Dragons and their slayers are classic elements of fantasy fiction, and the last week’s episode of Game of Thrones, “Stormborn“, has placed Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons and their potential demise front and center. With her army now in Westeros, Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal may hold the fate of the Seven Kingdoms in their fiery jaws, and anyone who wants to defeat the Dragon Queen must go through them. This begs the question: who could slay the dragons?
Cersei Lannister
In the latest episode, we learned that Qyburn commissioned a ballista for Cersei that is capable of piercing dragon bone. Basically a giant crossbow, the ballista is certainly a threat to the dragons.
Early in the Targaryen dynasty Meraxes, a dragon belonging to Aegon the Conqueror’s sister, Rhaenys was hit in the eye by a lucky shot from a ballista and plummeted to her death. However, it was a lucky shot. There is a big difference between hitting a giant skull from a few meters away and hitting a flying dragon from long range, especially if said dragon is trying to set you on fire. Cersei’s confidence in her new weapon might be misplaced.
Euron Greyjoy
Euron Greyjoy made a big impression in “Stormborn”, and in the books, he has a magical artifact known as a dragon horn. Once the dragonlords of Valyria use a dragon horn, they can bind a dragon to a human’s will.
The show has made no mention of a dragon horn yet, but with Euron actively courting Cersei’s favor, it may only be a matter of time before he gets hold of one. What better gift to win the hand of a queen than a horn that can bind her enemy’s dragons to her will? Should Cersei and Euron get control of a dragon, Daenerys’s “children” may be forced to fight and kill each other.
An Ice Dragon
Sixteen years before A Game of Thrones was published, George Martin wrote a short story called The Ice Dragon. The Ice Dragon is not set in Westeros, but its world is similar enough that some fans speculate that an ice dragon may turn up somewhere north of the Wall.
With the Night King on his way south and theories about the collapse of the Wall floating about, there is a slim but terrifying possibility that an undead ice dragon may join the Night King’s army and do battle with Daenerys’s. Such a clash would be awesome to see, but it could spell doom for Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal.
Are Daenerys’s dragons powerful? Yes. Are they invulnerable? No. Will they survive the war and all the threats arrayed against them? We can only wait and see.
