The Hobbit (v1.0): Routine at 8FE0

The shooter must be carrying the bow (object 25): otherwise 'you are not carrying the bow.' Then, if it would work, it is treated as an attack.

Anyone except Bard: the dragon cannot be hit at all ('the arrow misses the dragon by a wide margin'), and anyone else is missed if a random number from 0 to 8 (9BF4) is below 3.

Bard (object 70) never misses. On a hit the arrow (object 26) is left lying where it fell, 'the arrow hits X.', and a living target is killed outright (96DD); anything else is broken (9257).

So the only way to kill the dragon is to get Bard to shoot it - which is what the HELP message in the lower halls means by 'look to bard'.

The shooter must be carrying the bow (object 25): otherwise 'you are not carrying the bow.' Then, if it would work, it is treated as an attack. Anyone except Bard: the dragon cannot be hit at all ('the arrow misses the dragon by a wide margin'), and anyone else is missed if a random number from 0 to 8 (9BF4) is below 3. Bard (object 70) never misses. On a hit the arrow (object 26) is left lying where it fell, 'the arrow hits X.', and a living target is killed outright (96DD); anything else is broken (9257). So the only way to kill the dragon is to get Bard to shoot it - which is what the HELP message in the lower halls means by 'look to bard'.
8FE0	LD A,$19	Is the actor holding the bow (object 25)?
8FE2	CALL $9BD0	Is the actor holding the bow (object 25)?
8FE5	LD HL,$B013	"you are not carrying the bow."
8FE8	JP NC,$72D4	If not, say so and stop
8FEB	CALL $90B4	Check the target is something that can be attacked at all
8FEE	CALL $9C99	Dry run? Then stop here: it would work
8FF1	LD A,$0F	Treat this as an ordinary attack from now on
8FF3	LD ($B5D8),A	Treat this as an ordinary attack from now on
8FF6	LD A,($B5DB)	Is the actor Bard himself?
8FF9	CP $46	Is the actor Bard himself?
8FFB	JR Z,$9012	Yes: Bard never misses - skip the ordinary chance-to-miss below
8FFD	LD A,($B5D9)	No: is the target the dragon?
9000	CP $3C	No: is the target the dragon?
9002	LD HL,$B019	"the arrow misses the dragon by a wide margin."
9005	JP Z,$72D4	Against the dragon, anyone but Bard always misses
9008	LD A,$08	Anyone else: pick a random number from 0 to 8
900A	CALL $9BF4	Anyone else: pick a random number from 0 to 8
900D	CP $03	Below 3?
900F	JP C,$72D4	Yes: the shot misses (HL still holds the "misses" message)
9012	LD IX,$C3D9	IX = the arrow's own record
9016	LD A,($B5D9)	Is the target the strong arrow itself (an odd edge case)?
9019	CP $1A
901B	JR Z,$9021
901D	LD (IX+$01),$FF	Otherwise the arrow falls to the ground, held by nobody
9021	LD HL,$B028	"the arrow hits X."
9024	CALL $72D4	"the arrow hits X."
9027	LD IX,($B5F8)	IX = the target's own record
902B	CALL $A0F8	Is the target actually alive?
902E	JP NZ,$9257	No: break it instead (STRIKE)
9031	LD A,($B5D9)	Yes: kill it outright
9034	CALL $96DD	Yes: kill it outright
9037	LD A,$06	A = the state code for DEAD
9039	JP $A09C	"the X is dead."