Warning: beware spoilers for Game of Thrones: “The Spoils of War”!
The latest Game of Thrones episode “The Spoils of War” featured a surprise attack on the Lannister army as the Dothraki charged on horseback and Daenerys Targaryen flew in on her largest dragon, Drogon. As dragonfire bombing runs lit up the battlefield (and dozens of Lannister soldiers), it looked like it would be an easy victory -- until Bronn manned Maester Qyburn’s scorpion (aka ballista, aka huge freakin’ crossbow) and managed to land a shot in Drogon’s shoulder. That was enough to ground the great beast, but it wasn’t even close to a lethal blow, which begs the question, how do you kill a dragon?
The answer lies in the history books of Westeros.
The most notable solution comes from the tale of Meraxes, the dragon ridden by Rhaenys Targaryen, the wife (and sister) of Aegon the Conqueror. While assaulting Dorne, a scorpion bolt went straight into the eye of Meraxes, sending the dragon crashing to its death. The eyes are an obvious target given that they are one of the few spots on a dragon not protected by thick, armor-like scales. Plus, there’s a nice squishy brain right behind them that won’t like being poked, either. The skull of Meraxes was sent back to King’s Landing as a warning, where it now serves as target practice.
That same key weakness was the downfall of another dragon during a riot in King’s Landing that took place towards the end of the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons (more on that in a minute, it’s not as fun as it sounds). Then-king Aegon III hated dragons and had them chained up in the city’s dragon pit. Fed up with the travesty wrought upon society by the war, a preacher riled up the common folk and decided to make an example out of the dragons, the symbol of the ruling House Targaryen. While there aren’t many details on precisely how they were all killed, one was shot in the eye with a crossbow bolt, half blinding it and giving the mob the chance it needed to put the dragon down.
Over the course of the Dance of the Dragons, most dragons weren’t killed by humans but other dragons. The Targaryens split into two factions in a fight for the throne and rode their dragons into battle against one another. Queen Cersei most certainly doesn’t have any dragons on her side, so she’s going to have to get creative.
Or someone who works for her will. That leads us to the fan theory that Qyburn might have added a little something extra to the tips of the scorpion bolts: poison. When we first met him, Qyburn was able to cure the Mountain of poisoning -- if by cure you mean turn into a zombie warrior. He was also able to procure the exact same poison Ellaria Sand used to kill Myrcella, plus he was stripped of his maester’s chain for being a mad scientist, so it’s easy to assume he’d have the means to concoct or acquire a poison potent enough to kill dragons. There’s no history to support the effectiveness of poisoning a dragon, but the theory isn’t a bad idea, and it’s one that’ll have us curious to hear an update on Drogon’s health in the coming episodes.
There are a couple other dragon takedowns that happened during the Dance of the Dragons that are worth noting.
During a large scale naval battle called the Battle in the Gullet, the dragon Vermax flew too low and crashed into the water, but before we could find out if dragons can swim, Vermax got entangled in the rigging of a wrecked ship and drowned. His rider, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, survived the crash but was killed soon after by enemy crossbowmen. Another, much younger dragon named Stormcloud was able to escape the battle and deliver its rider, a 9 year-old Aegon, safely to Dragonstone, only to die from the wounds it suffered during the battle after being peppered with numerous arrows and scorpion bolts.
This doesn’t help Cersei much, as even though Rhaegal and Viserion are smaller from being kept in captivity, they have are old enough to have developed thick hides. Arrows would probably bounce off them just as pathetically as they did against Drogon’s chest during the supply train battle. At best, this particular history lesson shows that dragons don’t fare as well while flying over water. If Cersei’s army could lure a dragon out to sea and find a way to encumber it, then they might be able to send it to a watery grave. Then again, if that doesn’t pan out, enjoy the short remainder of your cruise aboard a flammable wooden ship.
Now, we’ve been analyzing all of this from Cersei’s point of view, but she isn’t the only threat to Dany’s dragons. The Night’s King is slowly (very slowly) making his way south, and a clash with Dany’s forces seems inevitable. We’ve seen how the Night’s King can raise the dead to fight under his control, so imagine the power he’ll wield if he’s able to reanimate and command a fallen dragon. As we’ve already covered, the best way to take down a dragon is with another dragon, so if one does get killed, then it’ll give the Night’s King a weapon to slay the others and eliminate their White Walker-killing dragonfire from the equation.
What do you think of Cersei’s chances when it comes to facing Dany’s dragons? Do you think the Night’s King will get himself an ice dragon? How would you take down one of these monsters? Let us know your schemes in the comments.
For more Game of Thrones goodness, check out our weekly show Dragons on the Wall.
Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
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