Arya, The Princess That Was Promised, and the green eyes she will shut forever

[Seered Green]

This is our last chance for theorising before the final episode airs. Here's a pair of admittedly tinfoily theories about Arya.

TL;DR: Arya may be TPTWP. She was 'reborn' at the end of Episode 5 amidst the smoke of burning Kings Landing and the salt of her tears. She will wake dragons from stone by taking Cersei and Jaime's faces, who are children of the Mad King Aerys II. As TPTWP, she will defeat the ultimate enemy, who has green eyes. Maybe it will be Daenerys, or maybe it will be the Greenseers (i.e. the Three-Eyed Raven), who are secretly responsible for much of the recent chaos in Westeros.

Many of us would like some conclusion to the the Prince(ss) that was Promised (TPTWP) prophecy. Even if the conclusion is just that prophecies are bunk, it would be nice to show or say something about this, rather than falling completely silent on them. Given the amount that the show and the books have mentioned TPTWP/Azor Ahai reborn and given that the show ending will be similar to the book ending, it would be strange and disappointing not to tie this up in Episode 6. I aim to show that although Arya being TPTWP remains a longshot, episode 5 gives us reason to take this thought more seriously than before. Then I'll speculate about how this could be related to the green eyes that Melisandre prophecised Arya will shut forever.

Let's go through the checklist of things we need for TPTWP/Azor Ahai born again (which I assume are the same):

• Born again amidst salt
• Born again amidst smoke
• Descended from Aerys II and Rhaella
• Wake dragons from stone
• His/hers is the song of ice and fire
• Draw from the fire a burning sword, Lightbringer
• Linked to a bleeding star

There are other things mentioned to do with the forging of Lightbringer, but I'm less convinced of the importance of these because they tell the story of how Lightbringer was originally forged, but there isn't much reason to think that it will need to be reforged in a similar fashion.

Episode 5 marks an important turn for Arya because she lets go of her desire for vengeance and tries to save the lives of innocent people instead. She awakes in the final scene of the episode and cries when she sees the woman and girl she tried to save. This is somewhat surprising: she is very well-acquainted with death and isn't (or at least wasn't) one to form close bonds with people in such a short period of time. Crying, surrounded by the smoke of burning Kings Landing, gives us salt (tears are salty) and smoke. I think it's a stretch to say she was reborn, but this certainly seems to mark the beginning of a new chapter in her life, one in which she favours life over death. So I think it's worth having a look at the other points on the checklist to see if this could go anywhere.

Now here's a crazy suggestion for Episode 6, which might tick off two more items: Arya will take Cersei and Jaime's faces from under the rubble (or stone) where they died. By wearing their faces, Arya will wake dragons from stone, if Cersei and Jaime are dragons (i.e. have Targaryen blood). This theory relies on Cersei and Jaime being children of the Mad King Aerys II, which is a well-known but controversial theory. She also gets the right bloodline. Not literally of course, but she will be able to look like children of Aerys II, such that the woods witch, who originally prophecised that Azor Ahai reborn would come from that line, might have been mistaken. I admit that this is far-fetched. I'd be surprised if Arya's faceless men skills didn't feature at all in the end game but a more conventional use, e.g. to assassinate Daenerys, seems more likely. I think it would be a very Martinian way of fulfilling the prophecies though. Literally waking dragons from petrified eggs (as Daenerys did) and being descended from Aerys II and Rhaella (e.g. like Daenerys and Jon) is suspiciously straightforward. It seems like the valonqar prophecy was fulfilled in a way none of us expected, so I think the fulfillment of TPTWP/Azor Ahai reborn, if this prophecy is fulfilled at all, will also be done in an unexpected way.

'Arya' is very close in spelling and sound to the word 'aria', a type of song. I doubt this is a coincidence. It doesn't mean much though without ice and fire. It's not too clear what it would mean for 'hers to be the song of ice and fire'. The most obvious way in which this is plausibly fulfilled by another character is Jon's Stark (ice) and Targaryen (fire) heritage. As a Stark, Arya has just as much a claim to the ice part as Jon. She was helped by Melisandre and Beric, who serve the fiery Lord of Light, in Episode 3 but to claim that this gives her the song of ice and fire is unconvincing. Instead, it might have to do with whom she kills. She killed the Night King (ice), and she might kill Daenerys or Drogon (fire) in Episode 6.

This just leaves her to 'draw from the fire a flaming sword, Lightbringer' and to have some link to a bleeding star. I'd be surprised if Lightbringer is a literal sword, but it could be. Maybe the white horse she rides at the end of Episode 6 is Lightbringer, but it's not flaming so I'd need more evidence in Episode 6 to be convinced of that. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if Lightbringer is only just revealed next episode, drawn from the fires of Kings Landing. I don't have anything interesting to say beyond that for the last two.

