The Three Heads of Rhaegar's Dragon

[Lost Melnibonean]

1 hour ago, Wolf of the Steppes said:

Finally! An OP lately that actually makes sense and is backed up by actual text.  Thanks @Lost Melnibonean.  Very well presented.  I have to say this has been my thinking for quite some time.  

One little quibble, and I suppose it doesn't really make a difference, but there could be an argument made that fAegon represents the green, and Dany represents the black.  Since you mentioned tPatQ, green is sometimes associated with Usurpers.  Rhaenyra's "blacks", being the proclaimed heir in King Viserys' will vs. Aegon II, Queen Alicent, and Criston Cole's "greens".  

I'm not sure if you have read any of the theories on the forks of the trident colors red, green, and blue.--sorry, i don't have the time to look up an OP-- The gist of it is that it starts with the Red fork where Torrhen Stark surrendered to Aegon I.  Robert Baratheon (a Usurper) won his throne on the Green Fork.  The Blue Fork, well......

Cersei, a usurper of sorts, is often associated with or is wearing emeralds.  A quick search found "emerald" 28 times in the novels.  12 of these instances, Cersei is wearing them.  

 

Um... I believe the OP states that Aegon is associated with green, and Daenerys is associated with black, no? I am familiar with @J. Stargaryen's thread regarding emeralds and usurpurs. 

Speaking of Criston Cole, did you notice that he had black hair and green eyes? He went from supporting Rhaenyra to supporting Aegon. 

[Lost Melnibonean]

50 minutes ago, Lew Theobald said:

Yes ...  but prophesies are always misinterpreted.  

It must have been disappointing for Rhaegar when he realized he could not be TPTWP because his real dad was Bonifer Hasty.

So this would give rise to his backup plan:  Find a by-blow daughter of Aerys (from his randy period when he liked to have sex with the wives of his nobles) and knock her up.  Only thus would the lines of Aerys and Rhaella be united.

For real? Or are you typing in sarcastic font? 

[Lost Melnibonean]

7 minutes ago, Lew Theobald said:

I'm just playing connect the dots.  Did I not play fair?

I can't prove Bonifer is Rhaegar's dad.  But if he is not, then what would be the point of Bonifer?  And if Rhaegar is NOT the son of Aerys, how else can he unite the lines and fullfil the prophesy?

Then all we need do is note how tall Bonifer is, and we've also found our descendants of Dunk.

Um...

[Wolf of the Steppes]

1 hour ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

Um... I believe the OP states that Aegon is associated with green, and Daenerys is associated with black, no? I am familiar with @J. Stargaryen's thread regarding emeralds and usurpurs. 

Speaking of Criston Cole, did you notice that he had black hair and green eyes? He went from supporting Rhaenyra to supporting Aegon. 

Ah, jeez.....I feel like an idiot.  Sorry, I read through the OP a little fast.  Well, just consider it more support for what you said, yeah?  

I didn't notice that the Kingmaker had black hair and green eyes.  That is a great catch.  

22 minutes ago, Lew Theobald said:

Your objection, sir?

Just speaking for myself....Where is there a single shred of evidence?  Is there a single passage that even hints that could be true?  Of course your response to that is probably "prove that it's not true". Right?  

[purple-eyes]

long time ago I have seen somebody said Rhaegar is son of Rhaella and Bonifer, and Lyanna is daughter of Aerys and Lyarra Stark (Aerys visited north before). 

Rhaegar tried his best to reunite blood of Rhaella and Aerys. 

[bent branch]

12 hours ago, Lady Fevre Dream said:

I always enjoy reading these, but I'm one who usually just absorbs the info and doesn't quite draw conclusions.  Mostly, this reminded me of a question I've always had about the vision in the HofU concerning Rhaegar, the babe, and all that was said there.  I cannot fathom WHY Rhaegar would think a child of Elia would be the song of ice and fire?  Are we to believe the vision is really Rhaegar and all he thought, or a combo of that and what Dany thinks and a bit of the truth as well?  Are we to believe Dany doesn't understand which child this vision is referring to.....and Rhaegar in the vision already knows that he is dead and was wrong about lots of things?  Is this part of Rhaegar stuck somewhere and unable to even tell all he had wrong and he's sad about it, but only has the power to show some scenes of what did happen.  Did it take all is effort to turn to her and tell her that there must be one more?  I can never get past why Rhaegar would ever think an Aegon born to Elia was a song of ice and fire.  It's also hard to believe that Rheagar ever saw Jon, because.......it's hard to believe that Lyanna lasted so long in her bed of blood.  I'm confused on it all, in some respects. 

