As soon as I finished A Dance with Dragons, I didn’t fear entering the once Bane of My Existence, A Wiki of Ice and Fire. Being a sinkhole of summaries and spoilers, I couldn’t stand the idea of venturing into such dangerous territory. So as I was clicking through the various pages, I stumbled upon a theories page which came up with interesting articles that included evidence for and against popular theories in the Song of Ice and Fire community. Some of them were more obvious than others, but a couple certainly took me by surprise and I find myself having hard time NOT believing these are actually true based on the evidence. MAJOR BOOK SPOILERS below, so enter at own risk.
Jon Snow is a Basterd…of Lyanna Stark and Rhaeghar Targaryen
This one was by far my favorite and the one that completely took me by surprise. Not much is known about the abduction of Lyanna Stark by Rhaeghar Targaryen, but the evidence here shows that Jon may well be the basterd child of Rhaeghar and Lyanna. Since both died during Ned’s campaign, someone could’ve brought the child to him. The article mentions a lot about a promise Ned made to Lyanna and raising the child could be it. I remember in the book there are a lot of references to how Jon looks truly Stark, and it may be because of his mother’s side rather than his father.
THAT MEANS JON CAN TAME DRAGONS…if he’s alive…
Who Azor Ahai Truly is
It’s been said that because Stannnis Baratheon’s sword does not emit warmth, he is not the prophesized Azor Ahai. Although I feel as if Melisandre would know this herself, she seems pretty sure of it…well at least until we got into her perspective when she wasn’t able to see anything but Jon Snow. Who according to this theory may be Azor Ahai. Other claimed are the already mythical mother of dragons, Daenerys, the possible dragon binder, Victarion, and even Ned Stark is given a nod.
It’s an interesting theory that can’t be overlooked considering that this Red R’hollar religion is not one to be messed with. I’m interested in how big a role it will all play in the final two books.
Robert Strong is Gregor Clegane Reborn
We’re not given much detail about who Robert Strong is, but with evidence from Dorne and Qyburn’s sketchy past, this may well be this series’s Frankenstein monster. Prince Doran and his family noted the odd shape and size of the Mountain’s head and Qyburn has been known to deal with Necromancy. He’s been performing tests in the dungeons on humans as well as asked to play with the remains of Gregor Clegane. An abomination I tell you. An abominations that doesn’t eat, sleep or poo [reminds me of Coldhands]. We’ll see how well this abomination fights though. Cersei’s life depends on it.
Who Killed Balon Greyjoy
There are two major theories onto who killed Balon Greyjoy. Both of them do not consider his death to be an accident. The first one is how when the king’s blood of Edric Storm is tossed into the flame and marked with the names of the three pretenders: Robb, Joffrey, and Balon, Melisandre’s red magic killed them.
However there is more evidence that the man who stood to directly benefit from it was Euron Greyjoy, his brother. Euron had sailed around the world plundering and amassing many treasures. Theory says that Euron hired a Faceless man to do his bidding for him, since they specialized in making deaths look like accidents. This is supported by the old prophet Beric Dondarrion sees talking about a man without a face standing on the same bridge as a king to kill him.
What Jaqen H’Ghar is Up To and Alleras the Sphinx
This is two theories rolled into one because it happens so close around the same section. At first I had no idea what was going on in the Feast for Crows Prologue from beginning to end. We’re introduced to a lot of new characters with no real purpose or meaning to what has happened in the past three books [a real downer from the Storm of Swords epic finish].
But only after reading the theories did I realize that the same man Arya described as Jaqen H’Ghar was the man who ‘killed’ the guy at the end, and that an introduction of a character named Alleras could be known as someone else.
We know that Jaqen is a Faceless man, and unless he was planning to get jailed, his mission had become slightly postponed. But when he’s freed by Ayra, both physically and symbolically, he made his journey to Oldtown to steal the face of another. Who is his target now? What is he doing? And I can’t believe his new face met Samwell.
And then there is this Alleras character. Apparently if you spell Alleras backwards, you get Sarella, who has the same name coincidently as one of the Sandsnakes Alleras Sand. Alleras is even described to be Dornish. We know that Doran and Oberyn were sneaky little snakes and it appears that even before Doran let Arianne and the other Sandsnakes into his plan, they might’ve sent Alleras to do a little reconnaissance.
Eddard Stark is alive?
Very likely the most insane and outlandish theory is that Eddard Stark is alive and that Varys smuggled him out and sent him to assist Daenerys Targaryen. The book evidence cites some references about how Ayra barely recognized him at his decapitation, Sansa not recognizing him with his head dipped in tar, and that Catelyn didn’t recognize the bones she was sent [not the first time King’s Landing has sent something back not entirely true: Jeyne Poole’s Ayra and possibly Gregor Clegane’s skull].
It seems like an awesome Martin twist to see old Ned back again. The show would have to adjust accordingly, but there is such magic exist to send a convicted man to death without him actually dying [Rattleshirt and Mance]. As unlikely as it is, I’m definitely rooting for this one.