In Season 7 (I think?), Missandei highlighted that the gender neutrality of High Valyrian meant that the Prince that was Promised, may be instead be a Princess. This might just be misdirection but it still lends some support to TPTWP not being a man. The only other non-male contenders are Daenerys, and possibly Drogon (dragons aren't male or female). After Daenerys and Drogon just destroyed Kings Landing, it seems wrong to proclaim either of them TPTWP. However, this would also be very Martinian: the prophecised hero came not (just) to save the world, but to murder thousands of innocent people.

Finally, GRRM's wife, Parris, has threatened to leave him if he kills Arya, her favourite character. That gives GRRM incentive to make Arya arguably the most important character of the series, as TPTWP. Not strong evidence, but it points tentatively towards Arya as TPTWP.

I don't think there's as strong a case for Arya being TPTWP as Jon or Daenerys, but hopefully I've made a case for it being stronger than you might have previously thought. We still have one episode left, which could reveal much more.

Next, let's think about the green eyes that Arya will shut forever. 'Shutting eyes forever' can be fulfilled by killing, but again, the prophecy may well be fulfilled much less literally. Going down the literal route, the most obvious candidates for Arya to kill are Cersei, who's already dead, and Daenerys, who has green eyes in the show but not the books; the 'eyes prophecy' is not in the books though AFAIK, so this would work. I've also seen it suggested that Drogon might be her green-eyed victim, but Drogon's eyes look definitively orange to me, not green. Then there's also Littlefinger, whom she killed in Season 7, and who has grey-green eyes in the books, but blue eyes in the show. Since this is a show-only prophecy (for the moment at least), show eye colour is what matters, so I don't think Littlefinger counts. This suggests that if the prophecy will be fulfilled literally, Arya will kill Daenerys in Episode 6.

Instead, shutting green eyes forever could symbolise the end of the Greenseers, who see via greensight, with a third, metaphorically green, eye. This has been suggested before. Greenseers, like Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven, are able to see the past and distant present events, and maybe glimpse the future (though it's not entirely clear what they can and cannot see). Their power is closely linked to the Old Gods, the Children of the Forest and weirwoods (which are all inter-linked). As others have pointed out, the Isle of Faces has been moved close to Kings Landing in the opening credits for Season 8. Because of this, I would be very surprised if it didn't make an appearance next episode. The Isle of Faces is one of the few places in the south with remaining weirwoods. It's where the First Men and the Children of the Forest signed The Pact to end the their war. It's a sacred island, linked to greenseers, and will probably feature in Episode 6. Something important seems likely to happen there, so I think it's plausible that Arya will have something to do with ending the Greenseers at the Isle of Faces.

Questions remain of why Arya would want to end greensight and how this plot could be realised. I don't have great answers, but I can offer more speculation. I'm not convinced we can trust the Three-Eyed Raven. Others have suggested this too. For instance, the Three-Eyed Raven/Bloodraven has been linked to Loki, 'the trickster' in Norse mythology, who tricked Bran into coming to his cave so that he could take over his body. Furthermore, Bran's claim that the Night King just wants an eternal night seemed overly simplistic and contrary to GRRM's frustration with battles of good vs evil. It seems like Bran was holding something back. Although I personally found Daenerys descent believable, the twist could be made more believable if it is revealed that Bran had a part to play, e.g. by warging her or Drogon, or whispering 'burn them all' to her (it's long been speculated the Mad King's catch line had something to do with Bran/Three-Eyed Raven). If Bran/Three-Eyed Raven is aligned with the Children of the Forest, and has aimed to destabilise the realm (or to feed the Lord of Light) via Daenerys, the Mad King, and maybe others too, this would explain why someone, such as Arya, would want to end greensight. It would also explain:

• Why Daenerys snapped when the bells rang
• Why the Night King was so fixated on the Three-Eyed Raven in a way that's more consistent with GRRM's beliefs -- the Night King wanted revenge on the Three-Eyed Raven/the Children of the Forest and maybe even wanted to save the realm from them, which would be so much more Martinian than the cartoonishly evil Night King we know

The importance of the Isle of Faces for defeating the Three-Eyed Raven is also supported by the symbols left by white walkers. The first symbol we see in the very first episode is plausibly God's Eye, the lake surrounding the Isle of Faces.

Even more speculatively, if Arya has to kill Bran's body to defeat the Three-Eyed Raven, his might be the brown eyes (they are blue in the books but, as the prophecy is show-only, that doesn't matter). Throw in the Bran = Night King theory (which I'm very sceptical of), and we can unify brown, blue and green eyes into one person: Bran/Night King/Three-Eyed Raven.

