What is the City of the Winged Men in House of the Dragon?

In Episode 3 of House of the Dragon Season 3, Daemon mentioned to Rhaenyra something that many fans may not have heard of. During their conversation, he said in particular, “They say there is a city at the edge of the world where men have wings.” This line is certainly a reference to the City of the Winged Men.

In Westerosi lore, it is a legendary city in far eastern Essos located on the northwestern shore of the Hidden Sea within the Mountains of the Morn. It is famous for the legend that the city’s inhabitants possessed leather wings and were able to fly like eagles.

While Daemon’s mention of the term may only be a nudge to the rich lore of the Game of Thrones world, it’s also a great way to bring back the discussion on George R.R. Martin and HBO’s spinoff plans, which include The Golden Empire set in Yi Ti, a place in proximity to the City of the Winged Men.

House of the Dragon’s City of the Winged Men Reference, Explained

The City of the Winged Men is one of the most enigmatic locations mentioned in Martin’s expanded world, situated in the far eastern reaches of Essos on the northwestern shores of the Hidden Sea, deep within the mysterious Mountains of the Morn.

Unlike the better-documented civilizations of the Free Cities or Yi Ti, the region exists almost entirely on the margins of recorded history, with its geography and inhabitants known only through fragmented accounts preserved by traders, travelers, and maesters in The World of Ice and Fire.

According to these accounts, the inhabitants of the City of the Winged Men possess great leathery wings that allow them to soar through the skies like eagles, a claim that many scholars inside the world dismiss as an exaggeration. Others cite it as evidence of the extraordinary mysteries that lie beyond the known world.

The scarcity of reliable firsthand records leaves the truth deliberately ambiguous, making the city representative of Martin’s recurring theme that distant lands become increasingly mythologized as they fade from the reach of conventional knowledge.

Daemon’s mention of the City of the Winged Men reflects his belief that dragons could conquer even the most distant lands. He argues that Team Black’s unmatched number of dragons gives Rhaenyra the power to build an unassailable empire, far greater than that of Old Valyria or Aegon the Conqueror.

HBO’s The Golden Empire Can Explore These Legendary Winged Men

George R.R. Martin / Credits: Authors at Google on YouTube

The Golden Empire is an animated spinoff in development that explores the distant empire of Yi Ti, opening the door to many of the mysterious civilizations that exist beyond the lands seen in the main series. The setting could naturally feature the legendary Winged Men, which many of us haven’t encountered in any of the existing prequels.

Martin confirmed in 2022 that The Golden Empire is an upcoming project that he’s excited about. He wrote on his website, Not A Blog:

Over on the animated side… well, I am not allowed to talk about most of what’s happening, except to say that things are moving very fast, and I love love love some of the concept art I am seeing. And.. wait, come to think of it, the news leaked several months ago that one of the animated shows would be set in Yi Ti. That’s true. Our working title is THE GOLDEN EMPIRE, and we have a great young writer on that one too, and I think the art and animation is just going to be beautiful.

Because Yi Ti is the closest area to the City of the Winged Men in Essos, it has the opportunity to expand on legendary places and peoples that have only been mentioned in the lore. If HBO embraces the deeper mythology of the region, The Golden Empire could finally bring these enigmatic winged inhabitants and their fabled city to the screen for the first time.

Would you like HBO to explore the City of the Winged Men? Share your thoughts in the comments!

House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max.