Daenerys Targaryen is down to one - SPOILER ALERT - dragon
Game of Thrones is reaching its conclusion with just two final episodes of the show left before the show ends for good.
As we go into the final stretch, we see one of the show's main protagonists - Daenerys Targaryen - with her cadre decimated. Two of her longest serving advisors, Jorah Mormont and Missandei - have been killed, and two of her dragons - Viserion and Rhaegel - have also been dispatched of.
That leaves the increasingly volatile Dany with just Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister and her one remaining dragon, Drogon, as her close and trusted companions.
All in all, it seems like she may be in a world of trouble and prepared to go full Mad Queen.
But a theory emerging ahead of the penultimate episode of the show - and hinted at by a number of clues from both the trailer for that episode and the latest series' intro - posits that all is not yet lost for Dany, and that there may in fact be another, much larger, dragon about to enter the fray.
We have yet to see any of the dragons - each of which was given what sounds like a masculine name despite them essentially just being weird fantasy names - lay eggs. This would suggest they are in fact male.
But discussions among a variety of maesters in the books has seen some suggest that dragons have a fluid gender, and that they are male or female, “now one and now the other, as changeable as flame”.
https://twitter.com/Kayleig37771313/status/1125997867448053762
The theory posits that Drogon - who disappeared in unexplained fashion at the end of season four - may in fact have been laying eggs, rather than be pushed aside from the narrative because of the cost of CGI, like so many dire wolves throughout the years.
This could perhaps explain the choice to use a giant dragon behind three smaller ones in a section of the show's opening sequence, a peculiar choice given that the show featured - at most - just three.
Another rather convincing aspect is the expression on resident arsehole Euron Greyjoy's face when he peers up the cloudy sky during the trailer for episode five of season eight.
Euron used his enormous crossbow to kill Rhaeger in episode four of this season, so one would assume that the sight of Drogon would provoke the same smile it did in the last episode.
Instead, he looks absolutely fucking terrified, leaving many to theorise that this is in fact a much bigger dragon impervious to, well, death.
https://twitter.com/IAmNotLetago/status/1125234901840797698
What exact use this would carry as a narrative device is unknown. The death of Rhaegel and the proof that the crossbows designed by Maester Qyborn and used by Euron and guards at King's Landing has levelled the playing field to an extent, so adding a huge fuck off dragon would tip the scales in the "good" side's favour yet again.
If nothing else, a massive dragon would be quite cool. So we're hoping that's it.
