Why The Mountain is Azor Ahai – Game of Thrones theory

The Azure Ahai prophecy is explicitly outlined only in the books but is mentioned and eluded to in the show. This could mean a number of things that we ought to be aware of. The first is that the prophecy could be different from book to show and thus Azor Ahai could be different from the book to the show.

A similar example might be the Valonqar prophecy. In the books it is suggested that Cercei would die at the hand of “the Valonqar”, however this line is omitted from the TV show. We don’t know why it was omitted, perhaps because the story would play out differently, or simply it was cut due to something like time constraints. Nevertheless we should be conscious that the books and shows are quite different from each other and that probably will affect future events in a big way.

So let’s take a look at the prophecy itself and see where it lines up with Ser Gregor. This is taken from A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

According to the prophecy, as recounted by Melisandre, these are the indicators of the coming of Azor Ahai:
After a long summer, when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world
He shall be born again amidst smoke and salt
He shall wake dragons out of stone
He shall draw from the fire a burning sword, Lightbringer

Let’s start where it says, “After a long summer”, since the show is set after a long summer this seems like a more broad indicator that whoever Azor Ahai might be, that they’re probably alive at the time Game of Thrones is set, the same could probably be said for where it reads, “the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world”. However, “when stars bleed” is something a little more specific. We’ve seen how Daenerys was “reborn” with her Dragons at the end of season one where we saw what could be interpreted as a “bleeding star”; we’ve also seen how Jon Snow was born near a symbolic bleeding star at the end of season six, but what about The Mountain?

Now, at this point I’d like to point out that when I refer to “The Mountain” I’m specifically talking about the reborn mountain as seen at throughout season five. This is important because when we take a look at the line “when stars bleed” we have something that fits rather well, the rise of the Sparrows, signified by the literal bleeding seven-pointed star they cut onto their foreheads. This (in my opinion) fits the prophecy better than Daenerys’s red comet or Jon’s “bleeding star” at the end of season 6. This is a star and it literally bleeds.

The next line of the prophecy “He shall be born again amidst smoke and salt”, is also somewhat specifically relevant to The Mountain. For Daenerys and Jon, this is less clear, but with Ser Gregor, salt and smoke are two things you might find abundantly in somewhere such as Qyburn’s laboratory. The very place The Mountain was “born again”.

The line, “He shall wake dragons out of stone” can only really attributed to Daenerys at this stage. It could be the part of the prophecy that indicates it can ONLY be Daenerys, but for that we then have to accept that Jon Snow is out of the running and to that end, the prophecy has been answered.

However, if we look at the symbology of Game of Thrones we could possibly assume that the dragons are a reference to Targarians and that the stone could be a reference to Dragonstone. The reference might indicate that The Mountain will try and draw out Targarian forces from Dragonstone, which could be seen as waking Dragons from stone. It’s a bit of a long shot but as are most prophecies, especially in Game of thrones.

The next line, “He shall draw from the fire a burning sword, Lightbringer”. The only person who wields anything close to a literal burning sword is Beric Dondarian, but he’s generally considered not to be a likely candidate and has little other evidence supporting him. The only possible candidate to come close is Daenerys with her dragons being a metaphor for the sword. I suppose you could say they were “drawn” from the fire.

Nevertheless none of the likely possibilities fit this part of the prophecy very well at all. Personally I think this is a part of the prophecy we’ll see in the future. But I could easily be wrong on that.

So in summary, the evidence supporting Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane as Azor Ahai is as follows:
“hen the stars bleed” references the Sparrows,
“born again amidst smoke and salt” in Qyburn’s lab,
“ake dragons out of stone” drawing the Targaryen out from Dragonstone?
And we don’t really have anything particularly specific for anyone in regards to “a burning sword, Lightbringer”.

But finally, George RR Martin loves to buck the tropes and trends of the fantasy genre and there are few tropes as aged as good vanquishing evil, the hero coming in and saving the day. But what if the hero was The Mountain and what if the hero was not a good person. After all Ahor Ahai finally tempered Lightbringer by plunging it into his wife’s living heart. Not exactly a knight in shining armour.

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