I don't know, but my dragons will never find out.
HBO’s first Game of Thrones series didn’t feature nearly enough dragon scenes, if you ask me. My favorite mythical beasties mostly showed up for a passing greeting or to die within seconds, but it sounds like that’s a problem PlaySide’s upcoming RTS, Game of Thrones: War for Westeros, could remedy.
“The dragons have been a big focus for us,” game director Ryan McMahon told me during a Summer Game Fest interview. “We’ve actually got a bit of an R&D team specifically for dragons. People, as well as projects, that are dedicated to just making the dragons.”
Even as someone who read and watched it all, I’m still impressed by how thorough and intense fans get in Game of Thrones lore debates. McMahon said the PlaySide team finds themselves in many of those same debates, which are complicated by unreliable character sources and differences between the books and shows.
There’s one question in particular they’ve spent ages debating: What happens when a dragon dies?
McMahon didn’t seem fully committed to any one theory just yet, but clearly wants War for Westeros to investigate those details and how it affects the environment. PlaySide’s global head of marketing and communications, Michael McAlister, even chimed in, explaining the questions that came up as they investigated the precedents set by the books and show.
“The dragons are like bombs,” said McAlister. “The implication is that when a dragon crashes into the ground, it explodes like a nuclear bomb. The back and forth about what actually happens when a dragon isn’t alive is absolutely fascinating.”
“You know, in House of the Dragon, you’re going to see them die a lot, and there’s usually some sort of explosion. There are things about why they would explode in death,” said McMahon, referencing their fire breath and different deaths throughout the series. “That’s a really interesting debate. Does it [the explosion] happen all the time? Or does it happen at all?”
I can see how that matters when we’re talking strategy on the battlefield. Should I strategically take my own dragon out over an enemy unit so the explosion catches them all? Or do they just sort of crash and roll into the ground? Does it depend on what they hit, like a barrel of explosives? If I get to determine how some iconic Game of Thrones battles play out, then the flying Targaryen beasts will star in them all.
The original HBO series had its fair share of impressive dragon talent, too, but CGI ain’t free, so they were often relegated to offscreen adventures and distant roaring. Naturally, House of the Dragon has given them a little more airtime, but don’t count on War for Westeros including anything from the prequel, at least not yet.
When I asked if we’d see more characters from the books or HBO’s House of the Dragon, McMahon clarified War for Westeros “is just for the Game of Thrones IP” since the newer series is a separate license. Though he added, “That doesn’t mean that’s what we’re going to do forever.”
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