What’s a dragon worth to the Starks, Lannisters and other Game of Thrones families?
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How do you put a price on a dragon?
That’s the most vexing question facing anyone who wants to assess the dynastic fortunes that drive the plot of Game of Thrones, the epic television series that returned to HBO on Sunday.
The fantasy saga mixes medieval knights and castles with sorcery, zombies, and dragons. But at its core, Game of Thrones is a contest involving nine very wealthy families – and in the real world it’s common to measure the holdings of billionaires. So we set out to rank the wealthiest of Westeros, comparing their fortunes at the beginning of the series and where they stood before the start of the eighth and final season.
The fantasy saga mixes medieval knights and castles with sorcery, zombies, and dragons. But at its core, Game of Thrones is a contest involving nine very wealthy families – and in the real world it’s common to measure the holdings of billionaires. So we set out to rank the wealthiest of Westeros, comparing their fortunes at the beginning of the series and where they stood before the start of the eighth and final season.
There’s no shortage of material. Five novels by George R.R. Martin have been expanded into more than 60 hours of television drama that’s gone significantly beyond – and, in some cases, departed from – the books.
Using this information to track the wealth of the ruling houses from the start of the series to the final episodes is more difficult than using wills, corporate earnings, or trusts to unmask billionaires.
“The books go into a lot of details about the economics of each family [only some of which show up in the show],” says Adam Whitehead, a fantasy critic who has written about the economics of Martin’s world and received public accolades from the author.
Ultimately, experts on Game of Thrones and finance who agreed to help measure the relative assets of the Starks, Lannisters, and the other noble houses brought the puzzle back to the question of what a dragon is worth.
