In the end, the Azor Ahai prophecy did come true on 'Game of Thrones'
One of the biggest twists of Season 8 is that one of the most oft-debated prophecies, Azor Ahai, a.k.a. the Prince Who Was Promised, seemingly turned out to be irrelevant. But after the finale, fans aren't so sure anymore.
Sure, the prophecy didn't exactly play out like we or the characters on the show might've expected. But as we mentioned last week before episode 6 aired, there was already talk among theorizers about how Jon could still be the Prince Who Was Promised through a reinterpretation of the prophecy.
One redditor made the very well-thought out argument for how practically every aspect of the Azor Ahai prophecy played out in the finale. All we have to do is recontextualize it around the idea that the "darkness" Azor Ahai saves the world from isn't the White Walkers, but rather the potential reign of terror from Mad Queen Daenerys going on to conquer the entire world.
Read it for yourself in full here:
The TL; DR basically comes down to: Jon tried three times to make a "sword" (or, in other words, to bring about a victory) to end the darkness. First it was the White Walkers, but still another threat persisted. So then he moved onto Cersei, and still another threat persisted.
Finally, like Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa, Jon realized that in order to truly beat back the darkness, he'd need to kill the woman he loved -- Daenerys. After plunging his sword into her heart, he at last defeated the "monster" of the Iron Throne, bringing forth an era of peace and ending the years of war and darkness we watched take place on the show.
Still others see Drogon as "Lightbringer," the legendary fiery sword that Azor Ahai was supposed to forge. Certainly, Drogon is a fiery weapon that ultimately melted the Iron Throne, making the "darkness" (represented through Daenerys) of corrupt power flee before him.
What's so great about George R. R. Martin's prophecies is that there are endless ways to interpret them. That makes it so they simultaneously never come true or arguably always come true.
Topics Game Of Thrones HBO
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
