The year of waiting ahead gives Game of Thrones fanatics plenty of time to fantasize about the show’s final battle. One theory about the war of the living and the dead stems from a 1979 George R.R. Martin short story and raises that fatal question: fire or ice? Spoilers abound in the following paragraph.
The short story in question is The Ice Dragon, which sees a variation of the cold-weather dragon that the Night King has in his possession heading into season eight pitted against three fire dragons, much like the two that Daenerys Targaryen controls in the show. In the short story, the ice dragon triumphs over the three fire dragons, as it breathes “death into the world,” as Martin wrote. The triumph of the frozen creature would suggest an advantage for the Night King over the realm of the living heading into next season.
The story appears to provide evidence that ice ultimately bests fire in the mind of Martin. But the good news for those hoping for a happier ending to Thrones is the female protagonist of The Ice Dragon survives, perhaps portending a brighter future for Daenerys in the show.
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