The dragon biting its tail: resurrection and Targaryens

[Frey family reunion]

The Ouroboros or Uroborus[a] is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.

The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (compare with phoenix).

Dothraki lore:

When a horselord dies, his horse is slain with him, so he might ride proud into the night lands. The bodies are burned beneath the open sky, and the khal rises on his fiery steed to take his place among the stars. The more fiercely the man burned in life, the brighter his star will shine in the darkness.

So we have stars as a symbol of a mighty hero taking his place in the heavens. When a star falls is it also a symbol of this mighty hero returning to life?

The night after Egg tracks Dunk down in his camp:

The stars were everywhere, thousands and thousands of them. One fell as he was watching, a bright green streak that flashed across the black and then was gone. A falling star brings luck to him who sees it, Dunk thought. But the rest of them are all in their pavilions by now, staring up at silk instead of sky. So the luck is mine alone.

The next morning Dunk agrees to let Egg stay and squire for him.

John the Fiddler (Daemon Blackfyre jr.) tells Dunk of his vision:

I dreamed it. This pale white castle, you, a dragon bursting from an egg,

The fiddler assumes that he is the dragon and the castle is Whitewalls. While we haven't seen Summerhall described yet, I'm willing to bet it also fits the description.

For what happens in Summerhall? Egg (Aegon) perishes along with Duncans small and tall but who is born that day?

Aemon tells Sam

Rhaegar, I thought... the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth

Rhaegar is the dragon that emerges from the Egg (the death of Aegon)

Barristan Selmy reminisces about Rhaegar and Rhaegar's love of Summerhall:

And yet Summerhall was the place the prince loved best. He would go there from time to time, with only his harp for company. Even the knights of the Kingsguard did not attend him there. He liked to sleep in the ruined hall, beneath the moon and stars, and whenever he came back he would bring a song. When you heard him play his high harp with silver strings and sing of twilights and tears and the death of kings, you could not but feel that he was singing of himself and those he loved.

Melisandre tells of how to wake the dragon:

Two kings to wake the dragon. The father first and then the son, so both die kings.

Both Aegon and Duncan the Small perished that day on Summerhall. Whether or not Duncan the Small was "disinherited" at the time I think matters not, he was Aegon's first born. I believe that the dragon was woken at Summerhall.

I also believe that the dragon is Azor Ahai of legend.

Azor Ahai forges lightbringer on his third try:

The third time, with a heavy heart, for he knew before hand what he must do to finish the blade, he worked for a hundred days and nights until it was finished. This time, he called for his wife, Nissa Nissa, and asked her to bare her breast. He drove his sword into her breast, her soul combining with the steel of the sword, creating Lightbringer

Dany's vision at the house of the undying where she sees Rhaegar with his wife and second child, as he speaks of his need for a third child:

his eyes met Dany's, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. "There must be one more," he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. "The dragon has three heads." He went to the window seat, picked up a harp, and ran his fingers lightly over its silvery strings. Sweet sadness filled the room...

Then we all know the story of Rhaegar's meeting with Lyanna. His placing of the crown of Winter Roses in her lap (symbolizing of the conception of Jon). The birth of Jon, the death of Lyanna. Jon Snow joins the Night's Watch (becoming the sword in the darkness, the fire that burns against the cold, and the light that brings the dawn).

However, Rhaegar dies on the Trident. I believe that upon his death the mantle/spirt of Azor Ahai passes onto the unborn child in the womb of Rhaegar's mother.

The child is born on Dragonstone, and Azor Ahai is reborn in salt and smoke.

Dany's dream the night her unborn child was sacrificed:

She threw open the door. "...the dragon..." And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered through the narrow eye slit of his helm. "The last dragon," Ser Jorah's voice whispered faintly. "The last, the last." Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own.

[noSer]

Great post! As reasonable and logically thought out theory on AA I've seen yet! You could be right but who really knows these days lol

[Young Nan]

Really well thought out post, nice work.

I have never thought about Jon the Fiddler's dream being connected to Rhaegar and the events at summerhall, and I think that's a great observation.

[mindchap]

Nice

[Roadside Rose]

Wow, interesting observations!

If this quote is true, then it's likely those dragons hatched when Drogo & Rhaego died.

Two kings to wake the dragon. The father first and then the son, so both die kings.

Which makes me wonder if Robb had a child with Jeyne Westerling? And if that infant was killed too?

[-Ghost-]

This is a nice post, there are some things Im not sure of though.

I think the Fiddler thought an actual dragon was supposed to be born from the dragon egg, not himself. In reality though, the prophecy was correct, he just interpreted it wrong. The dragon that was born from an Egg at Whitewalls was Aegon.