LOL  Anyway, I do appreciate all the thought you put into these things.  I'm just always stuck on these questions about the first scenario of the visions of Rhaegar and all he says. 

 

7 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

I'm with you, @Lady Fevre Dream, I've always thought it's weird because Rhaegar - I don't doubt it's him - says it himself: "his is the song of ice and fire". 

Well, we do know it involves Ice and Fire. And there's nothing connecting Elia of Dorne and Ice in any way, shape or form. 

Just one small suggestion. Could it be a reference to his destiny rather than his heritage?

[Lollygag]

Just tossing out a crackpot idea on the three heads if you're open to the interpretation that they don’t all need to be Targs.

Aegon ruled with his sisters Visenya (rather militant) and Rhaenys (charming).

The Targs were overthrown by the Baratheons. Robert’s reign was secured with the aid of Stannis (militant) and Renly (charming).

Jon has two sisters, one militant, the other charming. 

 

AGOT Jon VII and VIII are companion chapters to the HOTU chapter. These passages are from these chapters.

"They were as close as brothers, once." Jon wondered if Joffrey would keep his father as the King's Hand. It did not seem likely. That might mean Lord Eddard would return to Winterfell, and his sisters as well. He might even be allowed to visit them, with Lord Mormont's permission.

"Lady Stark is not my mother," Jon reminded him sharply. Tyrion Lannister had been a friend to him. If Lord Eddard was killed, she would be as much to blame as the queen. "My lord, what of my sisters? Arya and Sansa, they were with my father, do you know—"

Jon did not remember standing or leaving the solar. The next he knew, he was descending the tower steps, thinking, This is my father, my sisters, how can it be none of my concern.

Ser Barristan had been the Old Bear's best hope, Jon remembered; if he had fallen, what chance was there that Mormont's letter would be heeded? He curled his hand into a fist. Pain shot through his burned fingers. "What of my sisters?"

 

[kissdbyfire]

3 hours ago, bent branch said:

Just one small suggestion. Could it be a reference to his destiny rather than his heritage?

Hmmm. I suppose it could... interesting thought.

[kissdbyfire]

9 hours ago, Lew Theobald said:

Yes ...  but prophesies are always misinterpreted.  

It must have been disappointing for Rhaegar when he realized he could not be TPTWP because his real dad was Bonifer Hasty.

So this would give rise to his backup plan:  Find a by-blow daughter of Aerys (from his randy period when he liked to have sex with the wives of his nobles) and knock her up.  Only thus would the lines of Aerys and Rhaella be united.

 

Was Rhaegar sure Viserys wasn't the son of A+R? B/c if not, there's the answer right there. No need to seek out someone else. /s

What you propose is way too convoluted, and it makes no sense given what we know.

[Wolf of the Steppes]

6 hours ago, Lew Theobald said:

Umm.  Yes.  There are what could be deemed "hints".  Not proof, of course, but I'm pretty sure I can pass the "even hints that could be true" standard.   I think I'll keep them to myself, however.   It's not fun any more when you come at me like that.

And no, I won't ask you to prove anything either.

Perhaps I was being a bit sharp.  My apologies.  

I just don't see it.  This is what we know about Bonifer Hasty:

Quote

"Tell me," Dany said, as the procession turned toward the Temple of the Graces, "if my father and my mother had been free to follow their own hearts, whom would they have wed?"

"It was long ago. Your Grace would not know them."

"You know, though. Tell me."

The old knight inclined his head. "The queen your mother was always mindful of her duty." He was handsome in his gold-and-silver armor, his white cloak streaming from his shoulders, but he sounded like a man in pain, as if every word were a stone he had to pass. "As a girl, though … she was once smitten with a young knight from the stormlands who wore her favor at a tourney and named her queen of love and beauty. A brief thing."

