Game of Thrones

Dragon Prince: The Visions and Prophecies of Rhaegar Targaryen, Part 3: The Dragons’ Return

November 7, 2014

Continued from Part 2: Lightbringer.

However, I think that Jon has a larger role to play than just a super-soldier who wards off the hordes of Others. We know that Rhaegar wasn’t just trying to bring back TPTWP, he was also trying to bring back the three heads of the dragon. Well, I believe that the three heads of the dragon are Daenerys, Tyrion and Jon Snow and that they three will eventually wind up all together each with a dragon of their own. I think that Rhaegar saw that as well, though somehow he confused his children Rhaenys and Aegon with Daenerys and Tyrion.

So then what is the purpose for these three heads of the dragon? Is it as I said earlier — Rhaegar saw the decimation of his house so he wanted to make some kind of contingency plan? No, I think Rhaegar saw more than just the murder of all the Targaryens, I think he saw into the future up to the War of Five Kings and beyond. I think that Rhaegar was assembling the three heads of the dragon to bring righteousness back to Westeros.

Art courtesy of Snapchance93

Let’s look at the state of Westeros after just the first season of Game of Thrones. Already, three of the most honorable and trustworthy men in Westeros — Jon Arryn, Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon — are dead. Ruling in their places are the crazy Lysa Arryn, the naive (and ultimately doomed) Robb Stark and the evil Joffrey Baratheon.

Now, skip to three seasons later at the end of Season 4. Who has taken the places of those four rulers? Instead of Lysa, the conniving Littlefinger; Roose Bolton now has dominion over the North and instead of Joffrey his equally insane yet more clever mother Cersei Lannister now controls the Seven Kingdoms. And, to add to the corruption, Jeor Mormont, the trusted Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch was betrayed by his brothers and the watch is in control of Janos Slynt and Alliser Thorne. Plus, let us not overlook perhaps the most evil of them all, Walder Frey is now Lord Paramount of the Riverlands instead of the dutiful Tullys. Not to give anything away for those of you who haven’t read A Feast for Crows, but the already fragile state of the Greyjoys gets way worse in the fourth book.

So who in Westeros isn’t corrupt? Right now, the North, the Riverlands, the Vale, the Westerlands, the Iron Islands, the Stormlands and the Crownlands are all under the control of evil rulers. Who does that leave? The Reach? Dorne? Well, who knows how corrupt the Tyrells are, but even with the ambiguous morality of the Tyrells, that makes five out of seven kingdoms corrupt, a staggering majority.

Now, let’s bring this back to Rhaegar for a minute. I think that Rhaegar foresaw corruption spreading across Westeros and he knew that if he planned for this coming darkness, he could raise the three heads of the dragon to be able to come to Westeros and “re-conquer” Westeros and make it the peaceful realm that Aegon sought to create three hundred years ago. Maybe the darkness that Jon is prophesied to stand up to is not the darkness of the Others, but rather the darkness of the corruption of the leaders of Westeros.

Conclusion

To review all the theories I introduced:

Rhaegar Targaryen was Azor Ahai reborn and Lyanna Stark was his Nissa Nissa

Jon Snow is Lightbringer as well as The Prince that was Promised
Rhaegar sought to put together a team of three righteous Targaryens to restore the Targaryens to power and to rid Westeros of corruption
Rhaegar intended the three heads of the dragon to be his three children (Aegon, Rhaenys, Jon) but it is clear the three heads are Jon, Tyrion and Daenerys

The Others are not the real threat, nor are they the darkness that Jon Snow was prophesied to ward off, rather the corrupt leaders of Westeros are the darkness that needs to be extinguished

So in the end, what really was Rhaegar? Well, he was a warrior, a martyr, a visionary and a prince. But what was his role in all of these prophecies? I think Rhaegar’s job was never to be the subject of the prophecies, but rather the one who assembles all the parts to fulfill the prophecies. His duty was to assemble the three heads of the dragon, and thus far, it seems he succeeded.

Dragon Prince: Part 1 | Dragon Prince: Part 2