How does this relate to Arya being TPTWP? If you think that TPTWP is only linked to defeating the white walkers, then plausibly it doesn't. But if the greater threat is the Three-Eyed Raven, or Daenerys, then this might be who TPTWP has to defeat. Only Arya is well-placed to end greensight (from a narrative point of view), though I could see any of Arya, Tyrion, Jon and Gendry killing Daenerys in a narratively satisfying way instead.

I know that this is super speculative and that my wishing for another big twist may have gotten the best of me, but I've got to hold onto the hope while it's still there! Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear what you think. But no mention of leaks whatsoever please.

[kissdbyfire]

Neither Emilia nor Isaac have green eyes.

[Tywin Tytosson]

I haven't read the OP's post (but I will), but I'll go off the rails and say either Jaq'n Hgar or the Waif ko's Dany.  

[Deceptive Pastry]

I have a hard time predicting anything about Bran. On one hand there is a hinted connection between him and the Great Other/darkness in the books, opposed to the Lord of Light, as well as an air of shadiness in the show that goes beyond just emotional detachment. Yet his actions in leading to the death of the NK seemed to be aligned with the LoL and the various people resurrected by LoL, and him being aligned with the GO makes very little sense. Perhaps Melisandre was wrong and instead of showing Great Other's champions, the LoL was actually showing her his champions?

The possibilities I could see:

1. The Old Gods, the Lord of Light, etc. are playing their own game of thrones in a way. Perhaps there was a similar alliance as in the realm of men and now that the NK is gone, the game resumes.
2. The Greenseers, or perhaps just Bran himself, are somehow tied to the LoL. Perhaps the LoL really is the one true god?
3. There is no actual god and the happenings in the show aren't religious, but are orchestrated by a living human through magic. Perhaps Bran/3ER are more responsible for the events of the story than we realize.

Regardless, I have a hard time seeing how they will reveal all of the mythology going on behind the scenes in one episode sufficiently. I do hope they at least provide some answers to all of this.

[Areisius]

You are giving Arya wayyyyyyy too much importance in the GOT main story line OP.  

[Seered Green]

7 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

Neither Emilia nor Isaac have green eyes.

Agreed on Isaac -- his are brown. But I'm suggesting Arya will shut the 3ER's third eye, which as a greenseer, is metaphorically green. I've seen claims that Emilia has green eyes, but they do look blue in some shots. It's not entirely clear. The last shot of Episode 4 gave us a good look at her eyes though, in which they look green, so I think we are supposed to believe they're green.

[Seered Green]

7 hours ago, Tywin Tytosson said:

I haven't read the OP's post (but I will), but I'll go off the rails and say either Jaq'n Hgar or the Waif ko's Dany.  

ooh interesting. How come? I don't really see much reason for them to kill her but I'm very open to being convinced otherwise!

[kissdbyfire]

7 hours ago, Areisius said:

You are giving Arya wayyyyyyy too much importance in the GOT main story line OP.  

Well, she did off the NK and the AotD, all in one awesome ninja move, so. 

[Seered Green]

9 hours ago, Deceptive Pastry said:

I have a hard time predicting anything about Bran. On one hand there is a hinted connection between him and the Great Other/darkness in the books, opposed to the Lord of Light, as well as an air of shadiness in the show that goes beyond just emotional detachment. Yet his actions in leading to the death of the NK seemed to be aligned with the LoL and the various people resurrected by LoL, and him being aligned with the GO makes very little sense. Perhaps Melisandre was wrong and instead of showing Great Other's champions, the LoL was actually showing her his champions?

The possibilities I could see:

1. The Old Gods, the Lord of Light, etc. are playing their own game of thrones in a way. Perhaps there was a similar alliance as in the realm of men and now that the NK is gone, the game resumes.
2. The Greenseers, or perhaps just Bran himself, are somehow tied to the LoL. Perhaps the LoL really is the one true god?
3. There is no actual god and the happenings in the show aren't religious, but are orchestrated by a living human through magic. Perhaps Bran/3ER are more responsible for the events of the story than we realize.

Regardless, I have a hard time seeing how they will reveal all of the mythology going on behind the scenes in one episode sufficiently. I do hope they at least provide some answers to all of this.

Bran is really hard to predict, yeah. He's still so mysterious!

Yeah, these all seem possible. I could also see the Great Other and the LoL being the same, but Melisandre not realising that -- which could fall under possibilities 2 or 3 I guess. I agree it's a lot to cover in one episode. But I think we should get something because (i) we haven't had a single Bran vision yet this season, (ii) they moved God's Eye and the Isle of Faces close to Kings Landing in the opening and (iii) the ending should resemble GRRM's and he surely has something more interesting to say about 3ER than just he's humanity's memory.

[Areisius]

5 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

Well, she did off the NK and the AotD, all in one awesome ninja move, so. 

