Everyone Is Wondering the Exact Same Thing About Daenerys' Dragons in 'Game of Thrones' Season 8, Episode 4

Gina Vaynshteyn - Author
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PUBLISHED May 6 2019, 1:19 a.m. ET

UPDATED May 11 2019, 6:21 p.m. ET

dragons
Source: HBO

Spoiler alert! If you haven't watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones, now's your chance to turn back.

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And then, there was one. We had to say goodbye to yet another dragon in tonight's episode of Game of Thrones. After surviving the Battle of Winterfell, a wounded Rhaegal was taken to King's Landing, where he was killed by Euron Greyjoy. Euron, using the dragon-slaying crossbow Qyburn had been working on, took out Rhaegal in two shots — one to the heart, and the second through the throat. 

We see the dragon spitting out blood as he falls into the ocean, and it's presumed he's dead-dead. But is he really? And does Daenerys truly only have one dragon left? 

Is Rhaegal definitely dead? It seems so, but you never know.

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rhaegal
Source: HBO

There's always the possibility for a twist (Jon Snow was brought back from the dead, after all). Toward the end of the episode, Cersei asks Euron if he's certain that the dragon is really dead, and he tells her he saw Rhaegal sink into the sea. When there's no body, and a character has to ask if something is "really dead" it could totally mean they're not really dead. 

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Unfortunately Rhaegal's death seemed pretty final, and co-showrunner Dan Weiss confirms it in the After the Episode clip. 

Plus, Rhaegal's death sets up a totally new path for Daenerys.

Daenerys has been through hell and back, but she's now on the final stretch toward the Iron Throne. And...things are not going well. She lost most of her army to the Night King. She lost Jorah, a man who arguably loved her the most and had her very best interests at heart (can you say that for any of her remaining advisors?). She realizes that people love Jon Snow more than they love her. And then to top it all off, Euron murders her dragon son, and Cersei has her best friend and confidante Missandei beheaded. 

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Dany is at a huge disadvantage, emotionally and army-wise. Is she really equipped to take on King's Landing with only one dragon and like, ten soldiers? Rhaegal's death was a big turning point for Dany, who now may resort to "whatever it takes" to get her Iron Throne. And it won't be pretty.

But could Dany ever get more dragons?

Before Daenerys received her dragon eggs as a wedding present from Illyrio Mopatis (her host and benefactor in Pentos), it was thought that all dragons had gone extinct. Illyrio told Dany that the eggs came from the Shadowlands beyond Asshai. He also tells her that the eggs had been turned to stone, but they sure were pretty to look at. 

So how do we know that there aren't more dragon eggs left? We don't, really. And if Dany gets her hands on more eggs, there's nothing stopping her from hatching them herself, since she does just fine in flames. 

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Could Drogon have more dragons?

It's assumed that Drogon is a male dragon, since he was named after Khal Drogo. However, we learned in A Feast for Crows that dragons are actually gender fluid. "Dragons are neither male nor female. Barth saw the truth of that, but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame." Does this mean Drogon could lay eggs? Maybe...but wouldn't he/she been able to long ago? Nothing is for certain in Game of Thrones

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Especially since we know Drogon went on a little holiday to Valyria in Season 5. We can spot him (them?) flying around the realm while Jorah has Tyrion held captive in a boat (skip to 3:55). Could this mean Drogon was able to lay eggs in the very place dragons are said to have originated? 

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Dragons have a complicated background—and not much is known about them.

In the books, we know that House Targaryen employed the last dragons to conquer the Seven Kingdoms (exactly how Dany planned to do). This was 300 years before the War of Five Kings. Most of the dragons left died in the Dance of Dragons, which was yet another war that occurred 170 years before the War of Five Kings. 

Dragons became smaller and smaller until they became the size of cats. They eventually went extinct—until Dany was able to hatch three of her own. Still, this goes to show that while dragons were thought to be lost forever, they did eventually come back. This could give us hope that Drogon isn't the final surviving dragon in Westeros.

Game of Thrones airs every Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. EST.

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