As you may well have noticed, dragons are shaping up to be kind of a big deal in Game of Thrones. Dragons to Westeros are what Ron Burgundy is to Seventies San Diego. With winter well and truly here, their fiery breath is going to be needed more than ever to keep the icy White Walkers at bay.

It’s not just the fiery creatures that you need to be paying attention too, as a few key places and names in the show have the dragon-prefix. With so much draconem-vocab, you’re forgiven for sometimes mixing your Dragonstone up with your dragonglass – or not knowing what they are in the first place.

But don’t fret, this article is on hand to separate the castles from the mythical creatures as season 8 may start to blur the lines...

What and where is Dragonstone?

Dragonstone is a small island at the entrance to Blackwater Bay, just off the mainland of Westeros. On it is a castle, also called Dragonstone (you can see where this gets confusing). The castle has been shaped from stone to look like dragons. It was the original family seat of the Targaryens, before they conquered Westeros, and where Daenerys was born one stormy night. 

The castle was built using magic, hence the weird and wonderful stone sculptures. The Targaryens and their dragons moved in after Daeneys Targaryen had visions of the Doom. It was then used as a base to breed their dragons before conquering Westeros.

After the Targaryens had been overthrown by Robert Baratheon, he gave the castle to his brother Stannis. It’s a pretty impenetrable fortress, but you wont catch many people eyeing it up as its a bit barren and dingy, and has a lingering smell of sulfur and brimstone. It also commands the allegiance of only a few minor lords — not much good for raising an army. As presents go, it’s not the best. Not sure if you could tell, but Robert and Stannis didn’t like each other much.

What and where is Dragonmont?

Dragonmont is a volcano on the island of Dragonstone. You can find plenty of dragonglass here. Farmers and fishermen live in the villages below Dragonmont. Thanks to the philandering Targaryens, a lot of the small folk are descendants of the ancient dynasty. 

What on earth is dragonglass?

Also known as obsidian, dragonglass is a volcanic glass that is very handy for killing white walkers. You might remember Samwell Tarly using it early on to save Gilly from a white walker — earning him the (sort-of ironic) nickname “Sam the Slayer”. 

The children of the forest make their weapons out of dragonglass. Blades using obsidian are sharper than steel but far more brittle and the Valyrians used to call obsidian frozen fire. Folklore has it that dragonglass is made by dragons, but the Maesters believe it comes from the fires of the earth. Obsidian is actually a type of volcanic rock real world, but the Game of Thrones version is much more magical.

The weapon Arya commissioned from Gendry (a double-sided spear with a detachable blade) is also made of dragonglass, suggesting Arya hopes to get up close and personal with the White Walkers.

Why should I even be paying attention to all this dragon-talk?

It looks as though Game of Thrones is building up to one epic battle between ice and fire (perhaps in the next episode's Battle of Winterfell, perhaps in every episode that follows), white walkers and dragons, the Night’s King and Daenerys. If this plays out the way we’re expecting (although known George RR Martin there are still a few twists and turns waiting), Westeros are going to need a whole heap of dragonglass. So it’s a good job you now know what it is.

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