Game of thrones is undoubtedly the greatest TV series of our time. The sheer amount of content and scale is breathtaking to say the least. From its complex characters to its branching plot, it has continually proven to be the most unique and unexpected treat.
But the greatest proof of its success is the insanely huge and dedicated fan base. There are literally a ton of theories that unbelievably make sense when you invest your time in them. Some of them are so uncanny that even the writers find it hard to surprise us now.
One of the most discussed aspects of the series among fans is the prophesied hero. Whether it is the prince that was promised, Azor Ahai reborn, the last hero, the stallion that will mount the world or the Volunqar.
While there are many contenders for this prophesied hero, some more unlikely than others(*cough* Ser Pounce *cough*), two of them are most widely believed to be the hero, namely, Jon Snow, the recently revealed son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of dragons. There is much evidence that supports this but what if they are red herring, planted to distract us from realizing the true hero? LikeJamie Lannister? Episode 4 of season 7 just gave us huge evidence that that is the case.
Throughout the series, Jamie had undoubtedly the most interesting arc. He was probably the most despised character in the beginning of the series. But he has grown into such a character that we found ourselves rooting for him rather than Dany in the recent episode, spoils of war.
But what if his arc of redemption is more important than we initially thought?
Below are my analyses as to why I think Jamie Lannister is the top contender to be the prophesied hero.
1. HIS JOURNEY FROM KINGSLAYER TO FORGING HIMSELF INTO A BETTER MAN.
Jamie Lannister had always been a morally grey character. But throughout the series, his character has started leaning more towards the light side.
He had made many morally wrong decisions in the starting of the series. But what were reasons that made him take such action? His pride, his family and his one true love.
His pride
Jamie Lannister always prided himself in being the best swordsman in the realm. Going as far as stating that there are maybe only 3 people who may have a chance at beating him. He also shown how much his pride held him back when he let Ned Stark live because it wouldn’t have been “clean”
So when he lost his sword hand, the hand that defined him, he lost his purpose in life. In fact, he himself once stated, he would rather die than be a cripple. Later, in the bath scene at Harrenhall with Brienne, his character did a redefining turn when he confessed about king Aerys and how he felt about being the kingslayer. That day he took his first step in his journey. He shed his pride.
Interestingly, it happened in water. When he passed out after his confession and saying his name is Jamie, it can be said that he broke.
Now what was the prophecy regarding Azor Ahai and his legendary sword again?
“He labored for thirty days and thirty nights until it was done. However, when he went to temper it in water, the sword broke. He was not one to give up easily, so he started over.”
Another point to note, there was quite a gap between when he lost his hand and then went in the hot bath. And in that unspecified gap, he “labored” quite a lot mentally.
His family
While that event in the hot bath changed Jamie quite a lot, there were still things that were holding him back from realizing his true destiny. One of them being his family. His manipulative father Tywin, who on multiple occasions forced Jamie into doing things he did not want, his dear brother Tyrion, whom he loved and did not mind starting a war over and to some extent his children.
After returning to Kings landing, among his family, he started diverting back to his older self. But he didn’t lose himself, his oath to Catlyn, Brienne and the transformation in the hot bath kept him questioning himself. He mentally labored for quite a while again, longer than last time, until the deciding moment when Tyrion was sentenced to death. That night, he defied his father and his sister and broke Tyrion out.
In the books, Jamie confessed to Tyrion about his previous wife Tysha, who Tyrion believed was a whore, was actually not a whore but truly loved Tyrion and that Tywin had Jamie lie to him about it. Also, Tywin made his guards gang rape Tysha while Tyrion watched and made him think that Tysha was a whore who would fuck all the guards for money. This truth broke Tyrion, who was “a captured lion” at the moment. It was like Jamie had pierced a sword in his heart. Tyrion then kills Tywin which as Cersei states later on was Jamie’s fault and it was not Tyrion but Jamie who had actually killed Tywin(and hence the lion) unknowingly.
With that, Jamie cuts off his ties with his family as he loses his father and his love for his brother.
Now what was the second part of the prophecy?
“The second time he took fifty days and fifty nights to make the sword, even better than the first. To temper it this time, he captured a lion and drove the sword into its heart, but once more the steel shattered”
His love
Now Jamie was more reformed than ever. But one last thing was holding him back. His one true love, Cersei.
Since episode one, all the evil acts that Jamie haddone were because of his love forCersei. As he himself stated in first episode “the things I do for love” and as long as Cersei is holding him back, he cannot move forward as we see when Jamie continues to follow her even after finding out about Tommen and Sept Baelor and still thinking that Cersei will build a peaceful world. Cersei is without a doubt the last obstacle in Jamie’s arc of redemption.
