Summary
House of the Dragonseason two has already, sadly, concluded, but that doesn’t mean fascinating discussions regarding the show’s incredible looking dragon’s need to end too. In the popular HBO show’s concept art of the mighty and fierce Vermithor, an intriguing detail can be spotted that shows off the dragon’s standing saddle, which could be a reference toDune’s wormriding. Created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO, season one ofHouse of the Dragoncaptivated fantasy audiences with its intense and somber storyline set nearly 200 years to the time in Westerosi history when House Targaryen was at the height of its power.
Winning a host of awards, which included the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series.House of the Dragonseason two didn’t garner the same praiseas its first season received, which seemed to mostly come down to the show’s unsatisfying finale for some fans, and in turn, was rated a fairly average 6.3 out of 10 on the review site IMDb. However, what season two ofHouse of the Dragondid achieve very well was the vast selection of fire-breathing beasts, as Silverwing, Vermithor, and Seasmoke joined the Blacks' legions.
House of the Dragon’s Vermithor Art Shares Ties to Dune’s Wormriders
Highlighted in a post on Reddit by user jonsnowKITN, one of the creature concept artists, who worked on HBO’sHouse of the Dragon, had previously shared a design for Vermithor, Westeros' fiercest dragon andthe largest after Vhagar, but upon further inspection of the art, the savvy fan saw simailties between Vermithor’s standing saddle and the filmDune’s method of riding a sandworm.Wormriding inDuneis done by the Fremen after summoning a sandworm to the surface and then using maker hooks to control the worm’s movement by attaching them to its mouth, pulling to force it to change direction while the rider stands atop.
Whether the artist, Constantine Sekeris, who has worked on films such asAvatar: The Way of Water,Black PantherandAvengers: Endgame, took some inspiration for his concept design of the formidable dragon from the 2021 epic science fiction film, or it’s simply a very cool coincidence and just a fun artistic feature included in the art, is a question that’s left unanswered. However, riding in a standing saddle on a dragon as powerful and as temperamental asHouse of the Dragon’s Vermithorprobably wouldn’t, logistically, be a great idea. This is mostly due to Vermithor having to constantly stay in an upright postilion to decrease the chance of falling off due to his extremely long neck, and since this giant beast flies in numerous directions, including dramatic twists and turns, a seated saddle would be much more practical.
Aside from the tricky politics of dragon riding, George RR Martin, author of the epic fantasy novelFire & Blood, whichHouse of the Dragonis based on, has recentlycriticized the HBO show due to changesthey made in season two. Martin revealed in a blog post that the Blood and Cheese section in the show wasn’t as strong as it was depicted in his book, as well as taking issue with Halaena and Aegon having three children and not two as shown in the series.
House of the Dragon
Cast
House of the Dragon is HBO’s prequel series to Game of Thrones. Set hundreds of years earlier, the show follows the inner machinations and rivalries of the Targaryen royal family. The show was created by Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin, and stars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, and Olivia Cooke.
