The Atlantic

<i>Game of Thrones</i>: Dragons Are the Nuclear Option

The creatures are the most powerful weapon in Westeros, but “The Spoils of War” showed the horrific cost of using them.
Source: HBO

This post contains spoilers through the most recent episode of Game of Thrones, “The Spoils of War.”

It’s no secret that dragons have a deeper meaning on . George R.R. Martin has specifically as “the nuclear deterrent.” Timothy Westmyer, a former research and program assistant at George Washington University, has in the that dragons are “living, fire-breathing metaphors for nuclear weapons,” and that the series is deliberate in using dragons as a warning about the “inherent dangers”

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