Over the past six seasons, Game of Thrones has generated a lot of bizarro fan theories. Some people have claimed that Roose Bolton is a Dracula. Others have posited that there’s going to be an epic showdown between The Hound and the Mountain, and some–including yours truly–have asked the all-important question: is Varys secretly a merman? (Like Kevin Feige says, “never say never.”) While those likely won’t bear any narrative fruit, a new fan theory has been making the rounds this month, and it’s got more legs to it than most. This fan theory, which comes courtesy of redditor FollowTheBeard, puts forth that Azor Ahai, the legendarily prophesied Prince that was Promised, the Warrior of Light, the Lord’s Chosen, the cool dude with a rude ‘tude who’s going to defeat the White Walkers and save us all is none other than Ser Davos Seaworth! Gasp you should, dear reader, because this theory isn’t as crazy as it sounds, and we’re going to break it down on today’s episode of The Dan Cave.
Now before we get any further, here is your SPOILER WARNING for all things Game of Thrones, both books and TV. If you’re not caught up, what is your problem? Get with it. The rest of you, get in the palanquin ’cause we’re going theory-crafting.
via Buzzfeed
Ser Davos Seaworth isn’t just my favorite character on the entire show; he may well be its most important if this theory holds true. But first let’s start with the question of who the hell is Azor Ahai? Well, 8,000 years ago, back when the White Walkers were marching on the realms of men and generally wrapping their bony fingers around the proverbial throat of Westeros, a hero arose to team up with the Children of the Forest–you know, those weird spell-slinging little nymphs?–and beat the bone brigade back beyond the Wall, to the land of eternal winter, a.k.a. the New England of Westeros.
This selfless soldier was known as the Last Hero, and is thought by many to be none other than Azor Ahai. hero’s return was foretold in a prophecy, which goes as follows in A Clash of Kings, Chapter 10, which is coincidentally a Davos chapter:
“In ancient books of Asshai it is written that 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 Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.”
This quote is modified slightly in A Dance with Dragons when Melisandre tells Jon Snow that “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.”
To recap, Azor Ahai is going to come back when the world needs him most, wielding the burning sword Lightbringer, the mythical blade that was tempered by plunging it into Azor Ahai’s wife’s heart, and use it to vanquish the forces of evil.
According to FollowTheBeard’s theory, they start laying clues that Ser Davos is actually Azor Ahai as early as season 2. Remember that fun and flirty beachside ceremony where Melisandre burns the new gods in effigy and has Stannis draw a flaming sword from the pyre? After Stannis does his solemn duty and draws the sword, he sticks it in the sand. As we all know, Stannis proved that he definitely wasn’t the legendary warrior of prophecy when he met his untimely demise at the pointy end of Brienne of Tarth’s blade. So who took up the mantle of the proverbial Lightbringer? Ser Davos Seaworth, of course! At the end of that season 2 scene, it is Ser Davos who picks up the blade on the beach and walks off with it.
Remember that bit about how “there will come a day when the stars bleed?” There’s a red comet in the sky above Westeros and Essos all throughout season 2. Simple enough. Some, like Osha, believe it meant the return of dragons to the world, but iif you believe the theory, it is literally a bleeding star as foretold in prophecy.
What about the rest of that quote, about how “the darkness gathers?” It’s kind of like in the movie Dodgeball where it’s a metaphor…but it really happened. During the Battle of the Blackwater, Ser Davos Seaworth and the Baratheon troops tried to make landfall at King’s Landing under the cover of darkness. They waited for the darkness to gather around them, only to be summarily blown to smithereens by the alchemists’ dragonfire. In the ensuing explosion, Davos was sent hurtling into the salt water of the ocean amidst the stifling smoke of the fire. When he washed up on the rocky shoals a few days later, his smuggler pal Salladhor Saan remarked, “You’ve only just come back to life. Stay alive a little longer, my friend.” Likewise, Stannis told his erstwhile Hand, “I heard you were dead.” Maybe he was dead. And maybe he was born again amidst smoke and salt.
I know, I know, you’re ready to throw your monitor out the window in a fit of rapturous joy now that we’ve cracked this prophecy open wider than a coffin big enough to accommodate Hodor. Before we celebrate, there’s still the little matter of that pesky bit of “[waking] dragons out of stone.” While I’d like to think that this means Ser Davos will turn Dragonstone into some sort of massive mechanical automaton a la The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it actually refers to Davos raising Jon Snow from the dead. That’s right, Ser Davos raised Jon Snow from the dead, not Melisandre. You probably thought it was her this whole time with her murderous vagina demons and lying statement necklaces, but you’d be sadly mistaken.
Think back to season 6, episode 2, when Jon Snow was lying dead as a doornail on a stone slab at Castle Black, freshly murdered by his so-called “brothers” of the Night’s Watch and that traitorous little shit Olly. Melisandre had seemingly given up hope on bringing Jon Snow back from the sweet hereafter, but Ser Davos gave her the kind of speech that would inspire a struggling youth sports team to overcome a gang of bullies in an epic underdog victory in the third act of an apocryphal Disney movie. While it encouraged Melisandre, her magic didn’t seem to work, so she left, as did Dolorous Edd and Tormund Giantsbane. The only one who stayed behind with Jon was the Onion Knight himself. As FollowTheBeard points out, there’s a protracted moment of silence as Ser Davos intensely observes Jon. He isn’t just checking out Kit Harington’s bod that just won’t quit; he is performing some sort of inner monologue or ritual that brings everyone’s favorite bastard back to life! Lo and behold, shortly after Davos leaves, what happens? Ol’ Jonny boy’s eyes shoot open and the bastard stars breathing again! Thus, it was Ser Davos who woke the dragon from stone.
via Giphy
You may be asking, “W-w-what about that dragon part? Jon Snow doesn’t have leathery wings outside the confines of my DeviantART page! And he can’t breathe fire!” Well, you’ve got me there folks. Just kidding. No you don’t. If we look into another recently confirmed fan theory, we know that R + L = J. This isn’t a math equation for Kyle Hill to solve; it’s the story of Jon Snow’s true parentage: R stands for Rhaegar Targaryen, L stands for Lyanna Stark, and J stands for Jon Snow. Rhaegar Targaryen is Jon’s true father, not Ned Stark, and as we all know the symbol of the Targaryens is a three-headed dragon. Thus when Ser Davos brings Jon back to life, he is quite literally waking a dragon from stone.
Adding further fuel to the fire is the fact that actor Liam Cunningham, who plays Davos on the show, has mentioned in interviews with Rolling Stone and Conan O’Brien that when he first met George R.R. Martin, the author told him a secret that he hadn’t told anyone else. Did he whisper that the Onion Knight was indeed the Prince that was Promised? Or did he confirm our other favorite fan theory, that Azor Ahai is actually Jaime Lannister? Only time will tell, and hopefully we’ll get more answers when Game of Thrones returns on July 16, 2017.
via Giphy
What do you think of this fan theory? If not Davos, who else could be Azor Ahai and why? Let us know in the comments below!
Images: HBO
Sources: reddit; Bustle; Buzzfeed
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Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).
