Warning: Spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 4, "The Last of the Starks" ahead.
The body count continues to rise on Game of Thrones, with Daenerys Targaryen's travels toward King's Landing resulting in the death of her dragon child, Rhaegal.
After just one night of revelry following the Battle of Winterfell, Dany is back on her bullshit and ready to take King's Landing from Cersei. Despite Sansa's protestations (obviously the armies need to rest after defeating, you know, DEATH ITSELF), Daenerys is intent on attacking her newest enemy before she becomes too powerful. Little does Daenerys know that Cersei has some giant, dragon-slaying arrows on her side.
Daenerys and her retinue choose to travel by boat to Dragonstone to plan their next move, but Euron and his new weapon—a massive bow-and-arrow contraption known colloquially as "the Scorpion"—swiftly take out Rhaegal and destroy most of Dany's fleet.
It was horrifying, honestly.
The Internet is not pleased, with many Game of Thrones Twitter fans mourning Rhaegal and calling for Daenerys to avenge his death.
Rhaegal wasn't the only Game of Thrones character to meet their demise in tonight's episode. In the melee following Euron's attack on Daenerys and her fleet, agents of Cersei kidnapped Missandei. In the episode's final moments, Cersei executed her in front of Daenerys and her advisors as they attempted to negotiate peace, no doubt setting in motion Daenerys's "Last War." Her descent into villainy seems likely.
Game of Thrones Season 8 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.
Julie Kosin is the senior culture editor of ELLE.com, where she oversees all things movies, TV, books, music, and art, from trawling Netflix for a worthy binge to endorsing your next book club pick. She's the former director of audience strategy and entertainment at HarpersBAZAAR.com. When not glued to her laptop, she can be found taking pictures of her dog or haunting used bookstores.
