Entertainment

Cersei’s Scene In The DragonPit On ‘GOT’ Could Be The Biggest Clue We’ve Gotten So Far

by Ani Bundel
HBO

This post contains spoilers from “Game Of Thrones” Season 7, Episode 2. 

This week's episode of Game of Thrones showed us a chilling scene of Cersei and Qyburn in a location we've never seen before. In fact, it's not just a location we've never seen, but until last week, it was one no one on screen had ever bothered mention. It's called "The Dragonpit."

As was mentioned in passing last week, there are (or were) three major historical landmarks in the capital city of King's Landing. The first is the Red Keep. The second is (or was) the Great Sept of Baelor. The third is The Dragonpit.

What is it? Well, today it stands as a dusty old ruin, filled with gigantic skulls of the first dragons who invaded Westeros all those years ago, which Robert had removed from the throne room after he became king. But originally, the Dragonpit was the place where the Targaryen's kept their dragons after the conquest.

Much like Dany in Meereen, the Targaryens who settled down to rule the Seven Kingdoms with their dragons discovered an issue. Dragons like barbecued meat. They like it young, and tender. And though we would love their choice to stick to lambs, or goat kids, or fawns, in reality, children are fair game to them. And like Dany, they didn't want their dragons killing small children. So they built this space to house them.

It is noted in The World of Ice and Fire that no "pit-raised" dragon ever reached the size of the originals, suggesting that forcing dragons to live with roofs over their heads is not the right way to raise them.

So what is the significance of tonight's foray into this famous landmark space that no one ever mentioned before this year?

HBO

First, the revelation of the crossbow style weapon that Qyburn has had secretly made. Turns out that moment with Drogon in Meereen has reached the ears of Qyburn's little birds. And while some of us took that as Dany "getting out dodge," he took the lesson that Drogon was, for better or worse, injured. Could we see Cersei take down one of Dany's babies?

HBO

Second, and perhaps just as importantly, the Dragonpit has been rumored to be a secret place where the production is planning to make a major location this season. If Team Targaryen, Jon Snow and Co, and the last of the Lannisters do decide they must band together against the oncoming threat from north of the Wall, it will be a hard thing to do in public.

These sorts of political deals that end wars are not done in throne rooms, but in secret, sometimes smoke-filled backrooms. The part we see in public has already been decided upon before the players hit their marks and say their lines. This would make a fantastic space in which to have our main characters meet together, in the shadows of dragon skulls, and discover that they have a common enemy that binds them together.