Are the Targaryens in House of the Dragon fireproof or not?

[Ed note: This story contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 5.]

Following a quick tease, House of the Dragon season 2, episode 5 confirms that King Aegon II Targaryen survived the Battle at Rook’s Relaxation. But the middling monarch continues to be badly damage, nursing the form of gnarly accidents you’d count on from the Game of Thrones franchise. He’s acquired damaged bones, busted insides, and burns — tons of burns. Which could have you ever considering: Wait, aren’t Targaryens fireproof?

Perhaps, and possibly not. It is dependent upon which model of the canon we’re speaking about. George R.R. Martin’s A Tune of Ice and Hearth novels are fairly clear on the topic, however Sport of Thrones and House of the Dragon are decidedly muddled. And due to all this conflicting intel, the fact about Targaryens’ hearth immunity is extra tangled than dragon tails in an overcrowded hatchery. We’ve finished our greatest to untangle it beneath!

Are Targaryens fireproof in George R.R. Martin’s books?

Nope. In response to Martin’s A Tune of Ice and Hearth tomes, Targaryens are resistant to fireplace — and much much less temperature-sensitive than the common individual — however not invulnerable to it. Admittedly, this isn’t spelled out in the books themselves, however Martin cleared issues up in a post shared on the Citadel fansite method again in November 1998.

“[S]ome fans are reading too much into the scene in Game of Thrones where the dragons are born — which is to say, it was never the case that all Targaryens are immune to all fire at all times,” he wrote. It’s as definitive an announcement as they arrive, and tracks with what Martin exhibits us in the A Tune of Ice and Hearth books.

Certain, there’s Daenerys Targaryen’s “fire cannot kill a dragon” quote in A Sport of Thrones, after her brother (and self-proclaimed dragon) Viserys dies from having molten gold poured on his melon. However Dany isn’t being literal — she’s throwing her brother’s hole bravado again in his now-gilded face. What about when Daenerys emerges from Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre unscathed (bald scalp not withstanding) later in the similar ebook? That is certainly a case of a Targaryen strolling by way of hearth unhurt. Nonetheless, Martin has made it clear that this was a one-off deal made potential by exterior, magical forces.

“No, no Targaryans [sic] are immune to fire,” Martin explained in a 2003 interview. “The thing with Dany and the dragons, that was just a one-time magical event, very special and unique. The Targaryans can tolerate a bit more heat than most ordinary people, they like really hot baths and things like that, but that doesn’t mean they’re totally immune to fire, no.”

Apart from, there are a bunch of unambiguous examples of Targaryens feeling the warmth in Martin’s works. As famous above, Viserys burns to loss of life when Khal Drogo provides him his golden “crown,” and Dany’s hair turns to ashes throughout her stroll by way of the pyre. She sears her hair by getting too close to Drogon’s dragonfire, and her palms by touching a spear he breathed on, in A Dance with Dragons. House of the Dragon’s supply textual content, Hearth & Blood, additionally options a number of situations of Targaryens (together with Aegon II) struggling fire-related wounds.

Most of these maladies stem from dragon-on-dragon fight, though at the least one is self-inflicted (Prince Aerion Targaryen quaffed a cup of napalm-like Wildfire, as you do). I haven’t crunched the numbers, however we’re prepared to wager extra Targaryens die (or are significantly injured) by hearth in Martin’s books than some other named characters!

So don’t imagine the Targaryen hype machine: So far as the A Tune of Ice and Hearth novels are involved, they aren’t fireproof.

Are Targaryens fireproof in the Sport of Thrones present?

The HBO adaptation differs from Martin’s books on this level, however the reply continues to be “Yes and no.” Daenerys is — however each different Targaryen? Not a lot.

Except for the funeral-pyre stunt (which doesn’t even burn her hair off prefer it does in Martin’s ebook), we see Dany shrug off hearth with out a lot as a blister a number of instances all through Sport of Thrones’ eight-season run. She takes boiling baths, handles scalding-hot dragon eggs, has no subject standing proper subsequent to Drogon’s fiery belches, and units a room full of Dothraki warlords ablaze with out damaging something apart from her outfit.

Against this, Viserys suffers the similar ignoble, heat-induced loss of life in the present as he does in the books. He additionally winces in ache when a drop of scorching wax hits his pores and skin earlier in Sport of Thrones’ first season. This so-called “dragon” couldn’t be much less fireproof if he tried. Jon Snow — a half-Targaryen, bear in mind — is equally prone to being burnt. In Sport of Thrones season 1, episode 8, Jon scorches his hand after he lobs a lantern at a wight. Clearly, he isn’t fireproof, both.

So so far as Sport of Thrones continuity is anxious, Dany is the lone fireproof Targaryen, and this quasi-superpower is symbolic of her “true” Targaryen nature. In that sense, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss framed her as a “chosen one” (albeit in the Anakin Skywalker mildew, because it turned out).

Are Targaryens fireproof (even generally) in House of the Dragon?

Whereas House of the Dragon is a prequel to the Sport of Thrones TV sequence, it follows the books’ lead concerning Targaryens and hearth. (Hardly shocking, provided that Martin co-created the present and is a hands-on government producer.) The knock-on impact is that — as demonstrated in season 2, episode 4 — the likes of Aegon, Princess Rhaenys, and Prince Aemond are very a lot in danger when the pyrotechnics begin. They’ll face up to glancing waves of dragonfire, however a direct hit will gentle them up.

That’s why Aegon’s all crispy in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 5. It’s additionally why Daemon sports activities seen burn scars elsewhere in the episode, and why would-be dragon-riders are cautious when approaching their potential mounts all through the present’s run. If House of the Dragon’s Targaryens play with hearth (or firebreathers), they’re more likely to find yourself toast, the similar as anybody else in Westeros. Properly, anybody besides Daenerys Targaryen greater than a century later — ensuing in a bizarre inconsistency in the overarching franchise lore. (Although not the solely main change from that present.)

Is there a motive in the TV sequence that explains why Daenerys is the solely fireproof Targaryen? Perhaps. You might chalk up this discontinuity to dragon hearth being stronger than garden-variety flame. Definitely it’s about as scorching because it will get, succesful of melting stone fortresses (like Harrenhal). This could clarify away Aegon’s char-grilled situation as context-specific; nothing brief of a dragon can roast a “true” Targaryen (no matter which means) in the Sport of Thrones universe.

After all, that is pure headcanon for now, and Martin and House of the Dragon co-creator/showrunner Ryan Condal might have a wholly completely different rationalization in thoughts. But when they do, they haven’t shared it. And till they do, the motive just one member of House Targaryen is actually, really fireproof stays one of the present’s burning questions.