House of the Dragon is off to a roaring start which has already taken viewers by storm, with fans sharing their excitable reactions and feeling eager for more.
And one feature of the show already standing out to those who have seen the premiere episode, is the depiction of the show’s dragons.
House of the Dragon begins during an era when House Targaryen is at its height – their dragons are stronger than ever, and greater in numbers.
Where the original series had three – Drogon, Rhaegal, Viserion, all belonging to Daenerys Targaryen – House of the Dragon is likely to feature at least nine.
Although we only see two in the first episode, Syrax and Caraxes, fans have already noticed some major changes.
One immediate difference is that the dragonriders have saddles – fans sometimes wondered how Daenerys managed to hold on while in flight, but the Targaryens of House of the Dragon will face no such problems.
By the time Game of Thrones begins, dragons haven’t existed for over a century – Westeros’ understanding of the species has dwindled.
And before Daenerys gives birth to Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal, there’s not a person living who has ever seen the winged beasts take flight.
The technology to make dragon-riding saddles was likely long forgotten by the time Daenerys came into the world, and she clearly preferred to board Drogon without one.
In addition to that, in one of House of the Dragon’s very first scenes it’s made clear that dragons aren’t exactly the cleanest or most perfumed of creatures.
As Princess Rhaenyra talks to her mother Aemma after flying with Syrax, the pregnant queen tells her daughter: ‘Take a bath, you stink of dragon.’
Later, Viserys’ can also sense that Rhaenyra has been riding Syrax from roughly three feet away – she breezes past him and dragon smell wafts over him.
Daenerys was sometimes seen having baths in Game of Thrones – usually accompanied by advisor Missandei – but there was no mention of it being to wash off the dragon smell.
In Westeros, dragons are animals like any other. They’re larger and deadlier, but they still eat and sleep and, presumably, smell quite bad.
Maybe in future episodes we will discover that dragons play fetch and get excited for daily ‘wingies’ (presumably the dragon version of ‘walkies’).
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