The seventh season of Game of Thrones forced fans to endure some serious logical leaps. Jon Snow seemingly teleported to Dragonstone and Gendry apparently moved at hyperspeed to get an ultra-fast raven to Daenerys. But according to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who apparently was a little late to catch up to the show at this point, the season’s science wasn’t all bad.
Over the weekend, the astrophysicist praised how the show portrayed Daenerys Targaryen’s full-grown dragons, which have the correct proportions to allow them to fly.
Good Bio-Physics in #GameOfThrones: The Dragon Wingspans are sensibly large, as their body weight would require for flight. pic.twitter.com/gzD5wI38u5
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Good Biology in #GameOfThrones: As in #LordOfTheRings, Dragons forfeited their forelimbs to make wings, like birds & bats. pic.twitter.com/pguBe6rosQ
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
The sensibly large wingspan of Dragons in #GameOfThrones contrasts with aerodynamically useless wings of Renaissance cherubs. pic.twitter.com/I8L8ILBtUu
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
He also pointed out just how much hotter the White Walker dragon’s fire must be to tear down the Wall.
Intriguing Thermal Physics in #GameOfThrones: BlueDragon breath would be at least a factor of 3X hotter than RedDragon breath pic.twitter.com/RvpBkqJ1sw
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
But not all the science on the show works out. Tyson critiqued how the wights pulled the dragon out of the frozen lake, to begin with.
Bad Physics in #GameOfThrones: Pulling a dragon out of a lake? Chains need to be straight, and not curve over hill and dale. pic.twitter.com/VIJlIuDz3L
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
And Tyson didn’t resist the chance to bring up current events. At the end of his analysis, he got political, noting that NFL players’ decision to kneel during the American National Anthem isn’t a sign of disrespect at all. Maybe the president should catch up on A Song of Ice and Fire.
From Esquire
