Now, 5 Ways to Kill A Dragon
Game of Thrones Night King and Goliath Story
Most fans were so busy considering the implications of the Night King’s Olympics-worthy javelin skills that they didn’t consider the larger implications of what had just happened.
If I asked 1000 committed Game of Thrones Fans, “How can you kill a dragon?” They would most likely respond:
- Fire (see Night’s Watch away expeditions and follies, see Dragons in Season 7)
- Dragonglass (see NIght’s Watch expeditions and follies, Children of the Forest etc.)
- Valyrian Steel (See Jon Snow killing White Walkers with Longclaw).
- A well placed arrow or spear to the eye of a Dragon (multiple examples in the books).
But “Beyond the Wall” added a 4th category of Dragon Killer, the ICE SPEAR. In all of my reading, and re-reading, I only remember one reference to a spear that wasn’t to the eye taking down a dragon and it was a through the neck.
Dragon scales are tough.
Usually you can only kill a dragon by shooting a projectile through the eye (by far the most vulnerable spot on a dragon).
Some people suggested you could kill a dragon by attacking it’s undercarriage but Tyrion (in the books one of the foremost experts in the world on dragon lore) considers that nonsense because dragon scales are too tough (even on the .
So, I think we might have just found a fifth way to kill a dragon (Ice).
Remember, The Night King is not the only player looking for ways to kill dragons (Cersei) and while she doesn’t have this information yet (as far as we know) she and Qyburn are actively searching for solutions to their “dragon problems.”
It sure seemed like Ice did more immediate damage to a dragon than anything we have seen before, either that or The Night King has magic dragon-killing powers in addition to all of his other abilities (raising the dead, warging, greenseeing, looking intimidating in black & blue etc.). Don’t get me wrong, it could have just been a perfect toss, but it shouldn’t have done the damage it did based on where it hit.
Just a heads up, Ice and Fire may kill dragons.
Which Dragon “Died”
The consensus seems to be that the dead (and reanimated) dragon who died in the “Beyond the Wall” episode was Viserion. Which leaves Daenerys with Drogon and Rhaegal.
How Can The Night King Ride Viserion?
There has been a long-running fan theory that ‘only those with Targaryen blood could ride Dragons’ (and two other theories speculating that Jon and Tyrion were both Targaryen’s which explains why they both could approach dragons on the show without getting themselves roasted).
While we now know that Jon is a Targaryen, apparently, you can now be a non-Targaryen (or at least a dead person) and still ride a dragon (see The Dragon and the Wolf). So, we at least know that this theory has been at least partially debunked.
Also, to clarify, Dragons can have multiple riders (as long as the original rider is dead) but, as lore suggests, no rider ever rode two dragons — source “A Dance With Dragons,” Daenerys VIII).
Let me know if you have any thoughts about the implications of the “Ice Spear.”
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