Dany's Visions in the House of the Undying 2

I have to thank Calluna specifically and her ‘I see what you did there’ videos for helping me see the pattern.

First off, the visions can be broken down into a cipher, like a code. Each set is of three: Daughter of Death, Slayer of Lies, Bride of Fire. What do these mean? The key lies in the words death, lies, and bride. In order to see the pattern further we have to put them in a graph. Insert the specific visions in rows across:

Daughter of Death

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Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth.

A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him.

Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman’s name.

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Slayer of Lies

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Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow.

A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd.

From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire.

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Bride of Fire

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Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars.

A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly.

A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness.

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Seeing this pattern it is now possible to figure out what the headings of each column are. Note how each column relates. The first are all indisputably past events. The second column are events of the future that won't actually happen. A false future. What links the three of the last column is all relate to the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised.

The Past

A False Future

The Prophecy of the Prince that was Promised

Daughter of Death

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Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth.

A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him.

Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman’s name.

Slayer of Lies

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Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow.

A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd.

From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire.

Bride of Fire

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Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars.

A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly.

A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness.

Let’s look at the first column: The first vision is straight memory. It should be noted that all the people in the first row are relatives of Daenerys. Relatives that all died before their time.

The second is of Stannis. The lie is that he is not the Prince.

The third is Dany’s wedding night with Khal Drogo.

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See how the rows fit together in each column: Viserys’ death, Stannis is a fake Azor Ahai, and the place where Dany first married.

In column two the first vision is obviously intended to be Dany’s son who was stillborn. His future as the ‘Stallion who Mounts the World’ is the false future.

The second might also appear obvious as referring to the false Aegon. However, I actually interpret this to mean that Aegon will fail to seize the Iron Throne. From its inclusion here I think it is safe to say that Aegon, or Faegon as some people call him, will appear to be on the verge of victory before he dies. He is already the ‘mummer’s dragon’. The lie is that he is Rhaegar's son. The false future is his success at seizing the Iron Throne. See the article on Faegon Targaryen.

The third is more difficult as there are several possibilities, but I interpret it to mean that Dany will not marry Euron. The corpse smiling sadly is an obvious reference to the Grayjoys. Most commentators seem to think this refers to Victarion because he is travelling to meet with Dany. I do not think it is Victarion. The vision clearly indicates a corpse. Victarion is still alive. But there are indications that Euron is already dead. A wight perhaps. See my analysis on him. This means that in the books there is a very high probability that Dany will come very close to marrying him. I think the sample chapter ‘The Forsaken’ very strongly hints at this. As to why she doesn’t simply review my analysis of how Arya and Dany meet.

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The final column is the most interesting and the most open to interpretation.

The first vision is clearly the death of Rhaegar. I have to thank In Deep Geek for his videos on Rhaegar for helping me clear up my confusion in this case. Rhaegar’s death is necessary for the fulfillment of the prophecy. As long as he lived there was no chance Jon would join the Night’s Watch, discover the truth about the Others, and eventually be resurrected to lead Westeros against them. Had Rhaegar lived and become king he would have named Tywin to be his hand, Tywin would have arraigned an ‘accident’ to get rid of Ellia Martell and her children, and goaded Rhaegar into marrying Cersei. This would have condemned Westeros, and probably Jon, to almost certain death.

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The second is by far the most difficult. Because it is in the row ‘Slayer of Lies’ we might be inclined to just dismiss it out of hand. What needs to be remembered though is that prophecies in storytelling always serve a purpose. Even if they are very ambiguous to begin with, by the end of the story their meaning is always supposed to be clear. A prophecy which remains ambiguous at the end might as well not be included. (cough*George Lucas*cough) The salt, smoke, and tears references are far too ambiguous to be the whole thing. Therefore the last part has to have some bearing. Yet the way GRRM writes it makes it almost impossible to get right. How then does it fit? Martin, as he demonstrates in the tragedy at Summerhall, likes to throw a wrench into the proceedings. If we take this into account and remember ‘Slayer of Lies’, what this suggests is that the prophecy has been misinterpreted somehow. The most likely explanation is mistranslation.

