Who is The Third Head of the Dragon? : A Song of Ice and Fire Predictions
So, as sort of a continuation of my last A Song of Ice and Fire blog about Jon Snow's parentage, I've decided to go a little further in depth on this topic and tell you about my predictions for the three heads of the dragon. In case you're unfamiliar with this concept, the three heads of the dragon are a reference to the three headed dragon on the sigil of house Targaryen. This symbol dates back to the days when the Targaryens first arrived in Westeros; the three heads of the dragon represent Aegon the Conqueror (the first Targaryen king) and his two sisters and the three dragons they rode.
Now, as you know if you've read A Song of Ice and Fire or seen the TV show, Daenerys Targaryen has managed to hatch three dragons. So, what is pretty obvious is that there is going to be a resurrection of the three headed dragon. It is well established in dragon lore that a dragon can have only one rider. Obviously, Dany, who is, after all, the mother of dragons, is one of the heads of the dragon and, as we've already seen, she's going to ride Drogon. The big controversy is, who are the other two heads?
I think it's a fair bet that Jon Snow is the second head of the dragon. Like I said, the consensus seems to be that Jon Snow's parents are going to turn out to be Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, which would make Jon half a Targaryen. Another piece of, thus far, incontestable dragon lore is that the dragon rider must be a Targaryen. If he is the second head of the dragon, I think he'll ride Viserion, because, you know, color coordination. The only issue I see with that theory is that, as of the end of A Dance with Dragons, it seems like Jon could be out of commission. Even so, it's not like Martin to kill a character and not make it completely, indisputably clear that they're dead. As we know, the same thing happened with Theon.
If Jon is dead, though, I think Gendry will step right up and take his place. Gendry is a true Baratheon and, as we know, the Baratheons have Targaryen blood. While, conceivably this could make Stannis the second dragon as well, I think he is too unlikeable as a character. It's been pretty clear cut from the beginning that Stannis isn't heavy on the leadership ability. Both Jon and Gendry exhibit a great deal of natural leadership, so I think that either one would be fine as the second head of the dragon. However, the third head of the dragon is not so clear cut.
A lot of people (on the Internet that is) seem to think that the third head of the dragon is going to be either Tyrion (has been reading and dreaming about dragons since childhood) or Bran (has been promised that he will fly) or Victarion (who has the magic dragon horn thing) or Stannis (he's got the whole fire thing going on). A lot of these theories are based on Dany's visions in the house of the undying.
While I take this stuff as serious as everyone else, I think the visions are too vague to be taken as hard and fast rules. You could read anything you wanted into those visions. But just because someone fits the perimeters of the vision, doesn't mean that they're the third head of the dragon. There's been a lot of dragon lore established up to this point that has to be taken into consideration. Everyone's all like "well, I think, this person is going to ride a dragon at some point and this person would make a great dragon rider and this person has to ride a dragon because they're a point of view character". And my response to that is "no! You're ignoring all the rules!". And everyone is all like "but, but, but on page 954 of A Storm of Swords, Dany sneezes which means that Bran has to be a dragon rider". The people in the A Song of Ice and Fire forums seem to be forgetting that:
1) Neither of these characters is a Targaryen. The Valyrians are the only dragon riders; they have thousands of years of dragon history behind them. It hasn't been indisputably stated that all dragon riders must be Targaryens, but, clearly, being a proper Targaryen makes you fire proof, which is useful around dragons.
2) Each dragon has only one rider and each rider can only ride one dragon. All this nonsense about "this person is going to ride a dragon and this person and this person is going to borrow Rhaegal to fly down to the supermarket". You can't do that! Dany is going to ride Drogon and there can only be two other riders. A firm relationship needs to be established between rider and dragon.
We've seen an example of what happens when these rules are ignored. Quentyn Martell, though he has some Targaryen blood, got roasted. This, to me, is proof that you must be blood of the dragon to ride a dragon. Maybe the Lannisters have a drop of Targaryen blood here and there, but not enough. If you ask me, Tyrion is going to put his dragon expertise to work helping Dany train her dragons and make saddles. Also, I doubt that, no matter what happens, Dany would ever allow a Lannister to ride one of her dragons. If you ask me, Tyrion is the mummer's dragon (which everyone seems to think is supposed to be Aegon), because of his act with Penny.
If you ask me, Aegon is the third head of the dragon. A lot of people say that he's entered the story too late to be the third head of the dragon, but I think he's the real deal. Rhaegar had three children and Aerys had three children, both representing the three heads of the dragon. My only concern about Aegon is greyscale. It's been predicted that Jon Connington's return to Westeros will cause a greyscale epidemic in Westeros. If that happens, then Aegon will die. That would make Aegon the stone dragon and we're back to square one.
At this point, it seems to me that Aegon is most likely to be the third head of the dragon unless Viserys some how survived having gold poured on his head, Rhaenys comes out of the woodwork, or Dany somehow has a child. Not to say that I don't think Tyrion deserves the chance to ride a dragon, but whoever rides the dragon will sit on the iron throne. Presumably, Aegon and Dany will get married and Jon will be king beyond the wall or something like that. The point is, the Targaryens are the rightful rulers of Westeros. Tyrion is more of the 'hand of the king type'. Unless, of course, Tyrion is not Tywin's son.
