Song of Ice and Fire 2 | Monday Knights Old

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE (PART TWO)

DM Doug - Apr 21 - 2016

Hey Folks! In this article I will discuss some of the more pertinent theories that I think are likely for the upcoming Sixth Season of Game of Thrones. I’ll put as much historical information as I can to help explain my thoughts on these ideas. Some of these ideas are very popular on the internet, such as R+L=J, and have a certain pedigree to them because of this. It is important to note that NONE of these THEORIES is guaranteed in any way. The show and the books are caught up with each other now, so in fact – No one but George and the Show-runners has any solid idea of any of this. But it is fun to speculate. So here's four theories....

JON’S RESURRECTION

Ok. Jon died horribly at the end of the last season. REALLY horribly. Kit Harrington swears that his character is in fact truly dead. The other actors and producers swear the same thing. Done deal right? I doubt it.

For one, Jon is spectacularly important to the show as I will describe later, and why would they set Jon up as the opponent of the Night’s King if they were going to kill him? Remember that stare-off they had as Jon and the remaining Wildlings were sailing their ships away from Hardhome. Too intense!

Second, Jon may not be completely dead and be healed by friendly characters (Davos Seaworth? Melisandre?) It is hugely important to note that Melisandre came back just in time for this to happen. She has never shown the powers of Healing and Resurrection that her fellow Red Priest, Thoros of Myr, had – but she did meet him and he proved it was possible. But why would she bother? Why would Jon be important to her? She is quoted as saying when asked if her fires show her Stannis (Whom she believes is the prophesied Azor Ahai) “When I search for him all I see is snow”. Not a huge leap to assume there should be a capitalized “S” in snow. Could Jon Snow be Azor Ahai, The Prince that was Promised?

Third, Jon Snow as a Stark Child does have the ability to Warg into his wolf, and I think it is a very cool thought that Jon Warg’s into Ghost to preserve himself as he is dying and this allows him to be resurrected by Melisandre.

R + L = J

Who is Jon Snow’s Mother? This theory is very popular and it makes so much sense. We’ll need a bit of history to explain this one. Remember that Robert’s Rebellion was started for a very specific reason – Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, son of the Mad King Aerys II, and brother of Daenerys, supposedly kidnapped Ned Stark’s sister Lyanna Stark, who was betrothed to Robert Baratheon at the time. So Robert set out to defeat the Targaryen’s and win himself a kingdom and rescue his love Lyanna.

In the history, about one year after her abduction, at the end of the war, Lord Eddard Stark and six of his companions (Howland Reed, Lord Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, and Ser Mark Ryswell) approached the tower of Joy (So named by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen). They found it guarded by three members of the Kingsguard (Ser Arthur Dayne, Ser Oswell Whent, and Lord Commander Gerold Hightower). Eddard and Howland were the only survivors of the resulting battle. Eddard had the tower torn down to build cairns for the eight deceased.

After the fight, Lyanna Stark was found dying inside the tower by her brother, Eddard. She was found covered in a great amount of her own blood, and according to the book, she made Ned make her a promise. We are never told what that promise is.

So let’s take a look at this. According to Ned, when he returned from the war, he came home with his bastard son, by a woman named Wylla, who has never truly been identified. I think from the one season that we got to know Ned, we have an understanding of his single-minded honor and unwavering morals. Ned would not cheat on his wife. He just wouldn’t. But he would make a promise to his beloved sister to hide the identity of her child (as a Targaryen) and raise him as his own, and would honor that till his death. Remember that scene in season one where Robert is asking him about his mistress. That pained look on his face. It is obvious something else is going on here.

Let’s explore that Robert was a bit of a dense, violent, uncouth, womanizing ruffian who Lyanna was not particularly looking forward to marrying. What if she was not kidnapped at all, but rather ran away with her true love Rhaegar, and died giving birth to his child one year later, Jon Snow. This would make Jon a Targaryen and a legitimate heir to the throne. This makes Jon a VERY important character. It makes much more sense than Ned Stark completely abandoning his morals and fathering a bastard through a forgettable mistress.

