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What do we know about Ice Dragons so far in the world of Westeros? This is a plot refresher from the show and the books, to help get you caught up on what we already knew before Season 7 Episode 6.
Major Spoilers Through Season 7 Episode 6.
Ice dragons are known only in legend in the world of Westeros. They resemble a dragon but are made of ice, according to mythology, and breathe cold air that freezes people instantly instead of fire.
In the Game of Thrones telltale games, ice dragons are mentioned a few times. Jon Snow says that Old Nan used to talk about ice dragons in some of her tales. And there’s also mention of a constellation called “The Ice Dragon.”
Ice dragons aren’t really mentioned in the show (until the end of Episode 6), but we do hear about them in the books.
In the books, we’re told about an ice dragon myth. Legend says they roam the Shivering Sea and the White Waste. They’re larger than Valyrian dragons and made out of living ice. Their eyes are blue crystals, they have a cold breath that can freeze people instantly, and translucent wings. Jon Snow also talks in the books about Old Nan sharing stories of ice dragons.
Here’s a quote from A World of Ice and Fire about ice dragons:
Of all the queer and fabulous denizens of the Shivering Sea, however, the greatest are the ice dragons. These colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria, are said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings through which the moon and stars can be glimpsed as they wheel across the sky. Whereas common dragons (if any dragon can truly be said to be common) breathe flame, ice dragons supposedly breathe cold, a chill so terrible that it can freeze a man solid in half a heartbeat.
That’s really all the people of Westeros know about ice dragons at this point. They’re mostly myth, no one living has seen one personally, and at this point most believe that if they do exist, they are magical creatures very different from regular dragons.
Now that we’ve seen what the Night King did to Viserion, it looks like a lot of what they knew from mythology was wrong. Unless you believe these myths were about “White Walker” “Other” type dragons and Viserion is a “wight” dragon. However, Viserion appears to be more of a merging of the two types. He was brought back to life with a touch of the Night King’s hand, just like the Craster babies were turned into White Walkers. And his eyes have the same sharp jewel tones. But he was dead when he was brought back, while the Craster babies were alive. So it seems like Viserion won’t fit very neatly into either category.