Now for the third part of the prophecy-
“The third time, with a heavy heart, for he knew beforehand what he must do to finish the blade, he worked for a hundred days and nights until it was finished. This time, he called for his wife, Nissa Nissa, and asked her to bare her breast.
He drove his sword into her breast, her soul combining with the steel of the sword, creating Lightbringer, while her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon”
Finally, Azor Ahai had to kill his love to forge Lightbringer. There is strong evidence that Cersei will die by Jamie’s hand, mainly in the volunqar prophecy which Maggy the witch made for Cersei. In this prophecy, Maggy says that Cersei will be a queen, the king will have 20 children but she will have 3 and none of them would be from the king. All of this has been proved true. Maggy further says that a younger, more beautiful queen will come and take her title. This is most likely a reference to Daenerys. Lastly, she says, her “little brother” would strangle her to death.
Cersei always believed, the little brother is Tyrion but interestingly, Jamie is also some minutes younger than her. In episode 3 of season 7, we see the queen of thorns planting doubts in Jamie’s head. Jamie’s arc is now pushing him to face the inevitable situation when Cersei will opt for an insane and destructive plan to win against Daenerys, possibly the exact same the mad king intended to use.
In season six, we see Qyburn confirming some kind of rumor for Cersei. The rumor turns out to be the fact that the mad king had wildfire hidden underneath many parts of the city. The mad king intended to burn the city to defeat Tywin’s army but Jamie killed him before that and gained the title of kingslayer.
Now Cersei is heading down the same path and Jamie will face the same situation yet again.
Another thing to note are these words that Tyrion once said to Cersei, “the day will come when you think you are happy and the joy will turn into ashes in your mouth.”
If Cersei thinks she will win by burning Dany’s army with wildfire, she would be happy. Jamie would be unable to accept this and as the volunqar prophecy goes, strangle Cersei to death and thus fulfill the final part of the prophecy regarding Azor Ahai and the Lightbringer.
2. WHAT IS JAMIE’SLIGHTBRINGER? A POSSIBLE MISINTERPRETATION IN THE PROPHECY?
You might be thinking this right? Jamie can’t even use a sword; much less wield a legendary fire sword. But just like the other parts of the prophecy, the Lightbringer itself could possibly be metaphorical. But there this very interesting thing I found which points to something else.
Azor Ahai is the champion of lord of light. The Valyrian words for lord and light are aeksio and onos. And, the Valyrian words for gold and hand are aeksion and ondos. See how similar they sound? What if a translation error that happened somewhere throughout the centuries caused this mistake? Just like meastor Aemon once said, such things are common. As we all know, Jamie has a golden hand. What if his hand is the Lightbringer? While it could be metaphorical, very interesting evidence suggests something else.
Remember Jojen Reed? When he was captured by the rogue men of the nights watch at Craster’s keep, Mira asked him, “When will we know it’s the end?” And Jojen said, “You will know” or something. All the while staring at his hand, probably using his greensight. His hand was on fire.
Below are the two passages from the books that connect this to Jamie’s hand.
“His hand burned. Still, still, long after they had snuffed out the torch they’d used to sear his bloody stump, days after, he could still feel the fire lancing up his arm, and his fingers twisting in the flames, the fingers he no longer had. –ASOS, Jaime IV”
And
“In his dreams Jaime always had two hands; one was made of gold, but it worked just like the other. –AFFC, Jaime”
What if Jojen was seeing the prophesied hero? The hand on fire could be metaphorical or it could be literal. While I think Jamie’s golden hand bursting into fire after killing Cersei is a little farfetched, it could happen.
Another evidence that i found supporting this theory is some similarities game of thrones has with Norse mythology. One could say a song of ice and fire is inspired from it in several places. But what does that have to do with Jamie? Jamie has similarities with the Norse god and hero called Tyr also lost his sword hand and is thus known as one handed god. In fact, Tyr once bound a wolf named Fenrir with shackles, who later tore his hand with its mouth. And as Jojen once pointed out, Bran is also a “wolf bound to earth in grey stone shackles” as a direct result of Jamie pushing him out of the window.
3. REBORN AMIDST SALT AND SMOKE. UNDER THE BLEEDING RED STAR.
The prophecy of the chosen one further state that the hero will be reborn amidst salt and smoke. In the end of episode 4 of season 7, we see Jamie Lannister drowning in water. The water had plenty salt and Drogon made sure that there would be plenty smoke too. If Jamie lives and comes out of the Blackwater bay, he would be “reborn” amidst literal salt and smoke. Just like how rulers in iron islands do the crowning ceremony. They drown the king and the drowned god revives him. Thus the saying “what is dead may never die”
As for the bleeding red star, it could be the bleeding Drogon, or we may see something else referencing towards that in the next episode.
With this much evidence supporting him to be the prophesied hero, my bets are on Jamie Lannister. We will see how it turns out in the next episode.
GOOD ONE!
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