What you need to know about the 'ice dragon' in the 'Game of Thrones' season finale

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August 28, 2017 3:56 PM

Here's what some "Game of Thrones" fans have been getting wrong about that "ice dragon" in the season finale.

Viserion right after the Night King turned him into a White Walker or wight.

Warning: Huge, enormous spoilers if you have not seen the "Game of Thrones" season seven finale. Seriously, very big spoilers.

In the final scene of the epic, nearly 90-minute-long "Game of Thrones" season finale, we finally see what has become of Viserion.

The Night King killed Viserion in last week's episode of "Game of Thrones" and turned the dragon into a White Walker or wight.

In the finale, we got a look at how the Night King has begun to use Viserion as a weapon. The Night King rode on Viserion's back to the Wall, where Viserion proceeded to breathe blue fire upon it, eventually melting and toppling it — allowing the army of White Walkers and wights to cross the barrier that has kept them out of Westeros for centuries.

But some "Game of Thrones" fans, it seems, are a bit confused about what Viserion is after his reanimation and have been referring to him as an "ice dragon."

I don't know what's better.... @ Ber

Watching the ice dragon tak... @ cmal

#GameOfThrones The wall ha... @ Mark Smith

The ice dragon. The wall. T... @ Kaye

But contrary to what fans might believe, Viserion isn't an ice dragon.

The confusion makes sense. The blue flames coming out of Viserion's mouth could easily be confused with ice, but these aren't ice flames — they're just blue flames.

George R.R. Martin has previously said ice dragons are a completely different species, unlike the "common dragons" that we've come to know on the show.

Here's what Martin had to say about ice dragons in "A World of Ice and Fire":

"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 ... As ice dragons supposedly melt when slain, no actual proof of their existence has ever been found."

So it's important to note that turning Viserion into a White Walker or wight dragon did not, in fact, change the type of dragon he is, despite the icy color of his flames. Viserion is now merely an undead dragon with blue pigmentation that mirrors that of an ice dragon.

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