the Targaryens definitely the most unusual family that George RR Martin has ever created, whatever they are lust for powerhorrible white-blonde hair, a penchant for inbreeding, and a penchant for insanity. But what really makes them amazing is their ability to bond dragons. on House of the Dragonthey use giant creatures to ensure their rule in Westeros. on Game of Throneswe will see how the return of the dragons changes the balance of power once more. Incredibly, though, Martin wasn’t always sure he wanted dragons as part of his narrative.

In an interview with the Oxford Union (via Winter is coming; you can watch the full video on YouTube below), said Martin when he conceived the world as possible Game of Thrones—and the ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire saga-initially he had a different power in mind for the Targaryens. It was inspired by his interest in science fiction, his main focus in writing beyond diving into a highly imaginative world.

“The basic structure was there. You had Lannisters and Starks and you had Dany … and you had dragons,” he recalled. “Actually, it was a decision I struggled with because remember, I mostly write science fiction. And one of the first ideas I had was, ‘Well, what if dragons weren’t actually real?’ I have written several successful stories, science fiction stories, about people with psionic powers. You know, they’re telepaths, they’re empaths, they can do things.

“And I was like, what if this Targaryen family… you know, pyro people? They can put powers in their minds, and they have that power and they’re dealing with other people who don’t have that power.'”

And there are signs of the Targaryens having certain abilities; on House of the DragonHelaena and Daemon Targaryen both have prophetic dreams or visions of the future. No spoilers, but we know that too A Knight of the Seven Kingdomsthe current Westeros-set HBO series. But neither the page nor the screen gave us the Targaryens with the kind of X-Men magic that Martin first considered.

However, the “people on pyro” idea made it into early drafts that Martin showed to his friend, the late sci-fi and fantasy writer Phyllis Eisenstein. He convinces her that the creatures of the Targaryens must Granted dragons, not “pyro psychic dragons.”

Martin also spoke about this fatal intervention in a 2014 interview Rolling Stone. He didn’t mention the idea of ​​psychic powers there, but he said that he originally thought of leaving out all the fantasy elements and writing the story as War of the Roses historical fiction.

That idea evolved, he told Rolling Stone, because “I wanted to make it more unexpected, bring more twists and turns. The main question was the dragons: Do I include dragons? I knew I wanted the Targaryens to have their symbol of dragons, the Lannisters to have lions, the Starks to have wolves. Should these things be literal here? Should these things be literal here? Eisenstein—I dedicated the third book to him—and he said, ‘George, this is a fantasy—you’ve got to put dragons in.’ He convinced me, and it was the right decision. Now that I know this, I can’t imagine the book without the dragons.

You can watch new episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (just baby dragons on that one) Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max; third season of House of the Dragon (with many real dragons, thanks Phyllis Eisenstein) will also arrive later this year.

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