The third season of House of the Dragon has just begun and is pretty much this summer’s cinematic television event. And the new season started with fire and blood. Quite literally. All the dragons finally go to war. And Westeros is burning. What’s striking to behold is a catastrophe for the imagined fantasy world of Game of Thrones. Lucky us that there are no dragons in our world.
However, the third season couldn’t be more real, and the parallels to our world are haunting. In the first episode, the Battle of the Gullet takes place. It is a naval battle between ships and dragons. One dragon dies, and all ships are burnt. In the world of Westeros, the Gullet is a trading route, and when there is a blockade, as was the case before the battle, sooner rather than later, war will break out.
In our world, there is a blocked strait too, and fire and blood have already been spilled over it. The medieval politics and their consequences in Westeros are reminiscent of our world. The only difference is that we are stupid enough to elect horrific leaders into office. At least, in Westeros, the people cannot be blamed and are not given the choice, having to suffer the consequences of hereditary succession in politics.
But at least, in our world, there are no dragons. Dragons are unpredictable wild creatures that, even with a dragon rider, are sometimes difficult to tame. According to legend, dragons were created with blood magic in ancient Valyria long ago.
They were created as weapons to conquer the world, and they did exactly that. First, in Essos (the vast continent to the east of Westeros) in Valyria, and then in Westeros, followed by the three-hundred-year reign of the Targaryen dynasty.
In the third season, the High Septon of the Faith clearly states, when confronted by Rhaenyra Targaryen, who tells him to bend the knee and accept the rule of the dragons: Dragons can only destroy. They cannot create anything.
Queen Rhaenyra is stunned by his statement. She, as a Targaryen, believes in her divine right to rule and to burn her enemies if necessary. A fantastical and terrifying concept, one might think. However, it was not invented within the world of fantasy but in our world.
Historically, rulers all over Europe believed in the divine right to rule and vanquished their enemies if necessary. History is a bloody path into the past. And just like the Targaryens conquered Essos and Westeros with fire and blood, so Europe has conquered much of the world since colonial times and the Industrial Revolution.
While Europe didn’t conquer the rest of the world with dragons, it had other means to do so. Or perhaps there are dragons in our world, but they are simply better disguised than the dragons of Game of Thrones.
In Old Valyria, the Targaryens and other dragonlords created dragons with blood magic to rule the world. Europe had the Industrial Revolution and developed weapons and machinery that were able to conquer and destroy the rest of the world on an unimaginable scale. In the world of Game of Thrones, dragons rule the world and burn anything that stands in their way. As a consequence, cities and towns very often burn. Besides, dragons require an enormous supply of meat. Sheep, goats, cows and other livestock must be sacrificed to the dragons on a repeated basis, leaving a lot of humans hungry.
In our world, we created something similar to dragons. The Industrial Revolution brought forth machinery and technology that has an endless demand for resources and spit smoke and poisonous fumes into the atmosphere. We don’t have dragons that burn down cities and landscapes. We have created something worse.
Our dragons are always hungry too. Our dragons stand completely still, though. They are factories. They are nuclear power plants. They are oil refineries. And lately, they are data centres for artificial intelligence, consuming more water than is available for humans living nearby and for ecosystems to survive.
Our dragons don’t spread their wings and fly majestically over cities before they breathe fire and destroy everything. Our dragons are quiet. They are static. They breathe their destructive fire in different ways. They spread it all around the world, creating heatwaves with their invisible wings, making forests burn with their silent breath and devouring ecosystems with their insatiable jaws.
In the past, we created dragons in fantasy stories. They breathe fire. They consume the world. They are destructive creatures, yet they are mesmerising and majestic. So are our industries and our technologies, which have created a lot of comfort in our lives, brought forth extraordinary inventions and prolonged the lifespans of people living in the West. But they slowly and steadily consume the nature and resources we need to survive in this world.
Our imagined fantasies have become reality. The dragons are no longer on the pages of a book anymore. They have left the screens and now roam our world. But fantasy and fantasy stories have never been truly imagined. The best ones hold the deepest truths of humankind. This is why so many overlook them. They are terrified of their simple truths they tell:
Fantasy is never imagined. Fantasy is always rooted in the brutality of reality. We have unleashed the dragons. They are here, and won’t leave until we slay them. But the longer they stay, the longer they continue to devour this world, and the harder it will be for humans to destroy them.
In House of the Dragon they state that the bloodthirsty Targaryens and their dragon riders have no enemies. The only thing that could bring down the Targaryen dynasty is the Targaryen dynasty itself. Dragons fight dragons, and beneath them, the world must burn. And this is unfolding in the third season of House of the Dragon.
Perhaps, at this point, the only thing that can destroy the dragons of our world is the dragons themselves. When all resources are spent, the fires of industry will have nothing left to burn and devour. But in their downfall, will humans join them? And considering how closely tied we all are to the dragons of our world, haven’t we become dragons too?
In the world of Westeros, humans survive after all the dragons are gone. But they will have paid a terrible price.
Considering the heatwaves, the forests burning, the diminishing drinking water and all the other consequences of our dragons breathing fire and climate change unfolding, we are already paying the price. And we will keep on paying. The only question is: how much longer can we afford to pay the price?
Fabian's Writing 