The vision is indisputably of a ‘stone dragon’ bursting from a tower. The prophecy we are told originates in Asshai. But does it? Everyone in Asshai originally came from somewhere else. We are told that there are no children in Asshai. In other words, Asshai has no native population. Yet it does have its own language. What this suggests is that whoever the prophet was who first foresaw the prophecy misinterpreted it when translating it into Asshai’i. The prophecy as Melisandre relates it to us is ‘he will awaken dragons from stone’. But there is also this version: ‘he will awaken stone dragons’. On the surface these may appear similar, but they are actually quite different. A stone dragon could simply be a statue, whereas awakening a dragon from stone could be Dany’s birthing her dragons from petrified eggs.

If it is a mistranslation however what could be its real meaning? As just about everyone who has ever tried to learn a second language can relate, you frequently come across words that seem familiar or the same, but which actually have totally different meanings in the other language. This is likely what happened. My own guess as to what the prophecy said in its original language was probably ‘the dragon will be awakened from death’. The misinterpretation here is mistaking the word for death with the word for stone. As far as who the now corrected line could apply to there is only one character who fits: Jon Snow. He is the ‘dragon’ being a Targaryen and he is ‘awakened’ ie: resurrected, from death.

There is also a further point which may, or may not, be relevant. The corrected prophecy also hints at who the other two ‘heads’ are of the dragon. Daenerys is a dragon who is not resurrected, while Arya will be resurrected, but is not a dragon. In the show Beric saves Arya’s life, as I knew he would. It has long been speculated that Beric, or Lady Stoneheart in the books, would sacrifice themselves to resurrect someone. The show runners chose to have Beric sacrifice himself in a different way, but it still counts.

The final vision is actually quite easy and in many ways by far the most revealing. It not only tells us that Jon is the Prince that was Promised, but it also tells us straight out that Dany and Jon will marry.

The Past

A False Future

The Prophecy of the Prince that was Promised

Daughter of Death

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Viserys’ receiving his ‘crown of gold’.

The future of Dany’s stillborn son had he lived.

Rhaegar had to die to fulfill the prophecy.

Slayer of Lies

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Stannis is not Azor Ahai.

The false Aegon will not achieve the Iron Throne.

The ‘wake dragons from stone’ should be ‘wake dragons from death’.

Bride of Fire

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Dany’s wedding night.

Euron will fail to coerce Dany into marriage.

Dany will find her true love, Jon Snow, at the Wall.

I think it is necessary to address an issue that is bound to be raised. What is the true meaning of the titles Daughter of Death, Slayer of Lies, Bride of Fire. When making my analysis I interpret them to be metaphors. But what if they are meant more literally?

Daughter of Death: This could just be a reference to Daenerys as Aerys' daughter. Both Rhaegar and Viserion were Aerys' sons. But Rhaego was Daenerys' son. So is the connection the fact that Rhaego is Aerys' grandson? Or is it a reference to all their Targaryen heritage? Rhaego's death is a reminder of what happens all too frequently to the Targaryen family. Its actual cause is still to be determined. The implication it makes is that Dany will die before the end. This is an ending I choose not to believe as I happen to like Daenerys. One thing that does link the three visions together is that all three, Rhaegar, Visarion, and Rhaego, had to die for Dany to achieve her future.

Slayer of Lies: This is a puzzle. The interpretation I used was that Dany, whether directly or by inference, reveals the truth. But what if Slayer is meant literally? At the time GRRM wrote this the idea that Dany and Stannis would meet was not unreasonable. In the years since the story has grown so much that Stannis is likely to be dead long before Dany ever gets to Westeros. It is probable that when Martin wrote it he did intend for Dany to kill Stannis. Now it almost certainly won't happen. The same is true regarding Faegon. The last vision is a problem. It implies that Dany would kill a false dragon, but how? Was there originally going to be an artificial dragon, created by magic? Or a wyvern or some such passed off as a dragon?

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The only way I can make this line work is by assuming its meaning is metaphorical. That someone connected to Dany in some way, or maybe just her existence alone, will reveal truths. The last vision, assuming my interpretation is correct, can easily be explained with Missandei. She is the one who will correctly interpret the prophecy. Dany's existence proves Stannis is not Azor Ahai. How she 'slays' the lie about Faegon is more problematic. See the article on Faegon for more.

Bride of Fire: This one is easy. It is the most suggestive as anyone familiar with fantasy should recognize. This is what most strongly hints that Martin wanted Dany to be casting spells. But that was too much for the story. See the article on Broken Plots.

Dany already burned Drogo on his pyre. My previous article on Dany's visions should explain her using fire on Jon. The idea that she will burn Euron is hardly difficult to believe.