Melisandre believed at one point that Stannis Baratheon was Azor Ahai. Helen Sloan/HBO
"There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed và the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world," Melisandre said in Martin"s second book. "In this dread hour, a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. Và that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, & the darkness shall flee before him."
The story of Lightbringer is then told lớn Ser Davos Seaworth by Salladhor Saan. Azor Ahai forged two swords, both of which shattered when he tried to temper the steel. (The second one was plunged into the heart of a lion.)
Then came the third blade, which was created when Azor Ahai killed his love, Nissa Nissa. Here"s Saan"s account of its forging:
"Great was his woe và great was his sorrow then, for he knew what he must do. A hundred days & a hundred nights he labored on the third blade, and as it glowed white-hot in the sacred fires, he summoned his wife.
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""Nissa Nissa," he said lớn her, for that was her name, "bare your breast, & know that I love you best of all that is in this world."
"She did this thing, why I cannot say, and Azor Ahai thrust the smoking sword through her living heart. It is said that her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon, but her blood và her soul và her strength & her courage all went into the steel. Such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes."
Stannis had a fiery sword, but it was never Lightbringer. HBO screencap
So Lightbringer is a powerful weapon that was created via the sacrifice of Azor Ahai"s greatest love. And for a uia.edu.vn, Melisandre claimed Stannis was wielding a fiery sword called Lightbringer.
The Prince That Was Promised
Melisandre also uses "The Prince That Was Promised" khổng lồ refer to lớn Azor Ahai, & we hear this title used by other characters as well.
In the books, Daenerys" vision in the House of the Undying includes a scene of her brother Rhaegar và his wife, Elia Martell. She sees him holding a baby, presumably his second son, Aegon, and telling Elia: "He is the Prince That Was Promised, và his is the song of ice and fire."
There are additional clues in the books that indicated Rhaegar had a slight obsession with this idea of prophecy & was trying to lớn bring about the anh hùng of the world through his bloodline. Aemon Targaryen (the former maester at Castle Black) also spoke of the prophecy with Sam Tarly and mentions a bleeding star & smoke & salt — just like Azor Ahai.
Aemon Targaryen knew about the "Prince That Was Promised" prophecy. Helen Sloan/HBO
Also in the books, Barristan Selmy speaks about a "woods witch," a book character known khổng lồ be reliable when it comes to lớn predicting events, who said TPTWP would be born from the bloodline of Rhaella and King Aerys Targaryen, the "Mad King" and father to Daenerys và Rhaegar.
This meant both Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow were prime candidates for the prophesied hero.
To see all the evidence laid out for both Daenerys and Jon being Azor Ahai, read our deep-dive explainer on the two prophecies.
Read more: Everything we know about the biggest "Game of Thrones" prophecy
But the show never mentioned the name Azor Ahai
Many fans believed Azor Ahai & TPTWP were overlapping figures and used the two terms interchangeably. So when "Game of Thrones" pushed forward through eight seasons và never brought up the name Azor Ahai, people assumed this was simply the showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss" way of simplifying the prophecy for show-only fans.
On the sixth season, Melisandre resurrected Jon Snow và told him he was the "Prince That Was Promised," reborn with the power of R"hllor for a reason. Then the High Priestess of R"hllor, Kinvara, was introduced and told Tyrion và Varys that Daenerys was the chosen nhân vật meant to fight the coming darkness.
Kinvara showed up for one episode and was never seen again. Helen Sloan/HBO
This might have been our first warning that "Game of Thrones" would use the Nissa Nissa sacrifice in a surprising way by not having Daenerys" death connected to the fight against the white Walkers.
Benioff và Weiss also made sure khổng lồ bring back Melisandre for the seventh season và have her speak with Daenerys about how the interpretation of the prophecy was fickle.
"Prophecies are dangerous things," Melisandre told the rồng Queen. "I believe you have a role to play, as does another: the King in the North, Jon Snow."
Both Daenerys & Jon fit the mô tả tìm kiếm for the Prince That Was Promised. HBO
So, as is already clear, Jon và Daenerys aren"t a perfect parallel of Azor Ahai và Nissa Nissa.
Daenerys was not killed for Jon to lớn forge a new weapon, nor was her death a willing sacrifice in the way Nissa Nissa"s was. Jon didn"t even stab her with Longclaw, his Valyrian steel sword, which many fans thought could be a stand-in for Lightbringer. Instead, he plunged a dagger into her heart, killing her almost instantly.
But it"s interesting how the show wound up fulfilling other parts of Azor Ahai"s destiny through Jon Snow.
