Be aware this post has spoilers through A Dance with Dragons and 'Stormborn'.
Euron's big surprise attack may have left Dany's fleet in flames, but Game of Thrones dropped some even bigger bombs in "Stormborn" when Melissandre made her way to Dragonstone and we learned some key new information about the prophecy of Azor Ahai. Fans have been speculating on the identity of the prophesied savior for years, indeed, it's one of the longest-running and most debated theories in the fandom, and the Mother of Dragons has long been considered the strongest contender. So did last night's reveals further cement that theory, or make things even more complicated? Well, a little bit of both.
Who is Azor Ahai? Let's do a quick recap. Thousands of years ago, The Great Others (Imagine White Walkers riding giant dead spiders) ravaged the realm until the legendary warrior Azor Ahai laid waste to their forces and saved the world from eternal winter. Legend has it that Azor Ahai became the savior of the Seven Kingdoms and led mankind to vanquish the Great Others by forging a flaming hero's sword called Lightbringer, and in order to unleash the weapon's full power, he had to plunge it through the heart of his beloved wife. Prophecy states that another Long Night is coming and with it, Azor Ahai will be reborn to battle the forces of darkness again once again. There's a lot of debate as to whether that means Azor Ahai himself will be reincarnated, or if it just means a new leader will be born to save the human race, or possibly both, which means that though the term Azor Ahai and Prince Who Was Promised are sometimes used interchangeably, they may actually be two different people.
This is where last night's big meet up between Dany and Melissandre offered a couple game-changing insights to the theory. For one, Missandei corrected Melissandre's translation -- the High Valeryian word in the prophecy is gender neutral, meaning it can be read as the Prince or Princess that was promised. This was stated by Aemon in the books, and now ithard confirmed, which means Dany very much in the running and just become the most likely candidate. The other significant moment is when Melissandre says both Daenerys and Jon Snow may factor in. "I believe you have a role to play," Melisandre says. "As does another: the King in the North, Jon Snow." This is a huge diversion from the standard reading of the prophecy, and the first time there's been a clear suggestion that we might not be looking for the classic "chosen one" trope, but a more complicated reading of the prophecies.
Before we go any further, you should probably know just what those prophecies about Azor Ahai and the Prince That Was Promised say. Here are the two key pieces of text.
The first:
"There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. 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."
The second:
"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."
The legend of Azor Ahai is scattered throughout the books, but in the series, we've mostly heard of him through Melissandre, the devout priestess and servant of The Lord of Light who is extremely powerful (shadow assassin, resurrecting the dead, etc) but generally kind of gets a whole lot wrong. Melissandre first believed Stannis was Azor Ahai, hence all the horrific sacrifices (RIP Shireen), but when Stannis was soundly defeated on the battlefield, she turned her attentions to Jon Snow. Now, she has fixed her sights on Dany as well.
So who will be Azor Ahai? There are a few contenders, including everyone from Beric Dondarrion (who does have that sweet flaming sword) to Ser Davos Seaworth, and "Dragonstone" lent some credence to the theory that it could actually be The Hound, of all people. But Melissandre's picks have been the fan favorites for years: Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. Both are leaders who fulfill the prophecies in very different ways, and as Melissandre said herself prophesies are tricky and easy to misread.
First, let's look at Dany. She fits the second prophecy to a tee. Dany was born on Dragonstone during a storm ("salt and fire"), she was "reborn" in "blood and fire" when she emerged from the pyre unscathed (also "salt and fire"). She literally woke dragons out of stone when she hatched her fossilized eggs, and in order to do so she had to sacrifice her beloved Khal Drago and unborn son. The first prophecy is less of a natural fit, but it can work. The problem is that Dany straight up DGAF about swords, so if you believe Lightbringer to be a literal sword, then she's out. But again, you take prophecies too literally at your own peril, and if you read the passage from the point of view that Lightbringer could be any great weapon, it certainly could apply to the birth of her dragons. Finally, in the books, the wood witch says that the Prince That Was Promised will be born from the line of Aerys II and Rhaella, a.k.a. Dany's parents. And it's not just fans who think Dany is a natural fit, in the books Benerro of Volantis and Aemon both believe she's the one.
As for Jon, in Season 6 he was literally reborn, and if you look to the text from the book, the description of his death directly conjures the verbiage of the prophecy with smoke from his wounds, salt from Bowen Marsh's tears, and the bloody body of Ser Patrick -- who's sigil is a red star -- dangling above him. Furthermore, if you look to the series for similar textual cues, Bran's Tower of Joy flashback in the Season 6 finale shows us that Jon Snow was born under a bleeding star when Ned props Arthur Dayne's bloodied sword Dawn, which is said to be made from a falling star, over his birth bed (something the showrunners made sure to put center frame). There are certainly plenty of tears from his dying mother, though no smoke so far as I can see. As for the "dragons from stone" bit, that could be a reference to the fact that he was Targaryen raised as a Stark. In the books, Jon has also had dreams of wielding a glowing red sword. And then there's the Melissandre's Dance with Dragons line heard 'round the world, "I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R'hllor shows me only Snow." Finally, if Jon is the son of Rhaegar, he also has the lineage to fulfill the wood witch's prophecy.
So who is Azor Ahai? Is Azor Ahai the Prince That Was Promised? And do these legendary figures tie in with other's from around the realm (say The Stallion Who Mounts the World, which could also certainly be Dany)? It's still anyone's guess at this point, but "Stormborn" offered two key shifts in perspective on the long-debated prophecies, and there's likely more to come when Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen finally meet.