House of the Dragon Season 2 Has a Size Problem With Stormcloud

In Game of Thrones, showrunners had very little choice when it came to deviating from George Martin ’s books: once they were out of source material, they had to improvise, however poorly. But even before that, D&D changed or cut some pretty crucial bits of lore, characters, and events to make the story suit their vision.

House of the Dragon doesn’t need to have the same problem: the source material is just one book and it’s finished. However, one Season 2 detail has fans suspicious about showrunners potentially changing an essential plot element down the line.

Stormcloud Is Way Too Small Currently

Stormcloud, young Aegon’s dragon, is supposed to be small: after all, he’s growing alongside his rider, and Rhaenyra’s son isn’t exactly an adult right now. But from what we see in House of the Dragon Season 2, Stormcloud is now ridiculously small. Being the size of a bunny can’t be good for a dragon that’s supposed to carry a kid.

According to Fire & Blood, we’re quickly closing in on the Gullet: it’s supposed to happen in the next two-ish weeks, in-show time. During the Gullet, young Aegon leaves his younger brother behind and flees on Stormcloud… Which he can’t exactly do if his dragon is even smaller than him, can he? This raises some concerns.

HotD Might Change Crucial Plot Elements

Dragons grow relatively quickly — but not quickly enough for Stormcloud to become five times larger in just two weeks. In his current state, the tiny dragon would barely be able to fly away with a purse, let alone a child. There are only two possible solutions to this problem: one is lowkey cheap, and the other, downright terrible.

They could simply increase Stormcloud’s on-screen size by the time the Gullet happens. This would go against everything we know about the growth of dragons, linear time, and logic — because why would they opt for making him so tiny now, then — but at least, this would mean the show follows Fire & Blood closely.

Alternatively, Stormcloud being bunny-sized now could be a conscious choice, which would be terrible: in this case, it implies the showrunners want to change the course of events entirely, with Aegon not being able to escape at all or escaping in a different way. This would make no sense, because once again, Fire & Blood is a finished book and it needs precisely zero changes to its script.

Here’s to hoping House of the Dragon’s showrunners just “kind of forgot” about the Gullet and accidentally made Stormcloud so small. If House of the Dragon derails from Martin’s book so quickly, it will most likely become one long Game of Thrones S8 immediately.