Last night, Game of Thrones viewers were treated to the sight of a brand-new toy in the Lannister armada. Thanks to Westeros' very own Olivia Pope-style fixer, Qyburn, Cersi and Co. got a very large and presumably dragon-slaying crossbow. The massive projectile-shooting weapon may be new to Cersi, but it turns out that the Lannisters do play favorites, because Mashable points out that the crossbow seems to be the weapon of choice for the family.
The most obvious throwback? Die-hard GoT fans will recall that King Joffrey used a crossbow to seduce Margaery Tyrell, not that she needed much encouragement to climb her way to the seat of power. In another memorable (and decidedly less sexy) scene, Joffrey points a crossbow at a weeping Sansa Stark.
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But it's not just psychopathic despots who like to play with crossbows. It may be about accessibility over preference. Remember: Tyrion also used a crossbow to kill his own father, Tywin.
So, it seems that Cersi's new harpoon-sized, spear-launching weapon is merely keeping certain family traditions alive. For anyone that's fearful for the current brood of dragons, keep in mind that Qyburn's demonstration on Balerion's skeleton wasn't exactly how the weapon would work out on the battlefield. For one, Dany's dragons are very much alive, not defenseless, chained-up skeletons. Also, Qyburn's shot was from point-blank range, which may explain how the spear flew into its intended target in such an impressive way.
After orchestrating that fiasco at the Sept of Baelor in season 6, viewers know that the man has a flair for theatrics. He was just giving his audience of one exactly what she wanted to see.
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