George R.R. Martin Initially Considered a Very Different Targaryen Power in Game of Thrones
When creating his sprawling fantasy world, George R.R. Martin had a different vision for the Targaryens' powers than the one that ultimately made its way into A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptations. Martin's early conception of the series drew inspiration from science fiction, where he had previously explored themes of psionic powers - telepathy, empathy, and other mind-based abilities.
In his initial ideas, Martin considered a Targaryen family with pyrokinetic powers. This would have meant that they could harness their minds to set fires, effectively wielding fire like magic. However, it was only after sharing these ideas with Phyllis Eisenstein, the late writer and friend of Martin's, that he realized his fantasy world needed a more concrete connection to science fiction.
Eisenstein convinced Martin that dragons were an essential part of the Targaryen mythology, which has since become one of the defining characteristics of the House of Dragon series. The inclusion of real dragons brought stability and depth to the narrative, transforming it into the beloved franchise we know today.
Martin later reflected on this pivotal moment in his writing process during an interview at the Oxford Union. He discussed how he initially doubted including fantasy elements altogether, even considering rewriting A Song of Ice and Fire as historical fiction. However, after Eisenstein's intervention, Martin realized that incorporating fantastical creatures like dragons was crucial to creating a unique narrative.
Today, fans can witness this evolution in action with HBO's Westeros-set series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which features puppet dragons alongside humans, while House of Dragon introduces real, living creatures into the mix. The "pyro people" idea has since been replaced by the iconic dragon mythology that Martin initially considered.
When creating his sprawling fantasy world, George R.R. Martin had a different vision for the Targaryens' powers than the one that ultimately made its way into A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptations. Martin's early conception of the series drew inspiration from science fiction, where he had previously explored themes of psionic powers - telepathy, empathy, and other mind-based abilities.
In his initial ideas, Martin considered a Targaryen family with pyrokinetic powers. This would have meant that they could harness their minds to set fires, effectively wielding fire like magic. However, it was only after sharing these ideas with Phyllis Eisenstein, the late writer and friend of Martin's, that he realized his fantasy world needed a more concrete connection to science fiction.
Eisenstein convinced Martin that dragons were an essential part of the Targaryen mythology, which has since become one of the defining characteristics of the House of Dragon series. The inclusion of real dragons brought stability and depth to the narrative, transforming it into the beloved franchise we know today.
Martin later reflected on this pivotal moment in his writing process during an interview at the Oxford Union. He discussed how he initially doubted including fantasy elements altogether, even considering rewriting A Song of Ice and Fire as historical fiction. However, after Eisenstein's intervention, Martin realized that incorporating fantastical creatures like dragons was crucial to creating a unique narrative.
Today, fans can witness this evolution in action with HBO's Westeros-set series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which features puppet dragons alongside humans, while House of Dragon introduces real, living creatures into the mix. The "pyro people" idea has since been replaced by the iconic dragon mythology that Martin initially considered.
... like pyrokinetic abilities would've been SO different from the fire-breathing dragons we know & love 
. can you imagine having to rewrite the entire series as historical fiction though? 
that's crazy talk! i feel bad for Phyllis Eisenstein tho, she had to convince Martin to go with the dragons 
. now those are some epic plot twists 
. i wonder what other cool ideas Martin has lying around somewhere 
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. And I love that we get to see this evolution in action with HBO's new series! The way they're incorporating fantastical creatures is just so well done 
. Anyway, what's with the history of Targaryen powers? Like, who comes up with these ideas and then changes them on a whim? George R.R. Martin was gonna have pyrokinetic powers like 30 years ago... can you even imagine? "Hey, let's make our family members just set stuff on fire with their minds" 
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. And the fact that Martin can look back and see how his ideas evolved is pretty interesting. Still, sometimes I wish the forum would just get its own stuff together, you know? Like, a decent search function...
. Phyllis Eisenstein must be super proud of herself for convincing Martin to stick with it 
. The way the story evolved is just amazing - from doubt about fantasy elements to creating an entire world around those fantastical creatures 
. Now, I'm even more excited to see how they're going to incorporate puppet dragons and real ones in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms! 
... and can you even imagine if that had happened? 
I mean, it's still kinda cool to think about how one person's idea changed the entire direction of the show! 
. but i think that turning point really helped shape the franchise into what we love today 
. It's crazy to think about how different the Game of Thrones universe would be without our beloved dragons 
. On the other hand, introducing real dragons was a genius move – they've become such an integral part of the franchise's identity 
. It's interesting to see how that pivotal moment in his writing process changed everything 
️! Anyway, I think what's interesting here is that George R.R. Martin was open to different directions for his world-building, kinda like how Obama could've taken the Democratic Party in a completely new direction if he wanted to