JON IS AZOR AHAI

The Red Woman serves the Lord of Light – R’hllor, the god of Flame and Shadow, The Red God. R'hllor's antithesis is the Great Other, the god of ice and death. They are locked in an eternal struggle over the fate of the world; a struggle that, according the ancient prophecies from the books of Asshai, will only end when Azor Ahai, the messianic figure, returns wielding a flaming sword called Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and raises dragons from stone.

Melisandre has attached herself to Stannis Baratheon under the premise that she believes he is Azor Ahai, whose home base is at Dragonstone on the edge of the Narrow Sea. She converts him to her religion and sees many visions that guide her as she guides Stannis. She helps him remove his brother, Renly, from contesting the throne by killing him with a shadow creature with Stannis’ face. She convinces him that he needs to conquer the North to truly rule as King of the Seven Kingdoms.

This culminates with her convincing him that to win against the Boltons and capture Winterfell, he must sacrifice his own daughter and use her King’s Blood to assure victory by melting the snow that is holding his army back. After she sees the repercussions of this event – Most of Stannis’ army deserting him, and taking all of the horses, she realizes that perhaps she has misinterpreted her visions. Maybe she was wrong about Stannis being Azor Ahai. She completely abandons him and heads back to Castle Black.

She had sensed something in Jon when they met. I’m not sure if she can smell Royal blood or not, but she seemed to sense that Gendry had royal blood when she met him and took him back to Dragonstone. And as described previously, Jon may very well have royal blood in him. There is a quote from Melisandre that could hold hidden meaning – when asked if her fires show her Stannis (Whom she believes is the prophesied Azor Ahai) she says “When I search for him all I see is snow”. I think she is suspicious that Jon might be Azor Ahai.

Jon has done some pretty amazingly heroic things north of the wall. He has saved the remaining Wildlings and brought them south of the wall. He went up against a white walker and destroyed it with his Valyrian Steel blade – Long Claw. The Night’s King locked eyes ominously with Jon after the battle at Hardhome, as if he sensed Jon’s specialness as well. Azor Ahai is the one who will save the world from the Great Other, the god of Ice and Death. The White Walkers are actually a race of beings descendant from the Children of the Forest who are called “The Others”.

I think with Jon's death, he will be resurrected but somehow changed. Having died, his vows to the Watch are null and void. This will allow him to do what he needs to do......As Azor Ahai.

THE THREE TARGARYENS

The show seems to revolve around three main characters. The story has a huge amount of POV characters, but the perspective of three characters seems to define the story. Those three characters are Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, and Tyrion Lannister. Dany shows us what is going on in Essos, half a world away; the story of her gathering her armies to re-take Westeros as its rightful Queen. Jon shows us what is going on at the wall and beyond; telling the story of the coming invasion of the White Walkers and their wights. And Tyrion shows us the intrigue of what is going on with the rest of the Seven Kingdoms.

We’ve already explored that Jon could be a secret Targaryen, but what about Tyrion? We have to look at his complicated relationship with his family and Tywin in particular. Tyrion could be a child of the Mad King Aerys II. In the history of the story it is told that Aerys had his eye on Joanna Lannister, and there is speculation that he raped or seduced her at some point, possibly leading to Tyrion’s birth and Joanna’s death. This is speculation.

The only family member who does not seem to hate him is his brother Jaime. Cersei blames him for her mother’s death, and Tywin has a distinct hatred towards him. Perhaps Tywin just blames him for Joanna’s death, but what if he knew Tyrion was not his? Why would he even keep him alive? Tywin did truly love Joanna, much more than any other person in the world. It is rumored that he even smiled when he was married. Perhaps, similar to Ned Stark, Joanna made him promise to let the child live and grow up as a lannister. Such a hatred he holds for Tyrion.

So this theory is not as strong as some of the others, but – there are three Dragons (Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion) and they all need riders, who need to be Targaryen…..