Warning: Contains Spoilers
Remember when Daenerys Targaryen first hatched her dragons and they were so little and vulnerable and sweet?
It was a simpler time, when we couldn’t even imagine tiny dragon brothers Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal being used as lethal weapons of war.
Sadly, out of the magnificent trio, only Drogon remains. Viserion was of course transformed into a hideous ice zombie while Rhaegal was murdered by Euron’s fleet. I know I speak for many Game of Thrones fans when I say we are broody for baby dragons…
Could it be that we may well be hearing the pitter-patter of little dragon feet? Some fans certainly think so, and have given this theory a great deal of thought.
One person, who is clearly well versed in Westerosi lore, brought up a very interesting theory on Reddit.
This clever fan – who has fittingly given Samwell Tarly their vote for the throne – thinks they know precisely why Drogon went AWOL for most of season five. He was on maternity leave.
This fan mused:
I saw this theory some time ago but I didn’t care at the time. But after I saw the ep5 promo I started to think.
This theory says that in the fifth season, when Drogon spends almost a whole season gone, hes actually laying eggs and is in fact a female that’s why he was burning fields full of sheep, goats and etc to feed the baby dragons.
He’s the only one who disappeared, the only one who drove herds and took them all like roasted sheep. What made me rethink this theory was after I saw an EP5 promo where Euron Greyjoy looks up at the sky and hears a roar of himself. Hears that the grunt is very different and gets scared.
Since he has seen the dragons for a long time he wouldn’t be scared for just a dragon, but what if there’s more dragons?
The keen-eyed Redditor isn’t the only one making us question how many dragons Daenerys still has after Euron Greyjoy actor Pilou Asbaek posted a cryptic pic to Instagram.
Now we are all used to thinking of Drogon as a boy dragon, having of course been named after Daenerys’ late husband Khal Drogo. However, could it be that – to paraphrase Jurassic Park – nature has found a way?
The Redditor continued:
Note: Before you say that Drogon is male I have to explain 2 things.
1 – Septon Barth believed that dragons had no sex defined, meaning that they could change sex if needed. Maester Aemon also agreed with Barth, reminding that Barth spent a lot of time studying dragons since he was the right hand of King Jaehaerys I, that is, if someone in Westeros knew the dragons well it was him.
2 – There another theory that is more acceptable, which is that there is no way of knowing the sex of a dragon only if they laid eggs. In [the] Targaryen family there was a dragon named Vermax and everyone though that he was a male because of his name but then one day he laid eggs. But how would they have eggs without having sex?
There is a thing called parthenogenesis, which is an action originated from an egg without fertilization, for example the Komodo Dragon, when it is a female, can simply reproduce without the male!
Perhaps the prospect of becoming a proud Grandmother of Dragons would be enough to keep Daenerys from spiraling into complete Mad Queen territory…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.