Melisandre"s words about Azor Ahai in the books prescribed that "the cold breath of darkness" would fall "heavy on the world" & that this day would happen after "a long summer when the stars bleed." The final seasons of "Game of Thrones" take place during winter, which came after a lengthy summer & a red comet in the sky (a "bleeding star").
Fans believed the "dread hour" & "cold breath of darkness" was Melisandre"s mô tả tìm kiếm of the threat of the white Walkers. And in the books, this might still be the case.
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The Night King was killed by Arya Stark on season eight, episode three, "The Long Night." HBO
But with Daenerys" terrible rise lớn power và the sack of King"s Landing, "Game of Thrones" seems to be saying her reign as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms was a coming darkness Jon Snow had to lớn prevent.
Martin has yet to finish his book series & lay out all the intricate ways in which these prophecies will (or won"t) play out with our main characters. As we saw with Arya Stark & death of the Night King, Benioff and Weiss had lớn rework pieces from earlier seasons to lớn fit them into major turning points of the final episode"s storylines. Martin had told them a general overview of his planned ending, but not the minor details.
Read more: Why Arya Stark killing the Night King uncovered a mess of emotions about HBO"s adaptation of George R.R. Martin"s story
So was Jon Snow really Azor Ahai all along, or was Arya Stark also a foretold anh hùng who conquered the darkness? Was the Prince That Was Promised prophecy always going to lớn come lớn a messy realization, or is this convoluted ending just the result of Benioff và Weiss running out of book material?
These questions may go forever unanswered, but we at least feel certain that Daenerys will not survive all of Martin"s novels & that Jon Snow will likely play a role in her death.
If season 8 of Game of Thrones has taught us anything, it’s that prophecies aren’t always what they seem. Take the infamous valonqar prophecy, for example. Many fans believed that Jaime or Tyrion would ultimately be the one khổng lồ kill Cersei because of Maggy the Frog’s final prediction for Cersei’s future in George R. R. Martin’s A tuy vậy of Ice & Fire book series. However, it turns out the show didn’t just nix the valonqar line so as to not give away what was coming. Despite the fact that all of Maggy’s other predictions came true, in the end, it was the crumbling Red Keep that killed both Cersei & Jaime.
Unlike with the valonqar, the show has emphasized the importance of the Prince That Was Promised prophecy several uia.edu.vns, leading some fans lớn believe its fulfillment was inevitable. But due lớn the uncertain nature of prophecies in the world of Game of Thrones, it’s still unclear whether any of Westeros’ major players actually turned out khổng lồ be the Prince. Not lớn mention that since Martin has yet to release the final two novels in his series, it’s also possible that the prophecy will play out differently in the books và the evidence we’ve cited from A tuy nhiên of Ice và Fire will be irrelevant.
But for now, let’s focus on how the prophecy appeared to play a role in Game of Thrones‘ final season. After Arya killed the Night King in the third episode of season 8, some fans were convinced that, after all this uia.edu.vn, it was actually the youngest Stark sister who was the Prince That Was Promised.
But judging by that heartbreaking twist in the series finale, it seems as though Jon Snow may be the true reincarnation of legendary hero Azor Ahai. Let’s dig into all of the details.
Here’s what happened with Jon & Daenerys in the Game of Thrones finale
Daenerys Targaryen dies in Jon Snow"s arms in the game of Thrones series finale
Helen Sloan—HBO
After getting a firsthand look at the death & destruction that Daenerys had wrought on King’s Landing và hearing Tyrion’s argument for why she was not the right person to rule the Seven Kingdoms, Jon sought out the Mother of Dragons in the Red Keep’s throne room.
The two then had an emotional final conversation in which Daenerys pled with Jon to lớn be with her so that they could rule together & Jon questioned how she knew she was doing the right thing. Jon then proclaimed that she would always be his queen and they kissed before he stabbed her in the heart with a dagger, killing her.
Here’s what Jon killing Daenerys means for the Prince That Was Promised prophecy
Other than being the one who killed the Night King, Arya didn’t really fit any of the other criteria for being the chosen one. Jon, on the other hand, has not only long been touted as one of the most likely candidates khổng lồ be Azor Ahai come again, but he also fits the Prince That Was Promised mold presented in Martin’s series — in a metaphorical sense, at least.
In the books, the Prince That Was Promised prophecy foretells that the Prince is destined to lớn “lead the people against a darkness” with a flaming sword called Lightbringer. “There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world,” Melisandre tells Davos in A Clash of Kings, the second novel in the series. “In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. & that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, & he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, & the darkness shall flee before him.”
