Warning: Major spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8 below.
Game of Thrones season eight came to an end last night drawing mixed reactions from fans.
But in the midst of all of the deaths, memes and stray water bottles at least one of the A Song of Ice and Fire prophecies was fulfilled… sort of.
According to the books, the Prince that was Promised is the prophesied saviour foreseen to save the world from darkness; the legendary figure Azor Ahai reincarnated.
Although viewers had expected it all to turn out a little differently, the season eight finale saw Jon Snow (Kit Harington) fulfil the prophecy by killing Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) thus saving the world from her reign of fire and blood.
The legend goes: ‘There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world,’ as Melisandre tells Ser Davos in the book A Clash of Kings.
‘In this dread hour, a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.’
This seemed to point to the battle against the Night King and the Army of the Dead.
According to the prophecy, this darkness was held back once before by Azor Ahai and his sword Lightbringer.
Years of speculation saw fans guess that several major characters could turn out to be the Prince that was Promised, with Jon being the strongest contender – and it looks like it may have been him after all, but in a roundabout sort of way.
The main facet of the fulfilment of the prophecy relates to Azor Ahai having to temper Lightbringer to bring forth its magic powers by stabbing his beloved wife Nissa Nissa with it.
In last night’s finale, Dany took the more unwilling role of Nissa Nissa and was stabbed by Jon after he declares his love for her.
Then Drogon, seemingly aware that the Iron Throne is the cause of all the madness and death, destroys the throne with his dragon fire.
The myth continues in the books: ‘Once Azor Ahai fought a monster when he thrust his sword through the belly of the beast its blood began to boil.
‘Smoke and steam poured from its mouth, its eyes melted and dribbled down its cheeks and its body burst into flame.
In this case, the Iron Throne itself can be interpreted as the ‘monster’.
There are possibly a million other ways to analyse the events of the finale and how they relate to the sprawling world of George RR Martin’s books, but right now it looks like Jon turned out to be Azor Ahai after all.
All episodes of Game of Thrones season 8 are streaming on NOW TV.
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