Fan: How did you construct the character of Daenerys?
George: I started with the concept of having the exiled former kings who had been driven some time away across the water trying to regain their throne, and right from the first, I found Dany more interesting than Viserys. So, I wanted to play with that and also show a frightened girl becoming a powerful woman, coming into her own power and slowly realizing that. The dragons were one aspect that I did consider not including very early in the process. I was debating “should I do this just as historical fiction about fake history and have no actually overt magic or magical elements?” but my friend Phyllis Eisenstein said “Nah, you have to have dragons! It’s a fantasy!”. So, I dedicated A Storm Of Swords to Phyllis who made me put the dragons in. That was the right thing to do. Of course, the dragons work on all sorts of symbolic and metaphorical levels but they’re also just kind of cool and it’s nice just to have cool elements in your fantasy!
- George R.R. Martin, Talking TV With Ryan & Ryan Podcast
(source, starts at 47:17)