Im also not sure about the whole spirit thing being transfered from Rhaegar to Dany. Was Dany even concieved yet when Rhaegar died? Also, why would it pass to Dany and not one of Rhaegar's children, like his unborn son?

[Frey family reunion]

This is a nice post, there are some things Im not sure of though.

I think the Fiddler thought an actual dragon was supposed to be born from the dragon egg, not himself. In reality though, the prophecy was correct, he just interpreted it wrong. The dragon that was born from an Egg at Whitewalls was Aegon.

Im also not sure about the whole spirit thing being transfered from Rhaegar to Dany. Was Dany even concieved yet when Rhaegar died? Also, why would it pass to Dany and not one of Rhaegar's children, like his unborn son?

It's unclear what the Fiddler truly believes is going to happen with the egg. I think at the very least he believed that his grand reveal as Daemon Blackfyre II was going to occur after he won the tournament and he won the egg. Now whether he also believed the egg would hatch...

"My dreams do not lie, Ser Duncan. You will have that white cloak, and I must have the dragon's egg. I must, my dreams have made that plain. Perhaps the egg will hatch, or else-"

Bloodraven speaks of how he believes the Fiddler misinterpreted his own prophecy:

"There have always been Targaryens who dreamed of things to come, since long before the Conquest," Bloodraven said, "so we should not be suprised if from time to time a Blackfyre displays the gift as well. Daemon dreamed that a dragon would be born at Whitewalls, and it was. The fool just got the color wrong."

My guess is while Daemon's prophecy might reference Aegon's "unveiling", it also references a more significant birth later on. I think Martin introduces a few such prophecies that seem to be fulfilled early on but in reality portend a more significant event on the horizon.

The timeline of Dany's conception is a tight one. But I think it is Jaime's chapters in either ASOS or AFOC that reveal that Lord Chelsted uncovers Aerys plot to burn down King's Landing and resigns as Hand. Aerys then has him burned alive. That night comes Dany's brutal conception.

After the Battle of the Trident Aerys then sends his newly pregnant wife to Dragonstone. So yes the conception occurred at least shortly before Rhaegar's death.

[Manderlay]

It's unclear what the Fiddler truly believes is going to happen with the egg. I think at the very least he believed that his grand reveal as Daemon Blackfyre II was going to occur after he won the tournament and he won the egg. Now whether he also believed the egg would hatch...

It is clear in the Mystery knight that the Fiddler believes a Dragon will hatch at whitewalls, that is why he also wanted to win the egg so a dragon could hatch, i think he truly believed that because he dreamed of a dragon hatching, except it was Egg who hatched, who shows his Targaryen colours, and also truly acts like a dragon at such a young age that he has Butterwall on his knees and Lord Frey flees from whitewalls. Egg shows us that he too is the blood of the Dragon. I think the dragon hatching part was metaphorical concerning egg (Aegon), instead the Fiddler believed a real dragon would hatch.

[The Mother of The Others]

Was the dragon egg destroyed in the fire at Summerhall, or was it recovered afterwards and confirmed to be still unhatched?

[Morienthar]

Which house is it that has the Ouroboros as it's Sigil??

Darkstar mentions one in AFFC.

[Sevumar]

Which house is it that has the Ouroboros as it's Sigil??

Darkstar mentions one in AFFC.

House Toland of Ghost Hill. The explanation given is that time is cyclic. I think that observation applies outside just the Targaryen family. I'm not sure all of the OP's linkages work, but it's important to remember that magic appears to work on cycles and dragons are deeply magical creatures that can't seem to exist without a certain level of magic in the world.

[PeterPaulGualtieri]

Which house is it that has the Ouroboros as it's Sigil??

Darkstar mentions one in AFFC.

House Toland

http://awoiaf.wester...hp/House_Toland

[Manderlay]

Which house is it that has the Ouroboros as it's Sigil??

Darkstar mentions one in AFFC.

I dont know about AFFC but in Arrinae sample chapter there is house Toland whose sigil is Green dragon biting its own tail

[Sevumar]

I thought House Toland's sigil is representative of the first attempted conquest of Dorne?

That information comes from the Arianne sample chapter in Winds. The bit about history being cyclic is contained in Feast.

[A Crow Come Over]

Which makes me wonder if Robb had a child with Jeyne Westerling? And if that infant was killed too?

If Jeyne was pregnant and her mother made her drink Tansy or something similar to abort the fetus, wouldn't that necessarily be the same thing (sorry to be morbid)

[Frey family reunion]

In addition to the sigil of House Toland another example of the Orouboros occurs in ADWD:

Viserion sensed her disquiet. The white dragon lay coiled around a pear tree, his head resting on his tail.

In addition to the symbol of the Ouroboros, another interesting symbol in this passage is the pear tree, which in Christianity symbolizes the salvation of mankind (of the First Day of Christmas fame).

