After Rhaegal's devastating death in the last Game of Thrones episode, will Drogon die next? Daenerys is down to just one dragon, and Cersei appears to have upgraded her dragon-killing scorpion machines to a lethal level. Drogon's days may be numbered.
Cersei has planted dozens of these new killer scorpions on the castle walls and there are several more on Euron's ships. While the first iteration of the scorpion failed to pierce Drogon's skin in Season 7, co-showrunner David Benioff said in the "Inside the Episode" for Episode 4 that this is a whole new machine. "Qyburn went back to the drawing board and he made even larger, more powerful scorpions," Benioff said. Fans have only been at Winterfell with Dany and Jon and their troops these last few episodes, but it's clear that Cersei and Euron and their teams were busy prepping for the big war while Dany was exhausting her troops against the dead.
She had exhausted her dragon Rhaegal as well, and he was already injured when they flew to Dragonstone and were ultimately ambushed. Euron was able to take Rhaegal down with just a few arrows from his ship-mounted scorpions. Co-showrunner D.B. Weiss said in the "Inside the Episode" that Drogon could meet a similar fate. "Now she's got one dragon and that dragon presumably is just as vulnerable as Rhaegal was," Weiss said about Drogon.
What Dany has going for her is that Drogon is the strongest of her dragons, and the biggest. Perhaps he won't be taken down as easily as the already-injured Rhaegal. Or, perhaps Dany will be proactive about protecting him. Shortly after Rhaegal's death, Dany flew low towards Euron's ships. It almost seemed like she was studying their weapons. Is she going to craft an armor for Drogon to keep him safe? She may not have the time for such an undertaking, but I wouldn't put it past her. Drogon is not only her greatest weapon, she considers him to be her child. Now that she knows what she's up against, she should take precautions to protect him. She was taken by surprise when Euron killed Rhaegal. Now she is prepared. She isn't likely to be caught in a vulnerable position like that again.
One fan theorized on Reddit that Dany's treatment of her dragons and their actions foreshadowed their fates — and her own. Azutanah1 theorized that, by Dany locking up Rhaegal and Viserion in Season 4, she hindered them from growing as strong as Drogon. That made them more vulnerable to the Euron and the Night King. Drogon, meanwhile, could be a symbol for Dany, said the Reddit user. Remember when Drogon went rogue and killed the goat herder's daughter? Now Dany is also about to go rogue and kill innocent people in King's Landing. If this theory holds true, whatever happens to Dany will likely happen to Drogon and vice versa. If he dies, she may very well die also.
There are two episodes left to reveal Dany's fate and that of Drogon. If she takes precautions with him, he may survive. But if she charges into battle unprepared, he could be taken down just like his brothers were. It used to not be a fair fight that Dany planned to take the throne with her three dragons. But now, with Cersei's scorpions and only one dragon, things are a little more even. And that means anyone could win, and anyone (or any dragon) could die.
