I can give you answers to all of these, as long as you dont mind that The Defenders TV series in no way supports or confirms any of them. In ancient times giant dragons roamed the earth, and died like any other creature. The monks tasked themselves with protecting the Substance left behind by these dragons to prevent evil people from getting ahold of it. They traveled by boats to North America, and then used their mystical powers both to push the bones deep, deep underground and to create a magic shield all the way around the cavern that now housed them, leaving a door as the only access point. The monks did this instead of destroying the Substance, because they could foresee a time when they were so desperate they might need the Substance themselves, and thus made the key the Iron Fist, who would always be a protector of Kun Lun until Danny Rand fucked it up. Oh, and then the mystical energies of these dragons subconsciously led humans to build cities on top of them. Although, the Hand clearly got to the Substance under Pompeii and Chernobyl, because they said they destroyed them hmm the dragon under New York City was the biggest dragon and had the most substance, which made it the one that most needed to be denied to the Hand, and is why New York City is a much, much more major city than Chernobyl or Pompeii. More dragon, more mystical energy, more Substance, more city. And after so many millennia, the Substance became part of the essence of the Earth itselfmysticallyand thus removing would effectively cause a cataclysm in the location it was housed. As for your last question, its because uh by sealing the area off, the Monks effectively made it part of Kun Lun, even though it was thousands of miles from the actual mystical city. So Sigourney Weaver and the rest were speaking metaphorically. Yeah. The Jon Con. W I feel there hasnt been enough discussion about the legitimate reveal that Jon is in fact the legitimate son of Rhaegar and the entire dynamic this imposes on Jon Dany hook up believers. He is in the direct succession to the iron throne. I honestly cannot see how these two would work if this gets exposed to the whole world. Even if it is after she may or may not get pregnant with a mini incest royalty baby, I cannot visualize a way for the plot to just make this situation okay with Jon. I can realistically see Dany dying after all this simply because Jon will in fact always know nothing. Dany cannot possible just stop her quest for total dominance of Westeros just because Jon gets revealed to be the true heir at least lets hope the show writers dont take the easy way out. Its not going to get exposed to the whole world. When Jon finds outif Jon finds out, he could probably fulfill whatever prophecy Rhaegar heard that made him seek out Lyanna Stark and marry her and throw all of Westeros into civil war without ever knowinghes not going to broadcast it. Hell likely tell Dany, who also wont tell anybody, for obvious reasons. And Jon will be fine with that, because there is no one who wants to sit on the Iron Throne less than Jon Snow. Also Jon is absolutely not going to live through the series finale. The Lord of Light brought him back for a purpose when that purpose is fulfilled, he isnt going to be rewarded with a vacation. Thats not how the world of Westeros works. The End Is Not Nigh. James M. Game of Thrones has already surpassed its source material and will possibly finish the entire saga before we even get the penultimate volume in book form. Kingkiller Chronicles is already spinning off televison, movies and video games while we await the concluding volume with bated breath. Stormlight Archive has been greenlit for movie adaptions and realistically the series will not conclude for another 2. We have so many wonderful finished works that remain unadapted. Why are we rushing so much to make film and television of works in progress Because TV and movie studios need to make money constantly, and to do that they need to make content. They look for whats hot right now, not whats finished. Thats a problem for later, and its for the creators and directors and screenwriters and so forthnot the studios. This is true just about anywhere, to be clear. Anime does this a fair amount. Fullmetal Alchemist is the biggest example I can think ofit had a TV show long before the manga was finished, and then just made up its own ending, just like Game of Thrones.