Which wasn't her story so offing the NK was overkill for her character and killing Dany would be not only utterly stupid but would not be believable in the GOT universe because her character just isn't that powerful or bright to kill Dany. If D&D actually did that then the show is no longer GOT but OP plot armor Arya.

[kissdbyfire]

Just now, Areisius said:

Which wasn't her story so offing the NK was overkill for her character and killing Dany would be not only utterly stupid but would not be believable in the GOT universe because her character just isn't that powerful or bright to kill Dany. If D&D actually did that then the show is no longer GOT but OP plot armor Arya.

It would be utterly stupid. So, exactly like the whole s8. 

[Areisius]

6 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

It would be utterly stupid. So, exactly like the whole s8. 

It started with her killing the NK which was Jon's story to fulfill not Arya's. I must have missed the part where she served at the Night's watch. 

[Empress Sansa]

14 hours ago, Deceptive Pastry said:

I have a hard time predicting anything about Bran. On one hand there is a hinted connection between him and the Great Other/darkness in the books, opposed to the Lord of Light, as well as an air of shadiness in the show that goes beyond just emotional detachment. Yet his actions in leading to the death of the NK seemed to be aligned with the LoL and the various people resurrected by LoL, and him being aligned with the GO makes very little sense. Perhaps Melisandre was wrong and instead of showing Great Other's champions, the LoL was actually showing her his champions?

The possibilities I could see:

1. The Old Gods, the Lord of Light, etc. are playing their own game of thrones in a way. Perhaps there was a similar alliance as in the realm of men and now that the NK is gone, the game resumes.
2. The Greenseers, or perhaps just Bran himself, are somehow tied to the LoL. Perhaps the LoL really is the one true god?
3. There is no actual god and the happenings in the show aren't religious, but are orchestrated by a living human through magic. Perhaps Bran/3ER are more responsible for the events of the story than we realize.

Regardless, I have a hard time seeing how they will reveal all of the mythology going on behind the scenes in one episode sufficiently. I do hope they at least provide some answers to all of this.

Everything Bran´s/Melisandre´s has been really bad explained in the show and treated as entourage, specially for people who haven´t read the books. Melisandre had some great moments (Stanis, etc) but her story is yet accesory in the show, as the raven/children of the forest, etc. Don´t expect either of them to play a main factor, and if it happens i´d probably find it pretty meh as an ending.

[Beardy the Wildling]

On 5/18/2019 at 11:32 PM, Seered Green said:

This is our last chance for theorising before the final episode airs. Here's a pair of admittedly tinfoily theories about Arya.

TL;DR: Arya may be TPTWP. She was 'reborn' at the end of Episode 5 amidst the smoke of burning Kings Landing and the salt of her tears. She will wake dragons from stone by taking Cersei and Jaime's faces, who are children of the Mad King Aerys II. As TPTWP, she will defeat the ultimate enemy, who has green eyes. Maybe it will be Daenerys, or maybe it will be the Greenseers (i.e. the Three-Eyed Raven), who are secretly responsible for much of the recent chaos in Westeros.

Many of us would like some conclusion to the the Prince(ss) that was Promised (TPTWP) prophecy. Even if the conclusion is just that prophecies are bunk, it would be nice to show or say something about this, rather than falling completely silent on them. Given the amount that the show and the books have mentioned TPTWP/Azor Ahai reborn and given that the show ending will be similar to the book ending, it would be strange and disappointing not to tie this up in Episode 6. I aim to show that although Arya being TPTWP remains a longshot, episode 5 gives us reason to take this thought more seriously than before. Then I'll speculate about how this could be related to the green eyes that Melisandre prophecised Arya will shut forever.

Let's go through the checklist of things we need for TPTWP/Azor Ahai born again (which I assume are the same):

• Born again amidst salt
• Born again amidst smoke
• Descended from Aerys II and Rhaella
• Wake dragons from stone
• His/hers is the song of ice and fire
• Draw from the fire a burning sword, Lightbringer
• Linked to a bleeding star

There are other things mentioned to do with the forging of Lightbringer, but I'm less convinced of the importance of these because they tell the story of how Lightbringer was originally forged, but there isn't much reason to think that it will need to be reforged in a similar fashion.

Episode 5 marks an important turn for Arya because she lets go of her desire for vengeance and tries to save the lives of innocent people instead. She awakes in the final scene of the episode and cries when she sees the woman and girl she tried to save. This is somewhat surprising: she is very well-acquainted with death and isn't (or at least wasn't) one to form close bonds with people in such a short period of time. Crying, surrounded by the smoke of burning Kings Landing, gives us salt (tears are salty) and smoke. I think it's a stretch to say she was reborn, but this certainly seems to mark the beginning of a new chapter in her life, one in which she favours life over death. So I think it's worth having a look at the other points on the checklist to see if this could go anywhere.