We first learned about the Prince That Was Promised prophecy in the show when Melisandre, a Red Priestess in the faith of R’hllor, proclaimed Stannis Baratheon lớn be the chosen one in season 2. But after Stannis was defeated by Ramsay Bolton and killed by Brienne, Melisandre changed her tune. Following Jon’s resurrection & Daenerys’ arrival in Westeros, Mel came khổng lồ believe that both the former King in the North and the dragon Queen were destined to play a part in the prophecy. Game of Thrones continued to lean into the idea that either Jon or Dany would be the one to lớn kill the Night King, and ostensibly fulfill the prophecy — right up until the moment Arya destroyed him.
The theories surrounding this idea were largely based on the assumption that the “darkness” mentioned in the prophecy was a reference to lớn the white Walkers. But now that the finale has aired, it seems as though it could have actually been a reference to lớn Mad Queen Daenerys or, perhaps more broadly, the darkness of humanity itself. “What if the Night King was never the one to lớn bring true darkness to lớn the realm,” one Reddit user theorized leading up to the episode. “What if Jon snow is still the Prince That Was Promised and will still fulfill the prophecy of Azor Ahai by plunging his sword into the true bringer of darkness: Daenerys Targaryen.”
We’ll get back to how Lightbringer fits into Jon’s story in a minute, but first let’s address some of the other pieces of the Prince That Was Promised prophecy. In the third book, A Storm of Swords, Melisandre reveals a few more details: “When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone.”
Some fans thought that the bleeding red star was a reference lớn the red comet that appeared in the sky after Daenerys hatched her dragons. But during the flashback in which Bran witnessed Jon’s birth in the Tower of Joy, the show seemed to lớn purposefully emphasize young Ned Stark resting Arthur Dayne’s bloodied sword Dawn — the ancestral sword of House Dayne that is said lớn have been forged from a fallen star — at the foot of the bed in which Lyanna Stark is lying.
Ned & Lyanna Stark in the Tower of Joy in game of Thrones
Helen Sloan/HBO
As for being “born amidst salt & smoke,” when Jon is killed by his Night’s Watch brothers in the books, his wounds are described as “smoking” & Bowen Marsh cries tears of salt as he stabs him. Therefore, this line could theoretically be attributed to his rebirth, a.k.a. When he is brought back lớn life by Melisandre. Since Jon is a Targaryen, his resurrection could also fit the bill for waking “dragons out of stone.”
Now, back khổng lồ Lightbringer. In the original Azor Ahai legend, the hero was forced to lớn stab his beloved wife with the sword in order lớn impart the blade with its full power.
A hundred days and a hundred nights he labored on the third blade, và as it glowed white-hot in the sacred fires, he summoned his wife. ‘Nissa Nissa,’ he said lớn her, for that was her name, ‘bare your breast, & know that I love you best of all that is in this world.’ She did this thing, why I cannot say, & Azor Ahai thrust the smoking sword through her living heart. It is said that her cry of anguish & ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon, but her blood & her soul và her strength & her courage all went into the steel. Such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.
Since Jon didn’t use Longclaw khổng lồ kill Daenerys, it’s important to chú ý that while some think Lightbringer is a physical sword, others believe that it’s metaphorical và could even be a person. Lightbringer is described khổng lồ be a sword made of living fire. So if Jon carries on Daenerys’ memory — “You are my queen. Now, & always.” — for the rest of his days, it could be said that her soul, the soul of a Targaryen, became one with him when she was stabbed like Nissa Nissa’s did with the original Lightbringer. This would lend even more credence to the theory that Jon is the Prince That Was Promised. Not to lớn mention that Jon truly did love Dany just as Azor Ahai loved Nissa Nissa — creating yet another parallel with the story.
A caveat: Given that Martin has yet lớn release the final two books in his series và Thrones never delved as deeply into the specific details of the prophecy, we don’t know for sure if Jon Snow is truly the Prince. But Jon being the one to lớn kill Daenerys in order khổng lồ fulfill his destiny as Azor Ahai reborn would very much square with what Melisandre told Dany about the prophecy in season 7.
Aerial shot of long looking at Jon Snow over Daenerys" dead body toàn thân on game of Thrones" series finale
“The Long Night is coming. Only the Prince Who Was Promised can bring the dawn,” the Red Priestess said. “Prophecies are dangerous things. I believe you have a role khổng lồ play, as does another — the King in the North, Jon Snow.”