Reblogged this on On life and stuff… and commented:
These theories are cool… especiall Eddard’s!!
About Ned being alive, in the first chapter of Sansa, after Ned’s execution, she went to court were Jeoffrey was attending the cases of the realm. one of the cases was of a lady that came asking for her the head of a man that she have loved and was executed for treason
With regards to what the faceless men are doing in the citadel- Tyrion makes a reference in ADWD about the last copy of a book called the death of dragons being somewhere in the Citadel vaults. We know that Pate sold him a key which could open any door in the Citadel and we know that the Faceless men have their roots in the mines of valariya- I reckon they are plotting to kill the dragons somehow- we will see!
And on a side note massive fan of the R+L =J theory but I think that when we do meet Howland Reed he will tell us that Lyanna and Rhaegar actually married and therefore Jon is actually not a bastard- we know the Targs often took more than one wife. This would mean he had a better claim than Dany but not Aegon ( if he really is Aegon at all)? Can’t wait for TWOW!
I hope what you say is true. Hodor.
I’d love Ned to be alive. He was honourable to a fault, but Westeros seems to need a bit of honour these days. I can’t recall whether Thoros of Myr was in Kings Landing when Ned was executed, but being a red priest, he could possibly have pulled a Melisandre and done the old switcheroo. Possible but who knows.
It’s been said that Varys is a master of disguise, it probably wouldn’t of taken much for him to make a pretty convincing Ned, but like you said, who knows.
This theory always gets rejected (even on AWOIAF), but I’m pretty sure there’s really something going on under the sea and a bunch of people (Varys, Illyrio, Patchface, the Manderlys, the Borrells, maybe Mandon Moore) are involved in it
Wasnt sansa at neds execution? So surely she would have noticed a fake
Definitely the most disputed and most unlikely. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at the text, but I was under the impression she passed out pretty early on. And with Varys skills in deception, he could’ve made a pretty good fake. The show kinda kills the idea of it, but still, it’s always neat to get giddy about it 😀
I love the first theory AND I think we will learn the truth of it through Bran. He can see into the past and the last book even hinted at him seeing Ned and Lyanna talking…..and the promise.
Oh wow, that’s an amazing way to find out what the Promise was! I was thinking Jon Connington would be the only way we could find out…but Bran seems like a more plausible theory…You sir/madam, have blown my mind.
ummm.. Howland Reed was there with Ned and he is still alive. We just haven’t met him yet. I suspect he will show up soon, and he will spill everything that happened in that room.
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Oh, my friend. We love Ned too much…
1. I don’t like this first theory, but I recognize it may well be true. It’s also spoken about how Jon and Arya are the only ones who look alike, and about how Arya actually looks like Lyanna. And Ned may not have said anything to protect Rhaegar’s son. He could have a claim for the Throne, after all…
2. Azor Ahai being Jon Snow? Mmmmm… I don’t know. But I do know it’s not Stannis. Aemon knew it well. I’d rather it be Dany.
3. The mountain reborn? I don’t know, but it sounds interesting. Or else, please, Martin, explain where this Robert Strong came from. It’s like he just spontaneously popped out of a rock or something.
4. It’s clear to me Balon didn’t just “die”. From the beginning, I thought it had been Melisandre. But Joffrey… that was the Quenn of Thorns’s work.
5. I’m lost there.
6. I don’t know, but I like the idea… we all love Ned!! Plus, Sean Bean coming back from the dead would be epic.
Those are my thoughts… MARTIN, HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!
The list of people who would even know aout Rhaeger and Lyanna grows thin…Maybe we’ll find out through Connington, but I’m not entirely clear when he was exiled in relation to when Lyanna was kidnapped. In general, I’m curious on some backstory as to what happened there. I’m also curious how Azor Ahai will in general come to play in the next two books. I just think how Qyburn, who’s known for experimenting with bodies, comes up with a seemingly powerful swordsman out of no where. I’m looking forward to what he can do in Winds of Winter. The problem I have with the Ned Stark theory is that while it’s not explicitly shown in the book through the eyes of someone trustworthy, it’s hard to deny through the TV show. Sean Bean definitely died that day [for the bazillionth time]. They’ll have a hard time explaining that one…But it’s very much the least likely one to be true..
Yes. I think Ned Stark’s job in A Game of Thrones is to establish that no one is safe (as well as establishing what a duchebag Joffrey is), besides making everything explode, that is. But yes, there is much yet to be learned…
I think you are right there are few people that know what happened with Lyanna. But there are 2 people that have not been talked about here yet and that is Varys and Littlefinger. I think they are 2 true puppet masters of the game of thrones. I think they not only know the answers to that question but they are working towards something bigger.
The only one who knows the Truth of what went on at the Tower of Joy in Howland Reed. As such, If R+L=J is true we will hear it through one of the reeds if not Howland himself.