George R.R. Martin is famous for crafting the epic fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire, which extends across several novels. The Targaryens are some of the most fascinating characters from the books, with Emilia Clarke playing the role of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, the television adaptation of Martin’s books.
During a blog post, Martin addressed some of the criticism aimed at his books, while also revealing a major change he wished to make to the Targaryens. The change would have not only impacted the Targaryen bloodline and their story but also made it impossible for Clarke to play her most famous role. Here is what George R.R. Martin wanted to change about the Targaryens.
George R.R. Martin Contemplated Changing the Targaryens’ Race in Game of Thrones
In George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire saga, the Targaryens play an important role in the history of Westeros, across several generations. In the books and their television adaptation, the Targaryens are primarily depicted to have pale white skin, making them Caucasian.
However, in a blog post from 2013, Martin revealed that he had once contemplated depicting the Targaryens with a different skin color, thereby changing their race in his fantasy story.
“It might have made for an interesting twist if instead I had made the dragonlords of Valyria… and therefore the Targaryens… black.”
Martin wrote the above lines in his blog post, explaining he considered depicting the Targaryens and the ancestors, the Valryians, with black skin.
Martin further progressed the post by explaining how depicting the black Targaryens dominating a largely white Westeros would have made for a good twist. However, Martin acknowledged that such a creative choice would have had its own problems.
“Though that choice would have brought its own perils. The Targaryens have not all been heroic, after all… some of them have been monsters, madmen.”
Martin made the above statement through his blog, highlighting the can of worms that would be unleashed by depicting the Targaryens as black given their role in his story. As a result, had Martin chosen to change the race of the Targaryens, we would have never gotten Emilia Clarke‘s Emmy-nominated performance as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.
George R.R. Martin Addresses Criticism About POC Characters in Game of Thrones
Martin made the revelation about the idea to make the Targaryens black in response to a fan’s criticism of the lack of people of color as main characters in books. The fans pointed out how Salladhor Saan, Missandei, and Xaro Xhoan Daxos, who were POCs, were relegated to supporting character status.
In response, Martin defended his choice of race of his characters by stating:
“I try to make ALL my characters fully-fleshed and human, whether they are secondary or tertiary characters, minor players, or spear carriers who only have one line.”
Martin added that sometimes certain creative choices might not work well, especially with a sensitive subject such as racial representation. However, given the vast array of characters in his books, his intent was always there to create as much racial diversity as possible.
Game of Thrones is streaming on Max.