Now here's a crazy suggestion for Episode 6, which might tick off two more items: Arya will take Cersei and Jaime's faces from under the rubble (or stone) where they died. By wearing their faces, Arya will wake dragons from stone, if Cersei and Jaime are dragons (i.e. have Targaryen blood). This theory relies on Cersei and Jaime being children of the Mad King Aerys II, which is a well-known but controversial theory. She also gets the right bloodline. Not literally of course, but she will be able to look like children of Aerys II, such that the woods witch, who originally prophecised that Azor Ahai reborn would come from that line, might have been mistaken. I admit that this is far-fetched. I'd be surprised if Arya's faceless men skills didn't feature at all in the end game but a more conventional use, e.g. to assassinate Daenerys, seems more likely. I think it would be a very Martinian way of fulfilling the prophecies though. Literally waking dragons from petrified eggs (as Daenerys did) and being descended from Aerys II and Rhaella (e.g. like Daenerys and Jon) is suspiciously straightforward. It seems like the valonqar prophecy was fulfilled in a way none of us expected, so I think the fulfillment of TPTWP/Azor Ahai reborn, if this prophecy is fulfilled at all, will also be done in an unexpected way.

'Arya' is very close in spelling and sound to the word 'aria', a type of song. I doubt this is a coincidence. It doesn't mean much though without ice and fire. It's not too clear what it would mean for 'hers to be the song of ice and fire'. The most obvious way in which this is plausibly fulfilled by another character is Jon's Stark (ice) and Targaryen (fire) heritage. As a Stark, Arya has just as much a claim to the ice part as Jon. She was helped by Melisandre and Beric, who serve the fiery Lord of Light, in Episode 3 but to claim that this gives her the song of ice and fire is unconvincing. Instead, it might have to do with whom she kills. She killed the Night King (ice), and she might kill Daenerys or Drogon (fire) in Episode 6.

This just leaves her to 'draw from the fire a flaming sword, Lightbringer' and to have some link to a bleeding star. I'd be surprised if Lightbringer is a literal sword, but it could be. Maybe the white horse she rides at the end of Episode 6 is Lightbringer, but it's not flaming so I'd need more evidence in Episode 6 to be convinced of that. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if Lightbringer is only just revealed next episode, drawn from the fires of Kings Landing. I don't have anything interesting to say beyond that for the last two.

In Season 7 (I think?), Missandei highlighted that the gender neutrality of High Valyrian meant that the Prince that was Promised, may be instead be a Princess. This might just be misdirection but it still lends some support to TPTWP not being a man. The only other non-male contenders are Daenerys, and possibly Drogon (dragons aren't male or female). After Daenerys and Drogon just destroyed Kings Landing, it seems wrong to proclaim either of them TPTWP. However, this would also be very Martinian: the prophecised hero came not (just) to save the world, but to murder thousands of innocent people.

Finally, GRRM's wife, Parris, has threatened to leave him if he kills Arya, her favourite character. That gives GRRM incentive to make Arya arguably the most important character of the series, as TPTWP. Not strong evidence, but it points tentatively towards Arya as TPTWP.

I don't think there's as strong a case for Arya being TPTWP as Jon or Daenerys, but hopefully I've made a case for it being stronger than you might have previously thought. We still have one episode left, which could reveal much more.

Next, let's think about the green eyes that Arya will shut forever. 'Shutting eyes forever' can be fulfilled by killing, but again, the prophecy may well be fulfilled much less literally. Going down the literal route, the most obvious candidates for Arya to kill are Cersei, who's already dead, and Daenerys, who has green eyes in the show but not the books; the 'eyes prophecy' is not in the books though AFAIK, so this would work. I've also seen it suggested that Drogon might be her green-eyed victim, but Drogon's eyes look definitively orange to me, not green. Then there's also Littlefinger, whom she killed in Season 7, and who has grey-green eyes in the books, but blue eyes in the show. Since this is a show-only prophecy (for the moment at least), show eye colour is what matters, so I don't think Littlefinger counts. This suggests that if the prophecy will be fulfilled literally, Arya will kill Daenerys in Episode 6.

Instead, shutting green eyes forever could symbolise the end of the Greenseers, who see via greensight, with a third, metaphorically green, eye. This has been suggested before. Greenseers, like Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven, are able to see the past and distant present events, and maybe glimpse the future (though it's not entirely clear what they can and cannot see). Their power is closely linked to the Old Gods, the Children of the Forest and weirwoods (which are all inter-linked). As others have pointed out, the Isle of Faces has been moved close to Kings Landing in the opening credits for Season 8. Because of this, I would be very surprised if it didn't make an appearance next episode. The Isle of Faces is one of the few places in the south with remaining weirwoods. It's where the First Men and the Children of the Forest signed The Pact to end the their war. It's a sacred island, linked to greenseers, and will probably feature in Episode 6. Something important seems likely to happen there, so I think it's plausible that Arya will have something to do with ending the Greenseers at the Isle of Faces.