"What happened to this knight?"

"He put away his lance the day your lady mother wed your father. Afterward he became most pious, and was heard to say that only the Maiden could replace Queen Rhaella in his heart. His passion was impossible, of course. A landed knight is no fit consort for a princess of royal blood."--A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys VII

Quote

Soon the signs of war could be seen on every hand. Weeds and thorns and brushy trees grew high as a horse's head in fields where autumn wheat should be ripening, the kingsroad was bereft of travelers, and wolves ruled the weary world from dusk till dawn. Most of the animals were wary enough to keep their distance, but one of Marbrand's outriders had his horse run off and killed when he dismounted for a piss. "No beast would be so bold," declared Ser Boniferthe Good, of the stern sad face. "These are demons in the skins of wolves, sent to chastise us for our sins."

"This must have been an uncommonly sinful horse," Jaime said, standing over what remained of the poor animal. He gave orders for the rest of the carcass to be cut apart and salted down; it might be they would need the meat....

"His very words," Shitmouth agreed. "Rich rewards, for them as rides with me." A dozen others began to yammer their assent.

Ser Bonifer raised a gloved hand. "Any man who remains with me shall have a hide of land to work, a second hide when he takes a wife, a third at the birth of his first child."

"Land, ser?" Shitmouth spat. "Piss on that. If we wanted to grub in the bloody dirt, we could have bloody well stayed home, begging your pardon, ser. Rich rewards, Ser said. Meaning gold.".....

He took his own supper in Hunter's Hall with Ser Bonifer Hasty, a solemn stork of a man prone to salting his speech with appeals to the Seven. "I want none of Ser Gregor's followers," he declared as he was cutting up a pear as withered as he was, so as to make certain that its nonexistent juice did not stain his pristine purple doublet, embroidered with the white bend cotised of his House. "I will not have such sinners in my service."

"My septon used to say all men were sinners."  

"He was not wrong," Ser Bonifer allowed, "but some sins are blacker than others, and fouler in the nostrils of the Seven."

And you have no more nose than my little brother, or my own sins would have you choking on that pear. "Very well. I'll take Gregor's lot off your hands." He could always find a use for fighters. If nothing else, he could send them up the ladders first, should he need to storm the walls of Riverrun.

"Take the whore as well," Ser Bonifer urged. "You know the one. The girl from the dungeons."

"Pia." The last time he had been here, Qyburn had sent the girl to his bed, thinking that would please him. But the Pia they had brought up from the dungeons was a different creature from the sweet, simple, giggly creature who'd crawled beneath his blankets. She had made the mistake of speaking when Ser Gregor wanted quiet, so the Mountain had smashed her teeth to splinters with a mailed fist and broken her pretty little nose as well. He would have done worse, no doubt, if Cersei had not called him down to King's Landing to face the Red Viper's spear. Jaime would not mourn him. "Pia was born in this castle," he told Ser Bonifer. "It is the only home she has ever known."

"She is a font of corruption," said Ser Bonifer. "I won't have her near my men, flaunting her . . . parts."

"I expect her flaunting days are done," he said, "but if you find her that objectionable, I'll take her." He could make her a washerwoman, he supposed. His squires did not mind raising his tent, grooming his horse, or cleaning his armor, but the task of caring for his clothes struck them as unmanly. "Can you hold Harrenhal with just your Holy Hundred?" Jaime asked. They should actually be called the Holy Eighty-Six, having lost fourteen men upon the Blackwater, but no doubt Ser Bonifer would fill up his ranks again as soon as he found some sufficiently pious recruits.

"I anticipate no difficulty. The Crone will light our way, and the Warrior will give strength to our arms."

Or else the Stranger will turn up for the whole holy lot of you. Jaime could not be certain who had convinced his sister that Ser Bonifer should be named castellan of Harrenhal, but the appointment smelled of Orton Merryweather. Hasty had once served Merryweather's grandsire, he seemed to recall dimly. And the carrot-haired justiciar was just the sort of simpleminded fool to assume that someone called "the Good" was the very potion the riverlands required to heal the wounds left by Roose Bolton, Vargo Hoat, and Gregor Clegane.

