Season 7 of Game of Thrones has come to an end, and the seven episodes finally gave us some big answers about Jon Snow. Jon was able to tame a dragon without even trying, he is in fact the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, and he did indeed hook up with Dany. One big question the show didn't settle in Season 7 is if Jon Snow is the prince that was promised, a.k.a. Azor Ahai. There were some significant clues, however, we can connect some dots about Jon's possible destiny as Azor Ahai. Read on for our breakdown of the potential evidence that Jon really is Azor Ahai!
The most obvious new clue that Jon could be Azor Ahai likely jumped out to A Song of Ice and Fire book readers immediately. In the Season 7 finale, we learned that Lyanna and Rhaegar had originally named their son Aegon Targaryen. In a pivotal chapter of A Clash of Kings, Dany sees a vision of her brother after the birth of his son. Rhaegar chooses to name him Aegon, claiming that he is "the prince that was promised," and "his is the song of ice and fire." If Rhaegar's statement about a son named Aegon as the prince that was promised is accurate, then Jon is clearly going to seize his destiny as Azor Ahai. Besides, as the son of a Stark and a Targaryen, Jon is the product of ice and fire.
Of course, the baby Aegon of the books is definitely not Jon Snow, as he was the son of Rhaegar and Elia, not Rhaegar and Lyanna, and he either died in the sack of King's Landing or was smuggled away to safety. Game of Thrones seems to have simply left that version of Aegon out of the show entirely, and could be applying the prophecy to Jon first and foremost without any detours. Only six episodes are left, and Thrones may need to settle the Azor Ahai question sooner rather than later in Season 8. There's not a whole lot of time remaining, and naming Jon "Aegon" rather than Jahaerys or Aemon or some other Targaryen name would be a straightforward way of fulfilling Rhaegar's prophecy.
Admittedly, the show hasn't mentioned any kind of prophecy from Rhaegar about a baby named Aegon, but a certain plot twist from Season 7 might point to the prophecy surfacing in Season 8. The reveal that Rhaegar annulled his marriage to Elia before marrying Lyanna has puzzled many viewers ever since Gilly discovered the record at the Citadel.
The Targaryens were historically fine with men taking multiple wives (who were usually their sisters), so it seemed downright cruel of Rhaegar to rid himself of Elia just to marry Lyanna in secret. After all, the annulment of his marriage to Elia would have meant that their kids were rendered bastards with no place in the Targaryen line of succession. The reveal of Jon's name in the finale may have been a hint about why Rhaegar felt the need to get the annulment.
If Rhaegar was convinced that his child with Lyanna was going to be the prince that was promised and therefore the most qualified future leader of the Seven Kingdoms, he might have been willing to delegitimize his first two kids. Prophecies in both A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones seem to be more guidelines than actual predictions of what exactly will happen, but if Rhaegar truly believed Jon was the prince that was promised over his first two kids, he might have felt compelled to dissolve his marriage to Elia so that any child with Lyanna would be first in line for the Iron Throne after him.
Fortunately, the name "Aegon" and the annulment of Rhaegar's marriage to Elia aren't the only bits of evidence that Jon might be Azor Ahai. There's also the fact that Jon seems to have a very special sword in Longclaw, as we saw in Season 7's "Beyond the Wall." Although the episode director debunked a theory about the wolf on the pommel, we can't ignore the significance of Jon emerging from the icy depths in the perfect place to pick up his sword again. He should have been very dead from his fall beneath the ice of the lake, whether from the cold or drowning for as long as he was underwater. He popped up, grabbed his sword, and survived (with an assist from his undead uncle).
Beric Dondarrion made the point earlier in the episode that Jon's resurrection meant that the Lord of Light still had plans for him. The reminder of Jon's potential significance to the Lord of Light combined with his retrieval of his sword could be a hint that Longclaw will soon come to be known as Lightbringer, the legendary sword wielded by Azor Ahai during his first life when the world needed a hero, and the hero needed a special sword. Unfortunately, Azor Ahai had to temper his sword by plunging it into the heart of the woman he loved, Nissa Nissa.
It is in this story of how Azor Ahai tempered Lightbringer that we may have our next piece of evidence about Jon's destiny. In Season 7, Jon had a love interest for the first time since Ygritte died back in Season 4. His relationship with Dany almost certainly have a big impact on the events of Season 8, and not just because they're bound to discover sooner or later that she is his aunt. Jon seems truly enamored of her, which could bode badly for her if he does ultimately need to seize his fate as the prince that was promised.
If Jon truly is Azor Ahai reborn, he'll need a sword with a mystical upgrade, and that sword may need to be plunged into the heart of a woman he loves if it's going to be as powerful as possible. The stakes are incredibly high as of the end of the Season 7 finale, what with the Wall coming down in the North and Cersei preparing to bring war from the south. Could Jon and Dany become so desperate to defeat the dead that he kills her with Longclaw to transform it into Lightbringer, just as the first Azor Ahai killed his beloved? The timing of giving him a love interest now is certainly suspicious. Even if it would be an underwhelming end for the Mother of Dragons, we can't rule it out.
Then, there's the fact that the prince that was promised was meant to be born "beneath a bleeding star." Jon's bloody birth at the Tower of Joy took place while Lyanna was under the protection of Ser Arthur Dayne, who carried a sword called Dawn with a sun on the pommel. The Season 6 finale drew attention to the sun on Dawn after Ned carried it with him up to Lyanna, which may have been a subtle hint that Jon was kinda sorta born under a bleeding star.
Sadly, we can only speculate about Jon as Azor Ahai for now. Game of Thrones won't return to HBO for Season 8 for a while. In the meantime, take a look at our fall TV premiere guide for all your viewing options.