Questions remain of why Arya would want to end greensight and how this plot could be realised. I don't have great answers, but I can offer more speculation. I'm not convinced we can trust the Three-Eyed Raven. Others have suggested this too. For instance, the Three-Eyed Raven/Bloodraven has been linked to Loki, 'the trickster' in Norse mythology, who tricked Bran into coming to his cave so that he could take over his body. Furthermore, Bran's claim that the Night King just wants an eternal night seemed overly simplistic and contrary to GRRM's frustration with battles of good vs evil. It seems like Bran was holding something back. Although I personally found Daenerys descent believable, the twist could be made more believable if it is revealed that Bran had a part to play, e.g. by warging her or Drogon, or whispering 'burn them all' to her (it's long been speculated the Mad King's catch line had something to do with Bran/Three-Eyed Raven). If Bran/Three-Eyed Raven is aligned with the Children of the Forest, and has aimed to destabilise the realm (or to feed the Lord of Light) via Daenerys, the Mad King, and maybe others too, this would explain why someone, such as Arya, would want to end greensight. It would also explain:

• Why Daenerys snapped when the bells rang
• Why the Night King was so fixated on the Three-Eyed Raven in a way that's more consistent with GRRM's beliefs -- the Night King wanted revenge on the Three-Eyed Raven/the Children of the Forest and maybe even wanted to save the realm from them, which would be so much more Martinian than the cartoonishly evil Night King we know

The importance of the Isle of Faces for defeating the Three-Eyed Raven is also supported by the symbols left by white walkers. The first symbol we see in the very first episode is plausibly God's Eye, the lake surrounding the Isle of Faces.

Even more speculatively, if Arya has to kill Bran's body to defeat the Three-Eyed Raven, his might be the brown eyes (they are blue in the books but, as the prophecy is show-only, that doesn't matter). Throw in the Bran = Night King theory (which I'm very sceptical of), and we can unify brown, blue and green eyes into one person: Bran/Night King/Three-Eyed Raven.

How does this relate to Arya being TPTWP? If you think that TPTWP is only linked to defeating the white walkers, then plausibly it doesn't. But if the greater threat is the Three-Eyed Raven, or Daenerys, then this might be who TPTWP has to defeat. Only Arya is well-placed to end greensight (from a narrative point of view), though I could see any of Arya, Tyrion, Jon and Gendry killing Daenerys in a narratively satisfying way instead.

I know that this is super speculative and that my wishing for another big twist may have gotten the best of me, but I've got to hold onto the hope while it's still there! Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear what you think. But no mention of leaks whatsoever please.

Is this a troll post? Do you really think D&D give a fuck about prophesy after making the valonqar bricks and/or gravity? Do you think any writers, let alone the pair of jokers at the helm of game of thrones' final episode, would be able to pull this much explanation of plot-swivelling revelation in one last 85 minute episode? It beggars belief how far showpologists will go.

[anjulibai]

D&D threw away all the TPTWP/Azor Ahai stuff. 

There's no way to bring it together for the show. I hope GRRM will in the books, but the show definitely abandoned it. 

[StarkofWinterfell]

On 5/18/2019 at 6:32 PM, Seered Green said:

This is our last chance for theorising before the final episode airs. Here's a pair of admittedly tinfoily theories about Arya.

TL;DR: Arya may be TPTWP. She was 'reborn' at the end of Episode 5 amidst the smoke of burning Kings Landing and the salt of her tears. She will wake dragons from stone by taking Cersei and Jaime's faces, who are children of the Mad King Aerys II. As TPTWP, she will defeat the ultimate enemy, who has green eyes. Maybe it will be Daenerys, or maybe it will be the Greenseers (i.e. the Three-Eyed Raven), who are secretly responsible for much of the recent chaos in Westeros.

Many of us would like some conclusion to the the Prince(ss) that was Promised (TPTWP) prophecy. Even if the conclusion is just that prophecies are bunk, it would be nice to show or say something about this, rather than falling completely silent on them. Given the amount that the show and the books have mentioned TPTWP/Azor Ahai reborn and given that the show ending will be similar to the book ending, it would be strange and disappointing not to tie this up in Episode 6. I aim to show that although Arya being TPTWP remains a longshot, episode 5 gives us reason to take this thought more seriously than before. Then I'll speculate about how this could be related to the green eyes that Melisandre prophecised Arya will shut forever.

