‘Game of Thrones’ Author George R.R. Martin Says ‘The Winds of Winter’ Will Reveal the Origin of Dragons

When The Winds of Winter arrives, it will answer one of the oldest and most pressing questions in Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, according to George R.R. Martin. In a new blog post on Thursday, Martin wrote a bit about the latest episode of House of the Dragon, then wrote about his approach to dragons in fiction compared to other authors. He promised a big revelation in the upcoming books.

Martin compared his dragons to the dragons of The Lord of the Rings, Dragonslayer, Dragonheart, Eragon and even How to Train Your Dragon. He noted that he took a lot of cues from Tolkien, but he did not want his dragons to be able to speak like Smaug does. He wrote: “They are relatively intelligent, but they are still beasts. They bond with men… Some men.. and the why and how of that, and how it came to be, will eventually be revealed in more detail in The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring and some in Blood & Fire.”

This is huge news for fans, who are not really expecting Martin to answer every mystery left hanging in his epic series. Martin’s world is so expansive with so much history, culture and magic that it is no longer reasonable to think it will wrap up neatly in every way. However, this post heavily implies that the origins of dragons and dragon-riders will be important to the ending of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Martin spent the rest of his new blog post highlighting aspects of the dragons in his world and even teasing some new information coming in later books. He may have been answering some common questions popping up online after the latest episode of House of the Dragon – explaining why dragons aren’t more widespread, how the Doom of Valyria was able to make them nearly extinct, and so on. At the same time, many fans dusted off their favorite theories about Martin’s dragons, wondering if he would vindicate them in his new book.

YouTuber The Disputed Lands has an extensive series on Martin’s dragons, using his books to devise a theory about where they come from, how their bond with humans works and how it might factor into the end of the story. She made a post on Thursday celebrating Martin’s new blog post. She points to the chapters about Old Valyria’s practice of human sacrifice and experimentation, suggesting that the sorcerers of the empire may have done some magical form of genetic manipulation on humans and wyverns to create dragons. It fits well for Martin, who previously wrote a sci-fi novel about genetic manipulation called Tuff Voyaging.

Meanwhile, questions about how the bond between dragons and riders works have become more common in the last week due to both the battle sequence and the haunting visions at Harrenhal. Many fans have been revisiting the comparison between dragon-riders and wargs or skinchangers – characters like Jon Snow or Bran who commune with wolves, birds and other animals. YouTuber GrayArea has been gaining a lot of traction by suggesting that dragon-riders are not as different from skinchangers as fans have been led to believe, and that Daemon (Matt Smith) may prove that before House of the Dragon is over.

All that still leaves the question of how this information will be revealed to Martin’s characters, and how it will impact the finale of his books. Martin has said many times that his books will end differently from Game of Thrones, and fans are expecting him to explain the magical forces at play more clearly. With Martin writing so actively on his blog lately, fans are hopeful that news on his next book will be coming soon.

House of the Dragon Season 2 continues on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max. Martin’s books are available now in print, digital and audiobook formats. He has reported progress on The Winds of Winter, but right now there is no hint of when the book will come out.