WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season seven.
Game of Thrones' latest episode saw Qyburn's (Anton Lesser) scorpion put into use in battle against the Dothraki, to little effect – but there's a fan theory that might explain how the weapon could be used to defeat Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) dragons after all.
Posting on Reddit, fan Aaron Oliver suggested we haven't seen the last of the scorpion, nor the extent of what Qyburn's weapon is capable of. Pointing out that a "giant crossbow" seems a little tame for someone of Qyburn's nature (he was expelled from being a Maester for human experimentation, after all), he suggests there's more to the scorpion than meets the eye.
The clue is in the name. "Scorpions famously pierce and poison their prey," Aaron writes.
Could Qyburn's scorpion be taking inspiration from the poisonous animal? We know that blades can be treated with poison as Oberyn Martell's (Pedro Pascal) spear was treated with Manticore venom when he stabbed The Mountain. More importantly, Qyburn knows this as well – after all, he's the one that treated The Mountain.
While surely most poisons would have little effect on the dragons, there's one that could fit the bill to take out Drogon and his siblings: basilisk's blood.
It's been stated before that basilisk's blood "if eaten, it produces violent madness... in beasts as well as men. A mouse will attack a lion after a taste of basilisk blood."
If an arrow treated with basilisk's blood shot Drogon, he'd be turned mad – and his taming at the hands of Dany would all come undone. He could turn against her, or his siblings.
Is this the move that could allow Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) to be rid of the Targaryen dragons for good?
