Forthcoming of Azor Ahai: The Prince that was Promised

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.

 In the universe of ASOIF, prophecies are the central edifices for any premises and narratives; they are the cornerstones of myriads of character motivation. Empires and legends built around these theories and also crumbled around it.it often navigate the action and decision of individuals and propelled the narrative forward. 

Amid multitudes of foretelling a distinct and unique correlation exist which leads to the frontier of all the prophecies, the prophecy about the last hero or Azora Ahai a mythical figure at the dawn of age of man some five thousand years ago, who fought against the impending darkness known as long night and the agents of the darkness also known as “THE OTHERS” and repeal the darkness in order brought the era known as “The Dawn of MAN”. The blade he wielded while fighting is called “The Light Bringer” and there is a set of lore and myths around this blade too.

According to prophecy, in ancient books of Asshai from over five thousand years ago, Azora Ahai is to be reborn again as a champion sent by R'hllor. This will occur after a long summer when an evil, cold darkness descends upon the world. It is said that wielding Light bringer once again, Azora Ahai will stand against the others and if he fails, the world fails with him.

To scrutinize a prophecy limb from limb, we have to know it line by line and it’s all aspects, so here’s how it goes 

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 Azora Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.

This prophecy was interpreted and analyzed with numerous perspectives and with strings of depictions. Hell, even an entire religion was established and preached on its back.Darkness lay over the world and a hero, Azor Ahai, was chosen to fight against it. To fight the darkness, Azor Ahai needed to forge a hero's sword.

He labored for thirty days and thirty nights forging a blade in sacred fires. However, when he went to temper it in water, the sword burst asunder. He was not one to give up easily, so he started over. 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 the beasts red heart, but once more the steel shattered. Great was his woes and great his sorrows then. 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 glowed white hot. This time, he called for his wife, Nissa Nissa, and asked her to bare her breast. He drove his smoking sword into her living heart, it is said that her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon. Her blood and her soul, her strength and her courage combining with the steel of the sword, creating Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.

Amid multitudes of characters and POVs, only three people penetrate the threshold to fulfill this ancient prophecy. The affairs and occurrences of these characters are somehow associated with the prophecy in both literal and figurative sense. The prophecy foretold the birth of the prince who was promised when the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt at the end of a very long summer and a long winter is forthcoming, at that late hour the last hero will be reborn who will deliver the world of living from the agents of long night and became a harbinger of new dawn.

Rhaegar Targaryen

Master Aemon thought that Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was the prince who was promised since the smoke would be from the fire at Summerhall and salt from the tears of those who cried there.  A wood witch also prophesized about the prince who was promised to be born in the bloodline of King Aerys and Queen Rhaella.Young Rhaegar agreed with Aemon that he might be the prince that was promised. But as he matured and delve deeper into the meaning of the prophecy, he stumbled upon a realization that he was meant to bring forth the last hero in this world and he was not the prince who was promised. He lived with it all his life and his actions are an echo of his adherence and perusal of this prophecy.

Daenerys Targaryen

Daenerys Targaryen maybe not born under prophetic circumstances, but her true identity and existence have blossomed in the funeral pyres of Khal Drogo. She metamorphosed from a timid exiled princess to mother of dragons and breaker of chains amid smoke and salt beneath the canopy of a bleeding star. 

In midst of smoke and salt from the burning blood Danny was reborn and the events that transpired afterward only strengthen her claim unequivocally. 

Jon Snow (Aegon Targaryen)

For our next introspection, we have to leave the premises of books and have to enter the popular TV show of HBO which in a sense surpassed the events of “A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE”. Here some unlikely story emerged which nod its head towards someone implausible. This unlikely hero is Jon Snow descended in the bloodline of King Aerys and Queen Rhaella, who until now has been masquerading as a bastard of Eddard Stark turns out to be the true heir of the iron throne. He was born under the shadow of a bloody blade called dawn, which was forged from a fallen star house Dayne's ancestral blade.

When his black brothers murdered him treacherously he was reborn amid the salt of his sweat and blood and ensuing smoke resulted from spewing of hot blood upon the cold ice. He is 998th Lord Commander of night’s watch which was created solely for the purpose of defending the realm of living from the long night and its agents.as Mr. Martin has the fondness for the unlikely heroes, as he ardently showcased in his epic work, I thought Jon is the suitable candidate. And above all his is the song of ice and fire. 

My Theory

In conclusion, we could comprehend the prophecy in a way that the prince who was promised may not be a singular entity but a trinity, remember a dragon has three heads. The first head was Rhaegar, whose pursuance of the prophecy triggered all the events in the wasteros. His comprehension of the prophecy catalyzed the civil war of Robert Baratheon, which leads to the exile of Danny and eventually sold as a bride to Dothraki horse lord. 

It paved the way for Jon to be a bastard, cumulating him entering into Night’s watch which eventually led him to the wall. I think like his Brother Danny’s actions and his love for JON qualified her to be the second head of The Dragon. She will end up becoming the sacrifice at the altar of greater good like her counterpart Nissa Nissa the fabled wife of Azor Ahai. Her strength, blood, and her love will be the final catalyst which will lit up the Lightbringer and unveil the prince who was promised. 

And the third head of dragon will be, oh! No, I will not be going to spell it out for you. Solve the equation and you will know the answer. Either way, like I said prophecies are fickle things in nature, it might happen that I might be wrong. So the speculations will go on………….