"The Dragon has three heads." and the legitimacy of Aegon (SPOILERS ALL!!!)
I’ve been diving into the insane world of A Of Ice And Fire prophecies and fan theories. Now one part has really stuck out to me and frankly I’m about 5 minutes away from making a full blown conspiracy theory wall with newspaper clippings, strings and everything.
Also; SPOILER WARNING 2.0! GET CAUGHT UP OR GET OUT!
The man had her brother’s hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. “Aegon,” he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. “What better name for a king?” “Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked. “He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. “There must be one more,” he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in bed she could not say. “The dragon has three heads.”
This is one of the visions Daenerys has as she goes through the House of The Undying. For the most part it’s pretty straightforward; The man is Rhaegar Targaryen and the woman Elia Martell (or technically Targaryen at this point). The baby is his newborn son Aegon. Rhaegar believes him to be The Prince That Was Promised (that’s a whole other can of worms I don’t have the capacity to fully examine without driving myself insane in the process). But then he says those 5 words that have been a talking point for the past 16 years; “The dragon has three heads”. Oh boy, has this started some controversy. Of all of the visions Dany had in the House of The Undying this is probably the most frustrating because it’s in that awkward in between zone where there’s enough to guess on but not enough to fully know. Ultimately there seems to be 2 theories.
The first is that he’s referring to 3 riders for Dany’s 3 dragons.
The second is that the three heads are representative of Azor Ahai, The Prince That Was Promised and The Last Hero all returning to fight the Others.
And there’s a third I’ve come up with but we’ll get to that.
So let’s start with the dragon riders. This is the most generally accepted as it’s the one mentioned in the books.
"The dragon has three heads," she (Dany) sighed. "Do you know what that means, Jorah?"
"Your Grace? The sigil of House Targaryen is a three-headed dragon, red on black."
"I know that. But there are no three-headed dragons."
"Your Grace," he conceded, "the dragon has three heads, remember? You have wondered at that, ever since you heard it from the warlocks in the House of Dust. Well, here's your meaning: Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, ridden by Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya. The three-headed dragon of House Targaryen—three dragons, and three riders." "Yes," said Dany, "but my brothers are dead."
But it would be years before her dragons were large enough to ride. And when they are, who shall ride them? The dragon has three heads, but I have only one.
So who are the 3 riders?
Well, Dany because duh.
I have a good idea of Aegon being #2, but more on that later.
And 3 is completely up in the air as the Dragonseeds from The Dance Of Dragons proved; one does not need Valyrian blood to be a rider so it really could be most anyone (Well, not Quentyn Martell… Too soon?).
The second theory is an odd one. It seems to have started from (and correct me if I’m wrong here) ShopeIV on Reddit, stating that Azor Ahai/The Lord Of Light, The Prince That Was Promised and The Last Hero are 3 separate people, all returning as 3 characters (or 3 heads of the dragon) of our current cast, which raises the question of who’s who.
The Last Hero is pretty easy. A hero that sets out with companions to find the Children of the Forest during the Long Night. Sounds a lot like Bran! But there’s a hitch, because of course there is. The Last Hero’s friends and companions died in the journey, and he was the sole survivor. All of Brans traveling buddies are still alive (barring that creepy-*ss Jojen paste theory). That throws a wrench into things.
But even worse is trying to figure out who’s Azor Ahai and who’s The Prince That Was Promised for their returns are almost identical.
“Azor Ahai is to be reborn again as a champion sent by R'hllor.[6] This will occur after a long summer when an evil, cold darkness descends upon the world.[3] It is said that wielding Lightbringer once again, Azor Ahai will stand against the Others and if he fails, the world fails with him” and "When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt."[5]
Rhaegar mentions his son Aegon as The Prince That Was Promised which I’m not willing to discount (I’ll get to why in a bit, bear with me here).
This presumably leaves Dany as Azor Ahai. She’s the daughter or Aerys and Rhaella. Drogo was her Nissa Nissa, the dragons her sword and the red comet being the red star. The only missing part is the salt, which I’ve honestly nothing for.
So then maybe it’s Jon Snow instead! When we last saw him there was smoke coming from his wounds, salt from Bowen’s tears and Ser Patrek’s heraldry is a star that gets blood stains on it. If L + R = J holds true then he’s from the line of Prince Aerys and Princess Rhaella as their grandson. But then Dany’s out.
So you’ve probably noticed 4 people competing for 3 slots (and that’s not even count all of the secret Targaryen theories covering everyone from Tyrion, Meera, Jamie and Cersei, to Gerold Dayne) so there’s an overflow. Someone’s either going to get the axe (maybe Jon already has) or someone isn’t who they say they are. Now everyone seems to want to throw Aegon under the bus as a Blackfyre or even some random dumpster baby Varys found, but I’m holding onto him and again; I’ll get to why in a bit.
Now both of these have some holes;
Now first consider where the rider theory comes from; Ser Jorah. Well… how does he know? He doesn’t, that’s just a guess that Dany kind of just accepts.
Also going beyond the 4th wall for a bit is that knowing G.R.R.M. not all 3 dragons are going to live long enough to get riders.
