a dragon sort of way that is!

As for reconquest of Westeros, man! the 64,000 dollar question.

As of right now the south is so war torn it's not worth a bucket of warm spit.

The north is just about to go to hell!

If the Others break through the wall, they are not enough NW, Wildings (and there's a lot of them) Stannis's ragged army , north men, to really stop them.

I don't know where George is taking this.

The between the lines plot , seems to be, just me,... yes Dany and the two other mysterious heads with the dragons will ride into help. Tho I suppose it's going to take than dragons to throw the Others back.

So who the hell would even want a trashed out Westeros?!!

I would just love it if Dany comes out on top , institutes a parliamentary democracy , stays on as a happy benevolent figurehead monarch!

Banks, insurance salesmen... I would not put it past George!

I would for one be happy as a lark if this happened!