But he might not be wrong. Hasty hailed from the stormlands, so had neither friends nor foes along the Trident; no blood feuds, no debts to pay, no cronies to reward. He was sober, just, and dutiful, and his Holy Eighty-Six were as well disciplined as any soldiers in the Seven Kingdoms, and made a lovely sight as they wheeled and pranced their tall grey geldings. Littlefinger had once quipped that Ser Bonifer must have gelded the riders too, so spotless was their repute.

All the same, Jaime wondered about any soldiers who were better known for their lovely horses than for the foes they'd slain. They pray well, I suppose, but can they fight? They had not disgraced themselves on the Blackwater, so far as he knew, but they had not distinguished themselves either. Ser Bonifer himself had been a promising knight in his youth, but something had happened to him, a defeat or a disgrace or a near brush with death, and afterward he had decided that jousting was an empty vanity and put away his lance for good and all.

Harrenhal must be held, though, and Baelor Butthole here is the man that Cersei chose to hold it. "This castle has an ill repute," he warned him, "and one that's well deserved. It's said that Harren and his sons still walk the halls by night, afire. Those who look upon them burst into flame."--A Feast for Crows - Jaime III

 

 

That is virtually all of the text regarding Bonifer Hasty.  Where are the hints?  I'm really curious.

[TMIFairy]

2 hours ago, Lollygag said:

Just tossing out a crackpot idea on the three heads if you're open to the interpretation that they don’t all need to be Targs.

Aegon ruled with his sisters Visenya (rather militant) and Rhaenys (charming).

The Targs were overthrown by the Baratheons. Robert’s reign was secured with the aid of Stannis (militant) and Renly (charming).

Jon has two sisters, one militant, the other charming. 

Your theory is very militant, albeit charming

But wouldn't it be a case of The Stag Has Three Heads, or The Wolf Has Three Heads?

[Lost Melnibonean]

3 hours ago, Lollygag said:

Just tossing out a crackpot idea on the three heads if you're open to the interpretation that they don’t all need to be Targs.

 

Aegon ruled with his sisters Visenya (rather militant) and Rhaenys (charming).

 

The Targs were overthrown by the Baratheons. Robert’s reign was secured with the aid of Stannis (militant) and Renly (charming).

 

Jon has two sisters, one militant, the other charming. 

 

 

 

AGOT Jon VII and VIII are companion chapters to the HOTU chapter. These passages are from these chapters.

 

"They were as close as brothers, once." Jon wondered if Joffrey would keep his father as the King's Hand. It did not seem likely. That might mean Lord Eddard would return to Winterfell, and his sisters as well. He might even be allowed to visit them, with Lord Mormont's permission.

 

"Lady Stark is not my mother," Jon reminded him sharply. Tyrion Lannister had been a friend to him. If Lord Eddard was killed, she would be as much to blame as the queen. "My lord, what of my sisters? Arya and Sansa, they were with my father, do you know—"

 

Jon did not remember standing or leaving the solar. The next he knew, he was descending the tower steps, thinking, This is my father, my sisters, how can it be none of my concern.

 

Ser Barristan had been the Old Bear's best hope, Jon remembered; if he had fallen, what chance was there that Mormont's letter would be heeded? He curled his hand into a fist. Pain shot through his burned fingers. "What of my sisters?"

 

 

 

While I think we will see more than three dragon riders, so that all dragon riders are not the heads of Rhaegar's dragon, I do think that the three heads of Rhaegar's dragon must be dragon riders. I don't believe Sansa and Arya will be riding dragons. 

[bent branch]

1 hour ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

While I think we will see more than three dragon riders, so that all dragon riders are not the heads of Rhaegar's dragon, I do think that the three heads of Rhaegar's dragon must be dragon riders. I don't believe Sansa and Arya will be riding dragons. 

Ah, something I can completely agree with.

