With the show caught up to the books and only a couple of plot threads still to be adapted, it’s open season for Game of Thrones speculation…
We will learn the truth about Rhaegar Targaryen
One of the most popular A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fan theories is that Jon Snow isn’t actually Ned Stark’s bastard, but the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark who Ned claimed to be his own son after their deaths during Robert’s Rebellion.
Contrary to the R+L=J theory, historical record in Westeros says that Rhaegar abducted and raped Lyanna Stark. But as Cersei reminds Joffrey after he is bitten by Arya’s Direwolf, the winners write history.
Across the Narrow Sea, Barristan Selmy tells an entirely different story. He has always spoken fondly of Rhaegar to Daenarys despite telling her harsh truths about her father the Mad King. And having her absolute trust and being loyal to her, he would have no real reason to tell such an elaborate lie. Whereas a fiction about Lyanna being abducted would not only make Robert Baratheon look better, but give him an excuse to attack King’s Landing and wipe out the Targaryens.
There has been speculation that Castllo de Zafra, one of the Spanish locations used for Season 6, will be the Tower Of Joy; the place in Dorne where Ned Stark found Lyanna Stark dying and (according to the R+L=J theory) a newborn Jon Snow alongside her. And since Season 6 will explore both the past and future, it looks like we’ll learn just who Rhaegar really was.
Daenerys will seize a new Khalasar
“You are nobody. The millionth of your name. Queen of nothing.” Harsh words but then again, the Dothraki aren’t sticklers for politeness. When we last saw Daenerys, she was unarmed and surrounded by a Khalasar of Dothraki. Who won’t be happy when they find out who she is.
Since sacking Astapor in Season 3, Daenerys has been safe in her cradle of power. Now she is back where she started and will need to learn to survive all over again. Because even though she’s lived among Dothraki, she’s not a Khaleesi this time. She’s a pretender without any authority and with no resources apart from Drogon. And despite his aggression, he isn’t particularly reliable.
So to stay alive amongst this new Khalasar, Daenerys is going to need to be as ruthless as possible and take what she wants with fire and blood. Dothraki won’t accept a Khaleesi over a Khal (particularly a foreign one) but they also respect strength. Enough ruthlessness directed by intelligence could not only win over this new Khalasar eventually, but also send her further down the road to becoming like the Mad King.
The teaser’s tattered and smouldering Targaryen banner against fire and smoke doesn’t exactly bode well for her future but Daenerys has shown herself to be particularly devious and murderous when she’s in the right mood. When a Targaryen is born, the Gods flip a coin. And it might be time to find out the result of this one.
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What predictions do you have for Season 6? Let us know below…