Fourth Wing’s TV Adaptation Can Beat Game Of Thrones In One Massive Way

Amazon’s Fourth Wing adaptation will enter a fantasy TV realm where Game of Thrones is still the gold standard, but it has one advantage over HBO’s hit series. The Fourth Wing TV show was confirmed just a few months after Rebecca Yarros’ book of the same name, the first in the Empyrean Series, was published in May 2023, although there hasn’t been too much movement on the series since then. It does have a showrunner – Moira Walley-Beckett (producer and writer on Breaking Bad) – but the actual production stage seems a long way off.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it will give Yarros time to finish the books (Onyx Storm will release in 2025, but more are planned), and because it’s not a show that can be rushed given the extensive CGI involved, not least when it comes to the dragons. The dragons of Fourth Wing are one of the show’s biggest challenges, but are also what makes it so exciting, and invite favorable comparisons to Game of Thrones and its prequel, House of the Dragon.

Fourth Wing Will Have Way More Dragons Than Game Of Thrones

It Can Even Have More Than House Of The Dragon

Dragons became one of the hallmarks of Game of Thrones the longer it went on. They were increasingly used in the marketing of the show, becoming a crucial piece of iconography, and a lot of its later-season spectacle hinged on them as well (while they were, of course, vital to the story too). Still, the timeline meant that there were only ever three dragons on-screen, something House of the Dragon‘s dragons beat, since it’s a time in Westeros when there were far more of them. But neither can compete with Fourth Wing in that regard.

Dragons are much more commonplace in Navarre, though that doesn’t mean they’re any less special. They are fantastical, revered creatures, but there are more of them than in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. Around a dozen have been seen in the latter, but there are even more named dragons with riders who have been revealed in the Empyrean Series books so far, and plenty more who are at least known to exist, even without specifics.

More of something doesn’t inherently mean it will be better, but it’s nonetheless impressive that Fourth Wing will be able to be adapted and, if done right, have one of the biggest, most diverse ranges of dragons we’ve ever seen on a screen big or small. It’s a huge draw, especially given the popularity of those shows, and it could take dragons on-screen to another level if all goes well.

Fourth Wing’s Dragons Can Be Better Than Game Of Thrones

The Empyrean Series’ Dragons Are Characters Too

Game of Thrones obviously had some of the most spectacular dragon scenes ever made, such as the Battle of Meereen in season 6, episode 9, “Battle of the Bastards,” or Drogon destroying the Lannister army in season 7, episode 4, “The Spoils of War.” They set a very high bar for Fourth Wing, and beating them – or something like House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4, “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” which is arguably the real high point – won’t be easy. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

The dragons vs. wyvern battles of Fourth Wing and Iron Flame should lend themselves well to incredible action sequences. The books include plenty of detail that aren’t just about the Riders’ signets being used, but the dragons and wyvern themselves unleashing their unrivaled strength and fire-breathing abilities in furious, fantastic fashion. If the show can capture those right, then we’ll be seeing bigger dragon battles than Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon managed, given the sheer numbers involved.

However, what I think is even more important here, and what could really tip the scales in Fourth Wing‘s favor, is the exploration of the dragons as something beyond weapons of mass destruction. While that’s absolutely part of the point of them in A Song of Ice and Fire, it’s not just limited to that. There are strong bonds, emotional complexities, and intelligence to them that the show never really got into.

House of the Dragon does this a little more in terms of suggesting the connection between dragon and rider (with Syrax experiencing Rhaenyra’s pain and grief the best example), but the nature of Fourth Wing‘s dragons makes them proper characters. Game of Thrones also didn’t do enough to distinguish between Dany’s three dragons beyond one of them being way bigger, especially as they got older and their colorings became less distinct.

They’re a great part of the lore, but dragons are among the best characters in Fourth Wing (indeed, there’s a strong argument that Tairn is the best character – or certainly the funniest), and a major part of what I love about the story and worldbuilding. The way it breaks down their personalities, colors, emotions, and bonds is great, and though it’s admittedly a bit apples and oranges in terms of direct comparison, it can be so much deeper in terms of putting dragons on screen, with stunning action scenes to boot.

Fourth Wing’s Dragons Have One Massive Problem In Beating Game Of Thrones

The Show Is Going To Need A Huge Budget

While the potential of Fourth Wing‘s dragons is great, there is one not-so-small hiccup in terms of that becoming a reality: dragons are really f**king expensive. Game of Thrones season 8 had a per episode budget of around $15 million; House of the Dragon‘s is in the $20m region. That’s not all going on dragons, but it shows the kind of investment required to bring them to the screen, and Fourth Wing needs to be in that ballpark at the very least, if not even greater, since there are so many of them, and they’re so integral to so many scenes.

Amazon does have very deep pockets, as evidenced by Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power being one of the most expensive TV shows ever made. Money alone doesn’t guarantee quality CGI (proper time and planning for VFX artists is as big a factor as anything), but it certainly helps. With Fourth Wing in development, hopefully it will have the time and budget it needs to do its dragons justice, and if so, it could definitely rival Game of Thrones in that specific way, and perhaps even beat it.