[Lollygag]

2 hours ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

While I think we will see more than three dragon riders, so that all dragon riders are not the heads of Rhaegar's dragon, I do think that the three heads of Rhaegar's dragon must be dragon riders. I don't believe Sansa and Arya will be riding dragons. 

Gotcha.

Due to the amount of rule by three or rule by a monarch and a counsel in the series, I'm inclined to think that the three dragon riders may not necessarily = the three heads of the dragons, instead being a rule by three. Dany has just realized that she's a conqueror, not a ruler which means she has some big holes to fill politically. Given that the dragons are presented as WMDs in the series, it might be possible that the dragons may not matter to the endgame as much as we're led to think at this point in the series as it's a bit too close to the message that war and weaponization is the answer. Just me, but I'm hoping for a different message.

[Damon_Tor]

19 hours ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

Hadn't thought about it until now. That would leave Jon on ice for a long time. 

I'm generally of the opinion that Jon will be dead for most of WoW. His body will come back to life (like Drogo's did) but won't animate.

I don't think Dany killing Aegon will have anything to do with it though. Symbolic timing of the two events maybe, but not a causal connection.

[Seams]

3 hours ago, Wolf of the Steppes said:

That is virtually all of the text regarding Bonifer Hasty.  Where are the hints?  I'm really curious.

If Bonifer Hasty had slept with Queen Rhaella, and if she had given birth to a son nine months later, I think he would never have pledged loyalty to any Baratheon. He would have been looking for a Varys or other Targ loyalist to whom he could offer his services to get revenge on the usurper.

Instead of being a secret lover of a queen / father of a prince, it's more likely that he plays a symbolic role in the story. Perhaps he is intended to add some detail to Rhaella's story, or to draw a parallel to someone in Westeros history or legend who had an unrequited love but set it aside for duty.

Actually, with his religious fervor, a comparison to Lancel Lannister seems somewhat apt. And Hasty's attitude toward Pia could be compared to Lancel's rejection of Amerei Frey. If he is supposed to be like Lancel, this could also help to explain Jaime's dislike for him.

The name Bonifer Hasty might be part of a group, though: Tristifer Mudd, Ossifer Plumm and Rennifer Longwaters all have the "-ifer" suffix on their names which might show a fire connection. Tristifer Mudd is an ancient king of the First Men, so a fire connection doesn't make sense in terms of being a Targaryen loyalist, so it might have a different meaning. (I suspect King Tristifer is - at least in part - a symbol of King Robert, though, because his tomb shows him with a warhammer. And much is made of the partial-Targ heritage of House Baratheon.) The other three are more clearly associated with Targs in some way.

The attention GRRM has bothered to give this (apparently) minor character could also be foreshadowing: the Lord or castellan of Harrenhal often suffers a violent death. Maybe Jaime's remark about people bursting into flames after looking on the ghost of Harren indicates the fate in store for Hasty. After all, his first name could be "bonfire" . . . (If he is fated to burst into flames, then we might compare him to Quentyn Martell, who also wishes he could marry a Targaryen princess.)

Sorry if this derails the larger point of the thread. I couldn't resist the challenge when I heard that there might be unrevealed hints.

[Wolf of the Steppes]

@Seams

Very nice analysis!  I like your thinking behind the bursting into flames remark by Jaime, "bonfire", and the comparison to Quentyn.  All very interesting and the type of subtlety we have come to expect and love from GRRM.  I think you're definitely on to something.

[Frey family reunion]

22 hours ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

Why would it be presumptuous? Whether you're a fan of the hot dragon chick, the special snowflake, the blue eyed king grinding his teeth, the noblest lad that ever lived, the twisted little monkey demon, the lemon head, the murderous little girl in Braavos, or the cripple with the third eye, you have to acknowledge that Jon Snow is one of the central characters in the saga. Assuming the George had Barristan tell the reader through Daenerys's point of view that the prince that was promised would come from the line of Aerys and Rhaella for a reason, and that the author wasn't just trolling us, there are only three possible candidates: Daenerys, Aegon, and Jon. 

Well let's start with the obvious presumption, that Jon is from the line of Aerys and Rahella. 