Let's go through the checklist of things we need for TPTWP/Azor Ahai born again (which I assume are the same):

• Born again amidst salt
• Born again amidst smoke
• Descended from Aerys II and Rhaella
• Wake dragons from stone
• His/hers is the song of ice and fire
• Draw from the fire a burning sword, Lightbringer
• Linked to a bleeding star

There are other things mentioned to do with the forging of Lightbringer, but I'm less convinced of the importance of these because they tell the story of how Lightbringer was originally forged, but there isn't much reason to think that it will need to be reforged in a similar fashion.

Episode 5 marks an important turn for Arya because she lets go of her desire for vengeance and tries to save the lives of innocent people instead. She awakes in the final scene of the episode and cries when she sees the woman and girl she tried to save. This is somewhat surprising: she is very well-acquainted with death and isn't (or at least wasn't) one to form close bonds with people in such a short period of time. Crying, surrounded by the smoke of burning Kings Landing, gives us salt (tears are salty) and smoke. I think it's a stretch to say she was reborn, but this certainly seems to mark the beginning of a new chapter in her life, one in which she favours life over death. So I think it's worth having a look at the other points on the checklist to see if this could go anywhere.

Now here's a crazy suggestion for Episode 6, which might tick off two more items: Arya will take Cersei and Jaime's faces from under the rubble (or stone) where they died. By wearing their faces, Arya will wake dragons from stone, if Cersei and Jaime are dragons (i.e. have Targaryen blood). This theory relies on Cersei and Jaime being children of the Mad King Aerys II, which is a well-known but controversial theory. She also gets the right bloodline. Not literally of course, but she will be able to look like children of Aerys II, such that the woods witch, who originally prophecised that Azor Ahai reborn would come from that line, might have been mistaken. I admit that this is far-fetched. I'd be surprised if Arya's faceless men skills didn't feature at all in the end game but a more conventional use, e.g. to assassinate Daenerys, seems more likely. I think it would be a very Martinian way of fulfilling the prophecies though. Literally waking dragons from petrified eggs (as Daenerys did) and being descended from Aerys II and Rhaella (e.g. like Daenerys and Jon) is suspiciously straightforward. It seems like the valonqar prophecy was fulfilled in a way none of us expected, so I think the fulfillment of TPTWP/Azor Ahai reborn, if this prophecy is fulfilled at all, will also be done in an unexpected way.

'Arya' is very close in spelling and sound to the word 'aria', a type of song. I doubt this is a coincidence. It doesn't mean much though without ice and fire. It's not too clear what it would mean for 'hers to be the song of ice and fire'. The most obvious way in which this is plausibly fulfilled by another character is Jon's Stark (ice) and Targaryen (fire) heritage. As a Stark, Arya has just as much a claim to the ice part as Jon. She was helped by Melisandre and Beric, who serve the fiery Lord of Light, in Episode 3 but to claim that this gives her the song of ice and fire is unconvincing. Instead, it might have to do with whom she kills. She killed the Night King (ice), and she might kill Daenerys or Drogon (fire) in Episode 6.

This just leaves her to 'draw from the fire a flaming sword, Lightbringer' and to have some link to a bleeding star. I'd be surprised if Lightbringer is a literal sword, but it could be. Maybe the white horse she rides at the end of Episode 6 is Lightbringer, but it's not flaming so I'd need more evidence in Episode 6 to be convinced of that. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if Lightbringer is only just revealed next episode, drawn from the fires of Kings Landing. I don't have anything interesting to say beyond that for the last two.

In Season 7 (I think?), Missandei highlighted that the gender neutrality of High Valyrian meant that the Prince that was Promised, may be instead be a Princess. This might just be misdirection but it still lends some support to TPTWP not being a man. The only other non-male contenders are Daenerys, and possibly Drogon (dragons aren't male or female). After Daenerys and Drogon just destroyed Kings Landing, it seems wrong to proclaim either of them TPTWP. However, this would also be very Martinian: the prophecised hero came not (just) to save the world, but to murder thousands of innocent people.

Finally, GRRM's wife, Parris, has threatened to leave him if he kills Arya, her favourite character. That gives GRRM incentive to make Arya arguably the most important character of the series, as TPTWP. Not strong evidence, but it points tentatively towards Arya as TPTWP.

I don't think there's as strong a case for Arya being TPTWP as Jon or Daenerys, but hopefully I've made a case for it being stronger than you might have previously thought. We still have one episode left, which could reveal much more.

Next, let's think about the green eyes that Arya will shut forever. 'Shutting eyes forever' can be fulfilled by killing, but again, the prophecy may well be fulfilled much less literally. Going down the literal route, the most obvious candidates for Arya to kill are Cersei, who's already dead, and Daenerys, who has green eyes in the show but not the books; the 'eyes prophecy' is not in the books though AFAIK, so this would work. I've also seen it suggested that Drogon might be her green-eyed victim, but Drogon's eyes look definitively orange to me, not green. Then there's also Littlefinger, whom she killed in Season 7, and who has grey-green eyes in the books, but blue eyes in the show. Since this is a show-only prophecy (for the moment at least), show eye colour is what matters, so I don't think Littlefinger counts. This suggests that if the prophecy will be fulfilled literally, Arya will kill Daenerys in Episode 6.

