The Wild World of Game of Thrones Fan Theories, Part 1
Spoilers. Spoilers, everywhere!
Diplomacy With the Others
We all know the story of the Night’s King, where a Night’s Watchman fell in love with a female White Walker, also known as the Others. There’s a lot of speculation around this specific tale, but one theory tells us there’s more to it than a Crow losing his mind. The story isn’t a horror tale to scare little kids, but an explanation of how the original war against the Others was won—through a marriage.
The Other’s aren’t fond of fire, so it’s not hard to imagine they’d be freaking out over dragons and southern fire magic. So they attacked, and war broke out. Eventually The Last Hero comes in, and with the help of the Children of the Forest he manages to push the Others back. But how? Through diplomacy: The Others aren’t down with fire or men coming into their turf. The First Men aren’t cool with this whole war thing and would really like the Others to leave, please. So The Last Hero seals an agreement through marriage: A Stark of noble blood marries an Other woman, and the Wall is built to separate territories. The Night’s Watch stays on their side and doesn’t interfere with the political affairs of either side of the wall.
Keeping these ideas in mind: Fast forward to the present, and suddenly the Others have a good reason to be pissed. The dragons are back, fire magic is at the wall, and humans keep tromping all up in their yards. Survey says it’s time to tell those jerks to get off their lawn once and for all. This theory also explains the Stark words: Winter is Coming. It’s not about changing weather patterns. It’s a threat that the Others will return. There’s a lot more to this fascinating theory, so read it here.
Jon Snow and the Chamber of Secrets
Okay, so let’s say that R+L=J is so correct it’s been written down, put to print, carved in stone, and sent to space. Yay! Jon’s a Targaryen! Now what? He can go around saying he’s a dragon until he’s blue in the face, but that doesn’t mean squat if he can’t prove it. So how would he prove his heritage and legitimacy? Swords are out of the question, because both Targaryen Valyrian blades are associated with bastard-born lines. So what would be recognizable enough as a Targaryen artifact to prove Jon is Rhaegar’s son?
To quote the theory’s author: “It’s the damn harp!” Almost every time Rhaegar is mentioned, the harp is too. With silver strings, a haunting sound, and the fact a lot of major players have seen it, it would be instantly recognizable. So where is it? Well, Jon’s dreams might have a clue:
“I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It’s black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don’t want to. I’m afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it’s not them I’m afraid of.”—Jon telling Sam about his dream, A Game of Thrones
The harp is hidden in the one place Robert Baratheon wouldn’t touch: Lyanna’s tomb. Personally, I found this to be one of the more exciting theories I ran across, and it’s well worth a read!
The Dragon Has Three Heads: The Three Heroes
Art by 7narwen
Azor Ahai, The Prince That Was Promised, and The Last Hero are all stories with powerful prophecies attached to them in the world of ASoIaF. Many believe that these heroes are actually one hero, and in his reincarnated form he’s everyone from Arya to Jorah to Ramsay Snow. But there’s another option: each reborn hero is a different person.
The short and sweet of it? Jon is Azor Ahai. Daenerys is The Prince That Was Promised. The Last Hero is Bran. They’re gonna be the most bitchin’ dragon rider gang ever!
The Night Lamp Theory: How The Freys and Boltons are Gonna Get Wrecked
Way back when, Stannis used to be the Master of Ships, meaning when it came to maritime anything Stannis’ word was rule. At one point he had to deal with a few clever thieves who purposefully wrecked ships by guiding them to crash on rocky shoals. They did this by extinguishing a well-known guiding beacon, then lighting a false beacon to guide their prey into the rocks.
Currently, in A Dance with Dragons, Stannis and his army are stuck at a small village between two lakes. One of these lakes has a night lamp that’s often lit during storms to keep people off of the lake’s dangerous ice. Stannis has his men digging holes in the lake ice, much to everyone’s annoyance. It seems rather silly really, but Stannis has a plan. He’s is going to light a false beacon on an island in the lake, luring the Boltons and Freys onto the weakened ice and into a watery grave. There’s also a rather grizzly part for Theon to play if this actually happens, one that would likely please the Red God and the Old Gods alike. The theory is very extensive (it has diagrams, ya’ll!) but well worth the read. Check it out here!
“The Sphinx” is a Secret (Wait For It)… Martell
Art by 7narwen
Oberyn Martell, may he rest in peace, was well known for his exploits with several women, which resulted in his eight bastard daughters known as the Sand Snakes. One of these daughters is named Sarella. She’s only been mentioned a few times in the series, and we know precious little about her. But here are the basics: She’s 19, and her mother was from the Summer Isles. She has a thirst for knowledge, loves the city of Oldtown, and is far enough away from Dorne that her family can’t make her do anything. That’s all we got… or is it?
In the prologue of A Feast for Crows there’s a small mention of a young boy named Alleras, nicknamed “The Sphinx.” An acolyte at Oldtown, he studies under Maester Marwyn.
He’s slight of build, described as “comely,” and speaks in a Dornish drawl. Oh, and Alleras is Sarella spelled backwards. Sarella is dressing as a man to earn her maester’s chain in Oldtown. There are more details on this theory here. Unfortunately, it leaves us with more questions than answers.
Questions are what make stories like A Song of Ice and Fire fun. George R. R. Martin keeps us guessing from the get-go, and the more we read, the more clues we find hidden in the earlier books. What do you think of these theories? Do you have a favorite one here, or maybe one that wasn’t mentioned? Post it up!
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Next time I’ll be bringing you a list of some of the most fun, but totally insane theories out there!
By day, Carrie is the co-creator, artist, and production coordinator for the webcomic Kamikaze. By night she’s a writer, budding comic nerd, and passionate feminist. Feel free to follow her on Twitter.
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