But since I really don't feel like fighting this battle here, let us for sake of argument, assume that Jon's father is Rhaegar.   Under the prevailing theory, Jon was born after the death of Aerys, and Rhaegar, and Rhaegar’s children,  which means Jon was born a "king".  And while there is "king" imagery surrounding Jon, there is no imagery, or symbolism of Jon as a Prince.  So if Jon was never in fact a prince, why would he be the Prince that was Promised?

So let's turn to someone who was in fact, born a prince, Rhaegar's son, Aegon.  In fact Aegon was born a prince on both his paternal and maternal side.  He was a Targaryen prince, but on his mother's side he was also born a Dornish prince.  In fact, I think that you can make a decent argument that the Prince that was Promised prophecy is more likely a Dornish or Rhoynish prophecy then a Targaryen or Valyrian one. 

Aemon laments that they have been struggling over the translation of this prophecy for a thousand years.  A thousand years ago, the dragon riders were part of a Freehold, not a monarchy.  There would not have been dragon kings or dragon princes back then.  But the Rhoynes' principal sovereign was a Prince.  And as a beleaguered culture, they may have had more of a reason to believe in a future messiah.  We also don't have an evidence that the Targaryens associated themselves with the Prince that was Promised prophecy until the reign of Aegon V.  And Aegon's mother was a Dayne, and his grandmother was a Martell.  So this prophecy could have just as easily been introduced into House Targareyn through their Dornish ancestry.

So Rhaegar may have had a very good rationale for believing that his half Dornish son was the fulfillment of the prophecy. 

So the next issue is whether Rhaegar's theory was bashed, along with the head of the infant killed by Ser Gregor.  There is a possibility that Varys is at least partially correct, and that the infant who's head was bashed in was in fact an imposter, a pisswater prince.  So perhaps Young Griff does indeed fit the bill.  Or perhaps Young Griff is also an imposter, and the actual Aegon is still alive and perhaps hidden (perhaps in plain view to the reader).

We also can’t assume that the role of the Prince that was Promised is fulfilled through the life of the Prince.  It very well may be the case that the role of the Prince that was Promised is fulfilled through the death, or the sacrifice, of the character, and not through his life.  In fact Elia asking Rhaegar if he will make a song for their son, makes me raise my eyebrow a bit.  It appears that people are usually celebrated through song after their death, as a type of eulogy.

 

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The young knight in the blue cloak was nothing to her, some stranger from the Vale of Arryn whose name she had forgotten as soon as she heard it.  And now the world would forget his name too, Sansa realized; there would be no songs sung for him.  That was sad.

Quote

They do not understand.  They may be Dornish, but I am Dorne.  Years from now, when I am dead, this will be the song they sing of me.

  Perhaps the Prince that was Promised is a sacrifice akin to the Prince of Pentos.

 

Quote

“In Pentos we have a prince, my friend… “ Illyrio leaned forward, elbows on the table.  “Yet should a crop fail or a war be lost, we cut his throat to appease the gods and choose a new prince from amongst the forty families.”

“Remind me never to become the Prince of Pentos.”

 

Now if we include characters who have met their untimely demise, our list of candidates grows.  This makes me think about Viserys and Rhaego.  Rhaego is the most interesting possibility.  His death, or miscarriage, occurs while his father, the Khal, is still alive.  So technically Rhaego “dies” a prince.  His death also occurs in the tent when and where Mirri is performing her blood magic ritual, whose purpose is to transfer the “spirit” of Drogo’s horse into Drogo.  Dany’s dragon eggs also sit within this same tent.  It is possible that during this ritual Rhaego’s “spirit” or life force is transferred into one of Dany’s eggs, and Rhaego is in fact is born not directly from Dany, but as one of her dragon’s in the funeral pyre. 

Rhaego was prophesized to be the the Stallion that mounts the world.  So either GRRM was “trolling” us through the Old Dotraki Crone’s prophecy, or else Rhaego fulfills this prophecy in an unexpected way.  Rhaego living on as an actual fire breathing dragon would certainly be a unique way of fulfilling the Dothraki prophecy.

