So, before I go forward, I fully admit that I have not read the Game of Thrones books. Everything I know is from the show or questions I’ve asked my wife who has read them. I built this theory quite accidentally while reading this article https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/game-of-thrones-what-is-jon-snows-realname-aegon-targaryen-season-7-episode-7-dragon-wolf

As confirmed in the Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and was named Aegon for the first king of Westeros. Rhaegar already had a child named Aegon with his first wife and a daughter named Rhaenys. In the book Clash of Kings, Daenerys Targaryen, Jon’s aunt/lover (ewww) has a vision of Rheagar and a prophecy he was trying to fulfill.

Here is a quote—
“There must be one more,” he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in bed, she could not say. “The dragon has three heads.”

Rheagar believed he needed three children to represent the three headed dragon of the Targaryen family crest. He gets that child with Lyanna, creating what Bran Stark called “the lie that launched Robert’s Rebellion.” We’re told that the Mountain kills the first Aegon and Rhaenys as infants, while little Aegon grows up
with the Stark’s in Winterfell as Ned Stark’s bastard son. This is all canon. The next post is all theory and conjecture.

There’s a character in the books called Young Grif who believes himself to be the real, original Aegon, but the show runners decided to leave the character out of the show, presumably because in the end, he won’t matter (I’m looking at you, Lady Stoneheart!). Or the character is just a red herring that doesn’t go anywhere. Now my theory states that Varys switched out the babies as he did in the books, but where did the other Aegon go? It would kind of strange to create another character with a claim to the throne this late into the series. Unless, the original Aegon has been here the whole time, living under a different identity, just like Jon Snow.

Before revealing the identity of the original Aegon Targaryen, I’d like to point out a particularly dramatic moment that hasn’t been followed up. In good writing, no element doesn’t lead somewhere, especially in a meticulously planned television program. Many believe this particular moment was there just to be a cool extra,
but I think it’s a far more crucial event that serves as the crux of this theory. My theory is that the first Aegon Targaryen is, in fact, The Night King.

A significant motif of the story is babies hidden away and being raised as something else, somewhere else. Not only does that fit Jon Snow and Dany Targaryen, but it also the history of Gendry (blacksmith and son of King Robert Baratheon), Theon Greyjoy, Sam Tarly Jr. (the last surviving son of Craster) and even Cersei Lannister’s children. The particular dramatic moment that I mentioned involved the fate of the last born son of Crastor who was offered as a gift to the White Walkers and turned into a White Walker by the Night King himself. Why show us this particular moment if it didn’t mean something or wasn’t building to something more important? This is classic foreshadowing.

Another bit of foreshadowing that everyone was all up in arms about was when the dragon approached Jon Snow and accepted him. According to canon, only theTargaryens can safely approach a dragon. This was another clue that Jon was, in fact, a Targaryen, which we now know to be the case. However, in the season
finale, we saw another person very comfortable with a Dragon.What if Rhaegar’s prophecy does come true. What if there will be three Targaryen children riding into King’s Landing on Dragons next season. Dany, Jon (Aegon2) and the Night King (Aegon1)?

The song of Ice and Fire is the story of Jon Snow. What we built tonight was a future conflict involving two kings riding their dragons (one breathing ice and the other fire) into conflict. In a show that leans so heavily into the idea of family conflict and succession, the idea of these two great kings being lost brothers isn’t
crazy, and the fact that they would have the same birth name works poetically.

Now, I realize the character of the Night King was the first man turned evil by the Children of the Forest. I get that. But is the Night King who destroyed the Wall necessarily the original Night King? Again, such a powerful theme in these books/show is the idea of succession. White walkers can die, we’ve seen it. But how do
they reproduce? We saw that they pick up children left behind. What if whomever Varys sent off with the Aegon 1 got beyond the Wall for safety? What if that baby was found and became the next Night King by a previous Night King. What if this ishow a successor is chosen? What if Craster’s last son is the heir to the Night King’s throne? Just in this past episode, the question of how Dany can have a successor if she can’t bear children is posed. Tyrion says “there are other ways” to find a successor. Like choosing one.

Heading into the final season of Game of Thrones, there are many questions still floating in the ether of Westeros. But after last night, many answers are starting to take shape. It’s going to be very tough to wait until 2019 for our answers.

J.D. Oliva – Co-host and Content Creator for SuperHeroSpeak.com.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @JD_Oliva

JD’s Comic Book Work can be found here: https://www.comixology.com/J-D-Oliva/comics-creator/15851

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