George R.R. Martin holds the first dire wolf born in 10,000 years

The other day, author George R.R. Martin teased that something was going to happen either today or tomorrow. Immediately, his fans figured it could have something to do with The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire series, although he quickly shot that notion down. "I am so tired of having to issue denials every time some offhand comment of mine, most having nothing to do with WINDS,  somehow convinces half the internet that the book is imminent. It’s not. No."

Also yesterday, we learned the gob-smacking news that a company called Colossal Biosciences had whelped three new dire wolves, a species of large wolf that's been extinct for thousands of years. They've produced three dire wolves so far: brothers named Romulus and Remus and a younger sister named Khaleesi, which is one of the titles that Daenerys Targaryen goes by in A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin's book series, adapted by HBO as Game of Thrones, got a lot of people talking about dire wolves, so it's only appropriate that Colossal pay tribute in some way.

When I read these two pieces of news together, I thought: 'Oh, is the thing Martin is going to announce about the dire wolves, and the days just got mixed up?' It ends up yes. As Martin revealed in a new blog post, he was ready to tell the world about the revival of direwolves today or tomorrow, but then some outlet "jumped the gun," so he's trailing a bit behind.

However, he did debut this new photo of him holding Romulus or Remus (they're twins, it's hard to tell them apart), which we'll add to the collection of very cool photos surrounding this story:

The coolest photo to yet come out of this story is this picture of Romulus and Remus resting on the Iron Throne:

As it ends up, that particular Iron Throne is owned by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who won it in a bidding war last year for $1.49 million. Jackson was already investing in Colossal Biosciences and was the one who got Martin involved. "[L]et me first thank Peter Jackson, who phoned me up from New Zealand with a mysterious suggestion that I phone this guy named Ben Lamm, who had something huge he wanted to share with me," Martin wrote. "Peter had taken an oath of silence, so he could not share the secret with me, but I could hear the excitement in his voice, so I made the call. And damn, I am sure glad I did."

Ben Lamm is the CEO of Colossal Biosciences. "Whatever the reason, I have to say the rebirth of the direwolf has stirred me as no scientific news has since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon," Martin continued.

Beyond just being a very impressive feat, reviving the dire wolf in particular is significant for Martin, since he was initially inspired to write his Song of Ice and Fire when he thought up the idea of a family finding a bunch of direwolf pups in the summer snows. "Where did THAT come from? Why did it seize me so powerfully? I have no idea," Martin wrote. "But it grabbed hold of me so hard that I put the other novel aside and began to write A SONG OF ICE & FIRE. The direwolves were a huge part of it.  Without them, Westeros might not exist."

The new dire wolves are living on a 2,000-acre ecological enclosure in an undisclosed location, the better to protect their privacy. Also, I should say that there's some dispute over whether Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi are actually dire wolves as they existed thousands of years ago, or grey wolves that Colossal has genetically modified to kinda-sorta resemble dire wolves. Either way, everyone is imagining having their own version of Ghost by their side, so mission accomplished.

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