You're Fired: Did 'Game Of Thrones' Just Kill Off A Dragon Without Us Knowing?

As fans of HBO's Game of Thrones are still feeling the "burn" from Season 7's "The Spoils of War," it seems that neither the Lannister nor Targaryen forces are quite as military savvy as we first thought. Some pretty major players have been left with their lives hanging in the balance, while most are worrying whether our favorite twincest brother will survive his dip in the river. But perhaps we should be focusing our attentions elsewhere.

Before #DaenerysTargaryen even took to the skies on her flying steed, she was warned that "all it takes is one arrow," and the episode conveniently saw one arrow (nearly) bring down our Khaleesi. While Missandei's comment was directly aimed at Daenerys herself, the advisor's words may have actually foreshadowed the fate of Drogon the dragon.

Interestingly, #Drogon was directly named after Jason Momoa's long-deceased Khal Drogo, and "The Spoils of War" may just have teased a similar fate for our scaly firestarter. Sure, Jaime Lannister may not have gone from Kingslayer to Dragonslayer, but we may just have seen Jerome Flynn's Bronn of the Blackwater take up that mantle.

You're poison running through my veins.

While a pronged ballista seemed like enough to take down an inanimate dragon's skull at King's Landing, Maester Qyburn's weapon wasn't quite as effective on a moving target in the field of battle. That being said, the wicked sorcerer has clearly learned a thing or two during his time at the capital and whispers from the Little Birds suggests that the Lannisters may have poisoned their dragon-damaging secret weapon.

Note the coincidence that Qyburn cutely named his weapon "Scorpion." While it certainly beats Oathkeeper, Widow's Wail, or Heart Eater, the name could give us a clue about the extent of Drogon's injuries when he took that arrow to the shoulder. Also, remember that while the super-sized Drogon is glimpsed alive and kicking in the next episode, "Eastwatch," Khal Drogo seemed as happy as Larry until just before his tragic death.

For whatever reason, Season 7 of the show is taking a more refined approach to its murderous streak. For the time being, swapping out a good ol' slit throat for a sip of poison seems to be the current Lannister MO. We have already seen Olenna Tyrell and Tyene Sand succumb to the poison of the lions, and it could be Drogon who is the latest to feel the sting from their tail. Redditor Konfliction notes that there would be some poetic justice of Drogon sustaining a wound to the shoulder (albeit the opposite to Drogo), and then succumbs to some dark poison.

Fire In The Hole

While Drogon will presumably keep flying as Dany's golden boy, who is to say that the injuries won't affect him later down the line? There are of course rumors of ice dragons appearing before this season is out, so imagine Daenerys losing one dragon to White Walkers and one to the Lannisters. That being said, while Rhaegal or Viserion may not be as big as Drogon, the Mother of Dragons could still take King's Landing with two firebreathers short of a full BBQ. Either way I wouldn't fancy being toasted like a smore in the Iron Throne room.

The arrow clearly hurt our flying blowtorch, but fans have seen Drogon come out of much worse when he was turned into a giant pincushion in the fighting pits of Meereen. Also, while the poison idea adds another interesting element, Qyburn didn't even allude to this being his "Maester" plan when he was showing off his "pointy end" to Cersei during the unveiling of Scorpion.

It is certainly a nice theory, I'm just not quite buying it. I am no dragon favoritest, but Drogon is clearly the top dog out of Dany's three and I can't see Drogon going anywhere before Dany at least attempts to take King's Landing. With Daenerys already having lost Drogo as the "Sun" in her life, surely we can't take her other fireball too?