Why does the Targaryen sigil have four legs in House of the Dragon?

Dragons in Westeros have two legs, so why does the Targaryen dragon sigil in the new Game of Thrones prequel show have four? Explanations are coming.

HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon comes out next month, and the hype is building. With so much scrutiny on the series, fans are noticing discrepancies between it and the original show. For instance, some have noticed that, on Game of Thrones, the Targaryen dragon sigil had two legs, which is anatomically correct: dragons in Westeros have two legs, not four. But the sigil in House of the Dragon promotional material has four legs. What gives?

Well, to start, the sigil wasn’t actually consistent in Game of Thrones, as Entertainment Weekly points out. For a good portion of the series, Daenerys Targaryen didn’t wear the sigil much at all; remember that for awhile it was all she could do to muster up a band of followers — sewing banners could come later. In season 5, the two-legged dragon did feature on her armor and banners and such, but in season 6 and beyond we saw the four-legged version crop up to. It was on the sails of the ships Daenerys used to travel to Westeros, on the banners she hung over King’s Landing after she “liberated” it, and elsewhere.

“I will say every choice we made on this show, down to even smaller minutia than that [sigil], was made with a reason,” House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal told EW. “I would say stay tuned. But I also say that the sigil that you’re seeing in this show you did see in the original show, as well.”

"The truth of the matter is you think you’ve seen the Targaryen sigil a lot in the original Game of Thrones, but actually it’s not in Game of Thrones that much. You’ve seen it on books and Funko Pops and things like that. That was how far and high the Targaryen dynasty had fallen, that the sigil did not exist really anymore until Daenerys brought it back about. So we chose to go down a road that I think honored where Daenerys left us off versus where people think it all started. But I will say, stay tuned. Hopefully it will all make sense in due time."

House of the Dragon takes place some 200 years before Game of Thrones, back when the Targaryen dynasty is at its height. There will be tons of stuff bearing the Targaryen sigil right out of the gate. If Condal says they have a reason for using four legs instead of one, I believe him.

…although I have no idea what it could be. So far as I know, there aren’t any four-legged dragons in Westeros. Why would you put four legs on your sigil when you’ve only ever seen two-legged dragons? I guess we’ll find out when House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21.

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