There’s been no holding George RR Martin back ahead of Game of Thrones’ final season, much to the annoyance of HBO, because it’s his world and he’ll do whatever the heck he wants with it.
The latest canon leaked by the 70-year-old has basically confirmed a huge theory tying Jon Snow to Aegon the Conqueror, the first Tagarayen King, who Martin has just let slip knew all about the impending war between the White Walkers and the living, which will presumably be the overriding arc of season eight.
Aegon’s vision became the catalyst for his quest to unite the Seven Kingdoms, which, until now, we’ve been lead to presume was simply a conquest of power, when actually Martin’s latest comments suggest the king was uniting Westeros in preparation for the return of The Night King and his army of the dead.
Legend has it that The Long Night, which took place 8,000 years before the events in Game of Thrones, was a battle between the First Men, The Children of The Forest and The White Walkers, and saw an ice cold darkness loom over Westeros for years.
The Red Witch, Melissandre, often refers to Azor Ahai – aka The Prince That Was Promised – as a chosen warrior who brought an end to the conflict when he destroyed the Others with his sword, the Lightbringer. But according to the religion of Rhellior, practised by The Red Witch, Azor Ahai’s second coming is imminent as The Night King returns to reign his darkness over Westoros.
While it remains unclear how Aegon knew another long night was looming, it appears he either presumed he was himself Azor Ahai or he was preparing his heirs for the battle of all battles, which makes sense following the final scenes of season seven when Jon Snow arrived at King’s Landing with a wight in order to unite the Seven Kingdoms.
What’s more, we’ve now learned Jon Snow isn’t called Jon Snow at all and is in fact Aegon Tagaryen, raising all sorts of problems for his relationship with Daenerys Targaryen (need we say more?), and voila – Aegon’s vision is unfolding before our very eyes.
While Aegon had nothing to protect the Seven Kingdoms from, Jon does, which basically seals the deal: we have our Azor Ahai.
While Daeneyrs will have to come to terms with the fact she’s been sleeping with her nephew, the revelation spells even more bad news for our Mother of Dragons. In the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised, Azor Ahai had to sacrifice his wife by plunging his sword into her heart to make the weapon which would defeat the Others.
Should the prophecy ring true again, unless another resident of Westeros catches Jon’s eye, we’re guessing he’ll be making a similar sacrifice, and as it stands it’s all eyes on Dany.
Game of Thrones returns to HBO and Sky Atlantic in 2018.
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