“Oh, so you’re okay with the existence of dragons, but you have a problem if they fly too fast?”
Yes, exactly. While this particular writer has no problem accepting magic on Game of Thrones, we’re not okay when it defies the laws of physics. And that’s why I am here for Neil deGrasse Tyson killjoying sharing his scientific observations about the most recent season.
But before you think it’s all gloom and doom, it turns out that while Thrones may stretch credulity with their flight speed, the show gets the rest of its dragon science actually right.
Everybody all caught up on #GameOfThrones? I have a comment or two, if anybody is interested…
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Tyson took to Twitter to share some thoughts about the show, which—as anyone who has ever heard him tear down the shoddy science of a space movie could tell you—had the potential to be scathing. But the only real flaw he found had to do with the scene of the wights dragging Viserion’s dead body out of that frozen lake. But it had nothing to do with how or where the Night King found those giant chains north of the Wall, but with the technique his dead soldiers employed with them.
I thought the frozen dead dudes couldn’t swim, but aside from that…
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Bad Physics in #GameOfThrones: Pulling a dragon out of a lake? Chains need to be straight, and not curve over hill and dale. pic.twitter.com/VIJlIuDz3L
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Duly noted in case we’re ever dragging a monster from a lake. (You don’t need that kind of information until you really need it).
But as far as the actual biology of dragons go, the show apparently got things right.
Good Bio-Physics in #GameOfThrones: The Dragon Wingspans are sensibly large, as their body weight would require for flight. pic.twitter.com/gzD5wI38u5
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Unlike Renaissance painters.
The sensibly large wingspan of Dragons in #GameOfThrones contrasts with aerodynamically useless wings of Renaissance cherubs. pic.twitter.com/I8L8ILBtUu
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Take that, stupid Renaissance artists. But it’s not just dragon wing span that Game of Thrones nailed, Tyson said they also accurately showed how one would walk, like when Drogon ambled down the rubble of the Dragonpit in the season finale.
Good Biology in #GameOfThrones: As in #LordOfTheRings, Dragons forfeited their forelimbs to make wings, like birds & bats. pic.twitter.com/pguBe6rosQ
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
I never thought of a dragon being like a bat before, but now all I can think about is how terrible dragon guano must be. Dragonstone must be a nightmare island covered in feces now. And the Dragonpit must have smelled awful.
Finally, the famed astrophysicist touched upon arguably the biggest science question of the season, but couldn’t actually give us an answer to it: did the dead Viserion breathe ice or blue flame? We don’t know, but if it was flame we have an idea of how much hotter that is than his living brothers.
Intriguing Thermal Physics in #GameOfThrones: BlueDragon breath would be at least a factor of 3X hotter than RedDragon breath pic.twitter.com/RvpBkqJ1sw
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
So if that is a blue flame, that would make the dead Viserion three times more dangerous than either of his dragon brothers. And you don’t need to be an astrophysicist to know that’s not good.
Although maybe the show could still consult one to figure out how fast a dragon could fly from Dragonstone to the Wall. We’re fine with a dead, magical dragon, but we’d still like him to follow the laws of physics.
What other science question from Game of Thrones would you like him to address next? Send a raven with your thoughts to our comments below (or just type them).
WANT MOREÂ GAME OF THRONES?
- Game of Thrones VFX reel brings the Army of the Dead to life.
- See how the series burned the Tarly boys alive.
- Watch The Hound, Jorah, Tormund, and Beric throw down with dueling banjos!
Images: HBO
Featured Image: HBO
