Because we all postulate a good venereal infection of geopolitics in between sword conflict , White Walkers , and boobs , theBulletin of Atomic Scientistshas a thorough analysis of all the ways dragons are just like nuclear weapons . It ’s actually a stunningly obvious comparison once you get down to it .
Here be spoilers . And tartar .
George R. R. Martin himself has not shy out from comparing the geopolitics of the Game of Thrones to our contemporaneous humanity . radio-controlled aircraft are worse than the Dothraki , he ’s said . And he ’s also made the direct comparing between Draco and nuclear weapons inan 2011 interview withVulture .
flying lizard are the atomic impediment , and only Dany has them , which in some ways make her the most powerful person in the world . But is that sufficient ? These are the sort of issues I ’m judge to explore . The United States right now has the ability to destroy the existence with our atomic arsenal , but that does n’t mean we can achieve specific geopolitical goals . ability is more insidious than that . you could have the exponent to destroy , but it does n’t give you the mightiness to rectify , or improve , or ramp up .
Indeed that ’s what Daenerys ( Dany ) , mother of Draco , is learning after her conquering fling on the HBO show .
In hisfeature for the Bulletin , Timothy Westmyer lays out even more of the parallel between the two deadly , unstoppable personnel . Here ’s how he compare the Vietnam War and Aegon the Conqueror ’s unsuccessful conquest of Dorne .
Limits of dragon warfare . Nuclear weapons may aid prevent existential threat , but they have limited use in other military operations or strange insurance policy goals … Even with his dragon triumvirate , Aegon the Conqueror was unable to force a immune land to bended knee . Most of Thrones ’ fictional realms offer up a “ target ample ” environment , with sizable population living in castles and pursuing strategies suited to set - piece battle on exposed domain . The realm of Dorne , however , consist of a rocky , hilly , arid , desert landscape with comparatively belittled cities , dispersed populations , and ample hiding places — making it more insubordinate to dragon war …
In similar way , during the Vietnam War , the US military face a draw out campaign by guerrillas undeterred by America ’s nuclear stockpile . A secret 1967 reputation produced bythe JASON Groupdetermined that nuclear weapons would offer no critical military advantage . Vietnam was “ target poor ” with diffuse supplying lines and dispersed troops .
Game of Thrones fans , nuclear war geeks , and everyone else in between , be sure tocheck out the full depth psychology .
I ’ve in person been reasonably unbiassed toward the dragons in Game of Thrones , which seems to be setting up for < — COMPLETE meditation ALERT — > a final battle between dragons and White Walkers . Supernatural forces and particularly the unbeatable dragons have always seemed like the least interesting part of the biz of thrones , but Martin ’s allegoric bent give me a chip of trust he ’s cooking up something interesting . Does this speculation make sense or am I out of my intellect ? [ Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ]
Top image : HBO
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