George R.R. Martin has accused HBO‘s House of the Dragon of “sloppiness” after the show got the House Targaryen sigil wrong.
In his latest blog post, the Song of Ice and Fire author stressed that the dragons in the Game Of Thrones universe were designed to be like real animals, possessing just two legs “not four, never four”. He added: “No animal that has ever lived on Earth has six limbs.”
He therefore designed the Targaryen sigil as a dragon with two legs and two wings. The three heads, meanwhile, were a “purely symbolic” reflection of Aegon the Conqueror and his two sisters.
“For what it’s worth, the shows got it half right,” Martin said, referring to the fact that Game Of Thrones gave viewers the correct, two-legged sigil for the first four seasons and most of the fifth. However, when Daenerys’ fleet came into play, the sails then showed four-legged dragons.
Adding of the error: “Someone got sloppy, I guess. Or someone opened a book on heraldry, and read just enough of it to muck it all up. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
Martin also noted how the incorrect sigil had even made its way onto the covers of some his books, due to the popularity of Game Of Thrones.
“A couple years on, House Of The Dragon decided the heraldry should be consistent with Game Of Thrones, but they went with the bad sigil rather than the good one,” he wrote. “That sound you heard was me screaming, ‘no, no, no.’ Those damned extra legs have even wormed their way onto the covers of my books, over my strenuous objections.”
Despite his complaints, Martin recently heaped praise on House Of The Dragon writers for the “brilliant” way in which they changed his story.
Writing on his blog, Martin took the time to comment on the opening two instalments of the second season. “What a great way to start the season,” he wrote. “The directing was superb.”
He commended the writers for finding ways to enhance his story, including significant changes to the character of Helaena Targaryen, who he described as “richer and more fascinating than the one I created”, and for introducing the character Cheese, an invention of the television adaptation.
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