In a brand new blog post, Sport 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 well-liked two-legged depiction.
Within the put up, Martin argues a dragon’s wings would have possible 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 proper 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, after they might have a look at the actual factor and will [see] their limbs?” The put up concludes with the HBO-damning assertion, “Fantasy must be grounded. It’s not merely a license to do something you want.”
After all, the plain counter-argument right here is that no animal that ever lived on Earth has had three heads, both, however Martin catches himself, stating, “in fact no dragon has three heads. That bit is only symbolic, meant to replicate Aegon the Conqueror and his two sisters.”
Forgetting for a second {that a} three-headed dragon possible would want the additional legs to help itself (or at least King Ghidorah’s dummy thicc thighs), Martin presents an fascinating argument—although I’m undecided it’s essentially the proper one. Should a dragon all the time be reptilian?
Many bugs, in fact, 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 ft directly. Martin can be adamant his dragons are “creatures of the sky” that should “breathe hearth,” 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 reside contemporaneously with people. Hatzegopteryx, the biggest identified flying animal to have ever lived, did so at a time when there was 50% extra oxygen than our present environment. On this case, would it not be so troublesome to imagine a dragon could possibly be a “residing 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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