Instead, shutting green eyes forever could symbolise the end of the Greenseers, who see via greensight, with a third, metaphorically green, eye. This has been suggested before. Greenseers, like Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven, are able to see the past and distant present events, and maybe glimpse the future (though it's not entirely clear what they can and cannot see). Their power is closely linked to the Old Gods, the Children of the Forest and weirwoods (which are all inter-linked). As others have pointed out, the Isle of Faces has been moved close to Kings Landing in the opening credits for Season 8. Because of this, I would be very surprised if it didn't make an appearance next episode. The Isle of Faces is one of the few places in the south with remaining weirwoods. It's where the First Men and the Children of the Forest signed The Pact to end the their war. It's a sacred island, linked to greenseers, and will probably feature in Episode 6. Something important seems likely to happen there, so I think it's plausible that Arya will have something to do with ending the Greenseers at the Isle of Faces.

Questions remain of why Arya would want to end greensight and how this plot could be realised. I don't have great answers, but I can offer more speculation. I'm not convinced we can trust the Three-Eyed Raven. Others have suggested this too. For instance, the Three-Eyed Raven/Bloodraven has been linked to Loki, 'the trickster' in Norse mythology, who tricked Bran into coming to his cave so that he could take over his body. Furthermore, Bran's claim that the Night King just wants an eternal night seemed overly simplistic and contrary to GRRM's frustration with battles of good vs evil. It seems like Bran was holding something back. Although I personally found Daenerys descent believable, the twist could be made more believable if it is revealed that Bran had a part to play, e.g. by warging her or Drogon, or whispering 'burn them all' to her (it's long been speculated the Mad King's catch line had something to do with Bran/Three-Eyed Raven). If Bran/Three-Eyed Raven is aligned with the Children of the Forest, and has aimed to destabilise the realm (or to feed the Lord of Light) via Daenerys, the Mad King, and maybe others too, this would explain why someone, such as Arya, would want to end greensight. It would also explain:

• Why Daenerys snapped when the bells rang
• Why the Night King was so fixated on the Three-Eyed Raven in a way that's more consistent with GRRM's beliefs -- the Night King wanted revenge on the Three-Eyed Raven/the Children of the Forest and maybe even wanted to save the realm from them, which would be so much more Martinian than the cartoonishly evil Night King we know

The importance of the Isle of Faces for defeating the Three-Eyed Raven is also supported by the symbols left by white walkers. The first symbol we see in the very first episode is plausibly God's Eye, the lake surrounding the Isle of Faces.

Even more speculatively, if Arya has to kill Bran's body to defeat the Three-Eyed Raven, his might be the brown eyes (they are blue in the books but, as the prophecy is show-only, that doesn't matter). Throw in the Bran = Night King theory (which I'm very sceptical of), and we can unify brown, blue and green eyes into one person: Bran/Night King/Three-Eyed Raven.

How does this relate to Arya being TPTWP? If you think that TPTWP is only linked to defeating the white walkers, then plausibly it doesn't. But if the greater threat is the Three-Eyed Raven, or Daenerys, then this might be who TPTWP has to defeat. Only Arya is well-placed to end greensight (from a narrative point of view), though I could see any of Arya, Tyrion, Jon and Gendry killing Daenerys in a narratively satisfying way instead.

I know that this is super speculative and that my wishing for another big twist may have gotten the best of me, but I've got to hold onto the hope while it's still there! Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear what you think. But no mention of leaks whatsoever please.

Did you not watch the episode before posting this?

[Seered Green]

11 hours ago, StarkofWinterfell said:

Did you not watch the episode before posting this?

i posted this before the final episode had aired, so no 

[kissdbyfire]

So. The green eyes Woverine Arya was supposed to kill is another detail that turned out to be nothing at all, or else it fell through one of the many plot holes.

 

[robasp2]

The show fans are too intelligent.

Two dumb idiots didn't even think beyond blue eyes. Here we are discussing "green eyes"

It's pointless. The didn't care for the prophecy one hair in a rat's ***

[The Fattest Leech]

9 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

So. The green eyes Woverine Arya was supposed to kill is another detail that turned out to be nothing at all, or else it fell through one of the many plot holes.

 

Whoah, whoah, whoah! Are you telling me that reusing Mel’s “prophecy” from the past seasons again in S8 was nothing but a way to force the plot to head the way the showrunners wanted it to? I mean, that’s like saying they didn’t have things planned out and only came to their own conclusions during the writing of season 7. Craziness!