As for the 3 heroes theory; Melisandre uses Azor Ahai and The Prince That Was Promised interchangeably which is… questionable.
That and if Bran is The Last Hero, Dany Azor Ahai, and Aegon The Prince That Was Promised then how does Jon fit in (and yes there’s a reason I’m counting Dany and Aegon, again; I’ll get to that)? There’s way too much put into Jon for it just to end or him to fall short of one of these 3 titles if they truly are 3 different people. So maybe he’s the Last Hero instead? Then what’s the deal with Bran’s journey? Things don’t quite add up.
So those are the main 2, but I have my own. If the heads Rhaegar mentioned aren’t Dany’s dragon riders or the 3 heroes then who are they? And what is “the dragon”?
Simple; House Targaryen.
In the past Targaryens have referred to themselves and their house as dragons. There’s the continual analogy of black vs. red dragons during the Blackfyre rebellions, Viserys referring to himself as a dragon, and best of all;
His (Daeron I, ‘The Young Dragon’) councillors reminded him that Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters failed twice in trying to conquer Dorne and they had Dragons and that the Iron Throne had none, to which Daeron famously replied… “You have a dragon. He stands before you.”
That’s the dragon, while the 3 heads are the 3 surviving members that will lead it against the Others. Who are the 3?
Well 1) is Dany because duh.
2) I’m still sticking with Aegon (again, I’ll get to why very soon. Like only 2 more ramblings).
3) however is still up in the air. The first to come to my mind is Brynden Rivers/Bloodraven/The Three Eyed Crow but there’s 2 problems; Firstly he’s a bastard of Aegon ‘The Unworthy’ IV, and while legitimized he never adopted the Targaryen name so that puts him in a questionable position from the get-go. Secondly at this point he’s about 20-40% tree root and is now over 125 years old, so mobility and conquering are no longer his forte.
And the other contenders pan out like the aforementioned Azor Ahai contenders with L + R = J at the head.
Let’s compare how these 3 fit into the saying;
“The dragon (Dany’s 3 dragons) has three heads (riders).” That’s kind of clunky. And plus Rhaegar doesn’t say “the dragons” he says “the dragon”, singular when referring to multiple dragons? Huh?
“The dragon (the force to fight the Others) has three heads (heroes to lead it).” Better, but it’s a little odd to refer to the band of heroes as “The dragon”. A representation of fire I suppose.
“The dragon (House Targaryen) has three heads (members to lead it).” Now this fits the best to me. Again dragon and Targaryen are the best of the 3 matches and when someone is in charge of something they are literally referred to as the head.
But some simple wording isn’t much to go on and I know that, so why am I still dismissing the first 2 theories and refusing to disavow Aegon? Well because of 5 simple words that I have yet to see addressed.
“There must be one more.”
That’s an odd thing to say. Judging by the names Rhaenys and Aegon, Rhaegar was going for the full conqueror trio and needed one more daughter, a Visenya. Now he’s looking right at Dany when he says this and if there’s no greater meaning there’s no reason to include it, so I highly doubt this is a one off comment. Now, put the prophecy spin on it...
So if there’s 3 in total and there needs to be 1 more, then there’s already 2.
Now who’s present for this scene? Rhaegar and Elia, but both of them are definitely dead so we can safely disregard them.
Daenarys is… kind of there? Rhaegar “looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door.” so if she’s being acknowledged then we can pretty safely count her in the mix. Well that and because otherwise we come up 1 short.
And lastly there’s one more person that’s still alive, the one Rhaegar seems to be undoubtedly literally referring to; The wee baby Aegon. This is why I haven’t written him off as a pretender or red herring. If you don’t count Aegon then you only have Dany and it changes to “There must be 2 more.” But it isn’t, it’s “one more”. Whichever of the 3 theories (riders, heroes or Targaryens) this puts Dany and Aegon in the #1 and #2 slots.
Both dragon riders? Well half-way there. This is a strong maybe.
Both Heroes needed to fight the Others? Again; maybe. But both theories have the aforementioned problems still stand.
Both Targaryens? That’s a much more plausible yes.
So in conclusion; I believe that “The dragon has three heads” means there’s 3 remaining Targaryens to lead the fight. Daenerys, Aegon and that mysterious “one more.” (L+R = J confirmed?)
So does this sound plausible or have I gone off my rocker? Let me know!
Comments
Almost forgot (and I can't seem to find the edit button on the original post) that Dany's vision in the House Of The Undying is in A Clash Of Kings.
Aegon's reveal isn't until A Dance With Dragons, a full 3 books later.
The dragon and three heads as house Targaryen and there being 2 of the 3 heads present works as classic G.R.R.M. foreshadow for Aegon's survival in retrospect.
So if I'm right about this, well played George. Well played.
Isn't Azor Ahai, The Prince That Was Promised and The Last Hero are one person?
Possibly. They all have similar stories but it's never definitively stated one way or the other.
GRRM said that azor ahai and the prince that was promised were the same person.
Source:
Ah, thanks. That means an even better chance I'm right! Yay!