Game of Thrones: Discussing Daenerys and her visions

Game of Thrones’ off-season is dark and full of terrors, so let’s get speculative.

More from Culturess

Let’s be honest: Game of Thrones inspires more theories than pretty much any other show out there right now. Fans can probably borrow “The truth is out there” and “I want to believe” from The X-Files at this point.

Much has been made of Daenerys Targaryen, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, etc., etc., and her tendency to have interesting dreams and visions. Indeed, many fans center their theories around her trip to the House of the Undying, which you can find on many far-flung corners of the Internet.

So it’s nice when YouTube GoT analyst Alt Shift X gathers some of the most prominent theories up in one neat, book-and-show video:

We will not present this completely sans commentary. In fact, we think Mr. X missed a few things, but we’ll pare it down to four.

Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark, and Elia Martell

Let’s start with his discussion about Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark, and Elia Martell. It starts around 4:05 in the video, though it’s spread around. He theorizes that Rhaegar only ran off with Lyanna in order to complete the “dragon with three heads” prophecy. This is not to say that that may not be a part of Rhaegar’s motives in hooking up with Lyanna to produce Jon Snow.

However, it seems more plausible to say that Rhaegar had some feelings for Lyanna, and vice-versa. We won’t go so far as to call it love, but Barristan Selmy does, as do many other characters. X does vaguely mention the tourney at Harrenhal, but let’s recap it here quickly as well. Rhaegar won it. He then passed up his wife, Elia Martell and gave a crown of winter roses to Lyanna Stark. Soon after, they ran off together.

Here’s where stories start to differ. Robert Baratheon and most people believe that Rhaegar kidnapped and raped Lyanna. Barristan Selmy says that Rhaegar loved Lyanna. On top of that, though Ned Stark himself does think of Lyanna often, it doesn’t come with a general negative statement about Rhaegar as Robert does.

Seriously, just go back and watch Robert talking about Lyanna…ever…in Game of Thrones, including the very first episode:

Putting the huge red flags he throws up about his feelings for her aside, he immediately says he still kills Rhaegar in dreams every night. Ned seems quite non-committal about it all.

Since both Lyanna and Rhaegar are dead, the true story likely will never come out. But X does mention Dany’s vision of Rhaegar dying in the Trident and possibly whispering Lyanna’s name. If we ever get that confirmed, we’d call it pretty solid that Rhaegar at least loved Lyanna, and Lyanna at least loved her son by Rhaegar (Jon Snow) enough to convince Ned to besmirch his precious honor by claiming the boy as a bastard.

The Grey Corpse Vision

Next up, let’s take a look at the grey corpse vision. X starts talking about it at around 13:34. He suggests that the corpse may very well be Theon Greyjoy, citing the Reek torture as being far worse in the books as compared to the show. This we can agree with for the books, though not the show — and the show does skip this one. In Game of Thrones season 6, Theon and his sister, Yara/Asha, join up with Daenerys.

In the books, however, Theon is not present for the kingsmoot. Should he return to the Iron Islands, he’ll be Public Enemy Number One for his uncle, King Euron Greyjoy. Death, however, might come as a relief to poor Theon, who in the books struggles to eat without pain. There’s the sad smile for you.

However, the grey corpse could be Euron Crow’s Eye himself. Also from the books, his claim to the Seastone Chair is partially based on his possessing a horn that allegedly tames dragons. If Dany ever comes to Westeros, he may try and use the horn. If it fails, he basically dies. That’s another reason for a sad smile.

The House with the Red Door

Third, we’ll wade into the house with the red door vision. Here, we’re talking about the vision discussed by X at 14:44. Dany sees a little girl running toward a house with a red door. Now, originally, she said the house was in Braavos, where she and her brother Viserys lived for a time after fleeing Westeros. She typically also mentions a lemon tree growing beside the house. However, citing A Feast for Crows, X mentions the theory that there are no trees in Braavos, and that the house was actually in Dorne.

While the Dornish connection does make sense — one only need point to Doran Martell in the books dropping the Targaryen words, and Ellaria Sand does the same in the show — we think this less plausible. Redditors have found that later collections of the text have Dany refer to Tyrosh instead. Furthermore, the Feast for Crows quote only says that trees grow in the courts of the mighty. That evidence thus remains tenuous.

Show Only Vision

Finally, let’s get into the Game of Thrones-only visions from Dany in the House of the Undying. Specifically, the very first one, which X discusses at 17:06. In her vision, Dany goes into the throne room. Snow falls through the burned rooftop. X posits that Dany herself may burn the Red Keep in an attempt at conquest. We don’t disagree with that.

However, we also would like to propose that the falling snow represents Jon Snow taking the Iron Throne. Melisandre, in A Dance with Dragons, says that she sees only snow when she asks to see Azor Ahai, the prophesied warrior who will combat darkness. Azor Ahai and the Prince that was Promised prophecies likely refer to the same person. From what we know of the Prince prophecy, his is the song of ice and fire. Jon Snow, as the son of a Targaryen and a Stark, pretty neatly fills that little requirement.

As for what happens to Dany, X reports a theory that her not touching the throne means she will not become queen. That, we don’t disagree with, but we propose that perhaps she does take the throne, but only temporarily.

Next: How will Game of Thrones season 6 impact The Winds of Winter?

Of course, most of this won’t pay off until George R.R. Martin finishes The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. Or, if you’re a show watcher only, you’ll have to wait until Game of Thrones comes back for seasons 7 and 8 for anything resembling a conclusion.

Home/Game of Thrones