So perhaps Rhaego fulfills the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised in the same unexpected way.  And in fact we have some evidence that both Aemon and Rhaegar may equate the Prince that was Promised prophecy with actual dragons:

 

Quote

“No one ever looked for a girl,” he said.  “It was a prince that was promised, not a princess…. “  “What fools we were, who thought ourselves so wise!  The error crept in from the translation.  Dragons are neither male nor female, Barth saw the truth of that, but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame.  The language misled us all for a thousand years.  Daenerys is the one, born amidst the salt and smoke.  The dragons prove it.”

 

Quote

“He has a song,” the man replied.  “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.”  He looked up when he said it and 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.”

So the question is what does it mean to be the head of a dragon?  Is it symbolic or something more?  When the Freys cut off Robb’s head and replaced it with the head of the wolf, many see it as symbolic of what Robb was in life, a warg.  The consciousness transferring from man to wolf, and vice versa. 

We have the inverse of this symbol with a Valyrian dragon.

 

Quote

The next evening they came upon a huge Valyrian sphinx crouched beside the road.  It had a dragon’s body and a woman’s face.

With that image in mind, it may give an explanation to Aemon’s cryptic words to Sam:

 

Quote

He spoke of dreams and never named the dreamer, of a glass candle that could not be lit and eggs that would not hatch.  He said the sphinx was the riddle not the riddler, whatever that meant.

Perhaps the riddle is how to transfer a human consciousness into a dragon.  The Prince that was Promised literally becomes the “head of a dragon”.

With that in mind, the next assumption that I’m not comfortable with is the idea that Rhaegar believes that the Prince that was Promised is some sort of union between ice and fire.  Since we don’t know what the Song of Ice and Fire is, it seems presumptuous to assume that the Prince that was Promised is the only character of the song.  In fact it’s equally plausible, that the Song of Ice and Fire foretells a war between Ice and Fire, and the Prince that was Promised, is the champion of fire.

In fact it seems that this is the more likely explanation.  Aemon seems to believe that the Prince that was Promised is a major figure in the War of the Dawn.

 

Quote

But all of them seemed surprised to hear Maester Aemon murmur, “It is the war for the dawn you speak of, my lady.  But where is the prince that was promised?”

And Aemon identifies the cold based creatures north of the wall as the enemy.

 

Quote

“You must convince them, where I could not.  Tell them, Sam … tell them how it is upon the Wall … the wights and the white walkers, the creeping cold … “

So if Aemon equates the Prince (or Princess) that was Promised with dragons (fire made flesh) and if he equates the threat as a “creeping cold”, then it seems that Aemon may see the War for the Dawn as Fire vs Ice.  And if Aemon believes that, then it is likely that Rhaegar may believe that as well.  In which case, Rhaegar’s reference to A Song of Ice and Fire is unlikely a reference to the union of Ice and Fire, but a battle between the two forces, with Rhaegar’s son as the Prince that was Promised as being the champion of fire.

[Ralphis Baratheon]

Honestly why is Stannis never considered as a possible dragon rider? He's 1/4 Targaryen and bonded with his goshawk proudwing. I mean some people believe Quentyn was on the verge of taming a dragon successfully and Stannis has way more Targaryen blood then him.

Why not Stannis? 

[Lost Melnibonean]

42 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

Well let's start with the obvious presumption, that Jon is from the line of Aerys and Rahella. 

Oh, I see...

42 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

So if Aemon equates the Prince (or Princess) that was Promised with dragons (fire made flesh) and if he equates the threat as a “creeping cold”, then it seems that Aemon may see the War for the Dawn as Fire vs Ice.  And if Aemon believes that, then it is likely that Rhaegar may believe that as well.  In which case, Rhaegar’s reference to A Song of Ice and Fire is unlikely a reference to the union of Ice and Fire, but a battle between the two forces, with Rhaegar’s son as the Prince that was Promised as being the champion of fire.

OK, so Aegon is who he thinks he is, and he is the prince that was promised? Sure, I can accept that. I don't believe it, but I can accept it.

But I don't understand why it is presumptuous to believe that one of the main characters of this saga--one of, if not the, protagonists--who arguably meets all of the elements of the prophecy, is the prince that was promised?