George R.R. Martin had issues with the dragons on Game of Thrones

The cast and crew of House of the Dragon gathered the other night for a special screening of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, and talked to the press about the show. Showrunner Ryan Condal said that production on season 2 is set to begin “shortly,” which we already knew. I’m afraid we’ll be waiting awhile before seeing new episodes.

Also on hand was A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin. He also wrote Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based. Martin complimented the team for taking some of his ideas from that book and running with them. “In Fire and Blood, it stated that Queen Aemma Arryn dies in childbirth and the son dies [within the hour]. There is nothing about it being the most horrendous childbirth scene ever seen on TV. That’s all the work of [Condal] and his writers,” he said, referring to Aemma Arryn’s traumatic childbirth scene in the series premiere.

Overall, Martin lauded “the weird ass stuff” the team added to the show, raving about how “cool” he found it. The set seems like a fun place, too; apparently Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower) is the class clown of the cast. “Sadly I wasn’t there for any of this fun,” Martin lamented. “I was in Santa Fe working on the novel.” And there’s your obligatory mention of The Winds of Winter, the long-in-writing sixth book in the Song of Ice and Fire franchise. One of these days…

George R.R. Martin wasn’t on the House of the Dragon set because he was working on The Winds of Winter

Martin did critique one aspect of Game of Thrones, though: the dragons. “They were like all the same,” he said.

And indeed, Daenerys’ three dragons — Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion — did kind of look like color-swapped versions of each other. The team behind the prequel made it a point for all the dragons on House of the Dragon to be very distinct. “They had personality,” Martin said. “They came alive. It came as great satisfaction to me.”

Already, there are a lot more dragons on House of the Dragon than there were on Game of Thrones, and we’re just getting started. Condal said we will meet five more in season 2.

Who are the five dragons we will meet in House of the Dragon season 2?

Here are all the dragons we met in the first season of House of the Dragon:

• Syrax, Rhaenrya Targaryen’s dragon
• Caraxes, Daemon Targaryen’s dragon
• Seasmoke, Laenor Velaryon’s dragon (currently riderless after Laenor fled Dragonstone)
• Meleys, Rhaenys Targaryen’s dragon
• Vermax, Jacaerys Velaryon’s dragon
• Vhagar, the older and biggest dragon in the world and currently the mount of Aemond Targaryen
• Arrax, Lucerys Velaryon’s dragon (RIP)
• Vermithor, a riderless dragon visited by Daemon in the final episode

Those are the dragons that got some serious screen time in season 1. There were also a couple of flybys. For instance, when young Aemond Targaryen wandered into the Dragonpit in Episode 6, he was scared off by an unidentified beast. This may have been Dreamfyre, the mount of his sister Helaena. And when all the characters flew their dragons to Dragonstone for Laena Velaryon’s funeral in Episode 7, we may have caught a glimpse of Sunfyre, Aegon Targaryen’s dragon.

Once again, there are a lot of dragons in this story. Which five will we meet in season 2? Here are some likely candidates:

• We know that Daemon’s daughter Rhaena Targaryen doesn’t have a dragon, but her twin sister Baela does. We may meet her dragon Moondancer in season 2.
• Stormcloud is a young dragon bound to Aegon III Targaryen, one of Rhaenrya and Daemon’s sons.
• In the final episode of season 1, Daemon Targaryen mentions that there are several wild or riderless dragons living on Dragonstone. They’ll become important to the story later on. One of them is Silverwing, a dragon once ridden by Good Queen Alysanne, the wife of Jaehaerys I Targaryen, who was king before Viserys took over.
• Sheepstealer is another of these wild dragons. At one point, Rhaenrya’s Blacks will find themselves with more dragons than riders. They offer lands and knighthoods to anybody who can mount these riderless dragons and fight for the Blacks.
• Grey Ghost is yet another riderless dragon, although they mostly keep to themselves and don’t play a huge role in the story, so it’s possible the show will just leave them out. Dragons are expensive, after all.
• Of all the riderless dragons on Dragonstone, the Cannibal definitely has the coolest name. He got it because he tends to eat other dragons.
• We’ve met three of Alicent Hightower’s children by King Viserys: Aegon, Helaena and Aemond. But she has a fourth: Daeron, who’s away in Oldtown during the events of season 1. He’ll get introduced in season 2. We may also meet his dragon, Tessarion the Blue Queen.

There are also a few other small dragons mostly kept in the Dragonpit, including Morghul, Shrykos and Tyraxes. There’s also a dragon named Morning, although she probably won’t be born by the time season 2 is over.

As you can see, there are actually well over five dragons we have yet to meet! Which ones will appear in season 2? We’ll have to wait until 2024 to find out.

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h/t Deadline