O_o
Just sayin'
Now, as you know if you've read A Song of Ice and Fire or seen the TV show, Daenerys Targaryen has managed to hatch three dragons. So, what is pretty obvious is that there is going to be a resurrection of the three headed dragon. It is well established in dragon lore that a dragon can have only one rider. Obviously, Dany, who is, after all, the mother of dragons, is one of the heads of the dragon and, as we've already seen, she's going to ride Drogon. The big controversy is, who are the other two heads?
I think it's a fair bet that Jon Snow is the second head of the dragon. Like I said, the consensus seems to be that Jon Snow's parents are going to turn out to be Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, which would make Jon half a Targaryen. Another piece of, thus far, incontestable dragon lore is that the dragon rider must be a Targaryen. If he is the second head of the dragon, I think he'll ride Viserion, because, you know, color coordination. The only issue I see with that theory is that, as of the end of A Dance with Dragons, it seems like Jon could be out of commission. Even so, it's not like Martin to kill a character and not make it completely, indisputably clear that they're dead. As we know, the same thing happened with Theon.
If Jon is dead, though, I think Gendry will step right up and take his place. Gendry is a true Baratheon and, as we know, the Baratheons have Targaryen blood. While, conceivably this could make Stannis the second dragon as well, I think he is too unlikeable as a character. It's been pretty clear cut from the beginning that Stannis isn't heavy on the leadership ability. Both Jon and Gendry exhibit a great deal of natural leadership, so I think that either one would be fine as the second head of the dragon. However, the third head of the dragon is not so clear cut.
A lot of people (on the Internet that is) seem to think that the third head of the dragon is going to be either Tyrion (has been reading and dreaming about dragons since childhood) or Bran (has been promised that he will fly) or Victarion (who has the magic dragon horn thing) or Stannis (he's got the whole fire thing going on). A lot of these theories are based on Dany's visions in the house of the undying.
While I take this stuff as serious as everyone else, I think the visions are too vague to be taken as hard and fast rules. You could read anything you wanted into those visions. But just because someone fits the perimeters of the vision, doesn't mean that they're the third head of the dragon. There's been a lot of dragon lore established up to this point that has to be taken into consideration. Everyone's all like "well, I think, this person is going to ride a dragon at some point and this person would make a great dragon rider and this person has to ride a dragon because they're a point of view character". And my response to that is "no! You're ignoring all the rules!". And everyone is all like "but, but, but on page 954 of A Storm of Swords, Dany sneezes which means that Bran has to be a dragon rider". The people in the A Song of Ice and Fire forums seem to be forgetting that:
1) Neither of these characters is a Targaryen. The Valyrians are the only dragon riders; they have thousands of years of dragon history behind them. It hasn't been indisputably stated that all dragon riders must be Targaryens, but, clearly, being a proper Targaryen makes you fire proof, which is useful around dragons.
2) Each dragon has only one rider and each rider can only ride one dragon. All this nonsense about "this person is going to ride a dragon and this person and this person is going to borrow Rhaegal to fly down to the supermarket". You can't do that! Dany is going to ride Drogon and there can only be two other riders. A firm relationship needs to be established between rider and dragon.
We've seen an example of what happens when these rules are ignored. Quentyn Martell, though he has some Targaryen blood, got roasted. This, to me, is proof that you must be blood of the dragon to ride a dragon. Maybe the Lannisters have a drop of Targaryen blood here and there, but not enough. If you ask me, Tyrion is going to put his dragon expertise to work helping Dany train her dragons and make saddles. Also, I doubt that, no matter what happens, Dany would ever allow a Lannister to ride one of her dragons. If you ask me, Tyrion is the mummer's dragon (which everyone seems to think is supposed to be Aegon), because of his act with Penny.
If you ask me, Aegon is the third head of the dragon. A lot of people say that he's entered the story too late to be the third head of the dragon, but I think he's the real deal. Rhaegar had three children and Aerys had three children, both representing the three heads of the dragon. My only concern about Aegon is greyscale. It's been predicted that Jon Connington's return to Westeros will cause a greyscale epidemic in Westeros. If that happens, then Aegon will die. That would make Aegon the stone dragon and we're back to square one.
At this point, it seems to me that Aegon is most likely to be the third head of the dragon unless Viserys some how survived having gold poured on his head, Rhaenys comes out of the woodwork, or Dany somehow has a child. Not to say that I don't think Tyrion deserves the chance to ride a dragon, but whoever rides the dragon will sit on the iron throne. Presumably, Aegon and Dany will get married and Jon will be king beyond the wall or something like that. The point is, the Targaryens are the rightful rulers of Westeros. Tyrion is more of the 'hand of the king type'. Unless, of course, Tyrion is not Tywin's son.
O_o
Just sayin'
Jon Snow is a definite in my mind. Bran will literally fly. His spirit will be Jon's dragon. That's the only prediction I feel comfortable making.
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