A few other possible hints about Rhaegar's reincarnation:

During Robert Baratheon's tirade to Eddard:

"I vowed to kill Rhaegar for what he did to her." "You did," Ned reminded him. "Only once," Robert said bitterly.

Also in AGOT:

One wine-sodden taleteller even claimed that Rhaegar Targaryen had returned from the dead and was marshaling a vast host of ancient heroes on Dragonstone to reclaim his father's throne.

When Cersei first viewed Aurane Waters:

The first time she had seen him, for half a heartbeat she had almost thought Rhaegar Targaryen had returned from the ashes.

As Aemon Targaryen considers his own mortality, he brings up the idea of reincarnation.

Yet I cannt help but wonder what will follow, when the last warmth leaves my body. Will I feast forever in the Father's golden hall as the septons say? Will I talk with Egg again, find Dareon whole and happy, hear my sisters singing to their children? What if the horselords have the truth of it? Will I ride through the night sky forever on a stallion made of flame? Or must I return again to this vale of sorrow?

[The Idiots Lantern]

To quote Captain Barbosa, the problem with being the last of anything is, by the by, you know there's gonna be none left...

If Dany really is "The Last Dragon" then she will be the end of that line. We can predict neither she, nor Aegon, nor Jon Snow will have children to succeed them.

Expect a reaping.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I guess my biggest question is why you assume that Rhaegar's soul or essence or whatever transferred to Dany and not Jon, especially since you're also arguing that Rhaegar "inherited" this from Aegon V, suggesting a downward-moving generational pattern. You use Rhaegar's birth in your example, but then turn to Dany's conception. So which is it? Because if you're arguing birth, Jon's lines up more to Rhaegar's death than Dany's (as well as the deaths of "two kings," Aerys and Aegon). And if you're arguing conception, then Rhaegar born at Summerhall doesn't fit either. And if you're trying to use birth in one case and conception in another, then it strikes me as picking and choosing in the extreme.

[The Idiots Lantern]

The biggest question mark for me, prophesy-speaking, is why Dany hasn't seen Jon in any of her dragon dreams yet.

She sees herself wearing Rheagar's armor, imagines flying to the Trident on Drogon to fight Rheagar's battles the way they "should" have been fought, and generally is trying to pattern herself after her elder brother. Yet her visions have yet to include any allusions to what we know (or all-but-know) was the biggest event of Rheagar's life. Namely.... Lyanna and the conception of Jon. One blooming rose in a wall of ice doesn't quite do it justice.

Shouldn't Dany be seeing Stark wolves in her visions? Shouldn't she see Jon? Or at least, a metaphor for Jon? Why isn't she?

[Frey family reunion]

I guess my biggest question is why you assume that Rhaegar's soul or essence or whatever transferred to Dany and not Jon, especially since you're also arguing that Rhaegar "inherited" this from Aegon V, suggesting a downward-moving generational pattern. You use Rhaegar's birth in your example, but then turn to Dany's conception. So which is it? Because if you're arguing birth, Jon's lines up more to Rhaegar's death than Dany's (as well as the deaths of "two kings," Aerys and Aegon). And if you're arguing conception, then Rhaegar born at Summerhall doesn't fit either. And if you're trying to use birth in one case and conception in another, then it strikes me as picking and choosing in the extreme.

Probably because I've always associated Jon's birth more with Lyanna's death than with Rhaegar's. But you certainly could be correct. There just seem to be more clues linking Daenerys as fulfilling the unfinished role of Rhaegar as the prophesized Azor Ahail. But I understand that reasonable minds disagree on this issue.

I'm also not arguing conception, I have no reason to believe that Dany's conception occurred at the same instance as Rhaegar's death. I believe that the reincarnation of the spirit had more to do with the existence of the unborn life of the new host.

Finally, I don't think moment of death of the previous host is the significant event either. I think the destruction of the host body in fire is the triggering event. Which is why Drogo's death before the hatching ritual is of little consequence. It's also why Catelyn could be "revived" even after a susbstantial period of time elapsed after her death during the Red Wedding. The reasoning behind this may be the same reason as to why the Hindus practice cremation. The belief is that the complete destruction of body of the deceased is what enables the soul of the departed to be released and to take up a new "residence". In ASOIAF, two cultures practice cremation, the Valyrians and the Dothraki (I believe that the reasons for this are linked).

The biggest question I have with my own theory is the absence of any discussion of what occurred to Rhaegar after his death on the Trident. In a SSM, Martin indicates that Rhaegar's body was cremated, yet there has been no discussion of that in the series itself. Whether this is an issue that may be brought to light in the future or not I suppose remains to be seen.