Issue with the "three heads of the dragon"

[Stark@heart]

Dany assumes it is a man in the vision but the only clear things are.

The figure has long silver hair and bronze skin ( i'm sure Dany has a healthly tan after being with Drogon and the sun she'll get, I think, on her up coming trip to Vas Dothraki.

A city is burning and the figure is on horseback and a banner of a Fiery Stallion flies overhead.

Westeros is the land of banners and signils and we've not seen a House yet with a flaming horse - so I'm assuming that it will be her signil to unite the Dothraki under her rule.

[Neeps on a Breastplate]

The more I think about this, the more I like the idea that it's one person (one dragon), with three different heads, i.e. three different aspects or identities. I volunteered the possibilities that these three aspects could be Dany being queen of Westeros, Slaver's Bay and Essos, or Jon being a Stark, a Targ and a Night's Watch man. You get the idea.

I've been playing around with this idea for a while now too. The best interpretation I can think of is that the three-headed dragon is Dany fulfilling the maiden-mother-crone cycle. (Maiden, Mother, and Crone are the three female aspects of the Seven, so the Triple Goddess concept is definitely already embedded in the story.)

Dany starts out as a maiden (young, fertile, pliant, and slated to be married off to a horse lord) before becoming the Mother of Dragons (provider, protector) and the stand-in mother of the slaves she rescues. She hasn’t quite come into her crone cycle yet (in ancient matriarchal cultures, this meant death, destruction, and barrenness / the underworld – a little different from Westeros’s conceptualization of the Crone as the “wisdom” aspect of the Seven, but there you have it), but that’ll change when she crosses the damn sea already.

[Bushido]

I am certain that's Dany,mirroring everything that represents Targaryen,restoring the glory and being her family's sigil in flesh. (+ dragons)

Many stipulate dragons won't make it to Westeros,but that's just wishful thinking,having in mind story's progress so far,probably they are thinking dead dragon = so cool.

[House Draper]

I find it noteworthy that both Rhaegar and Aemon believe in this prophesy and both Rhaegar and Aemon were extremely well-read. We know that Rhaegar read something that completely changed him. I'm not saying that either of them are right in believing that there must be three different people to fulfill the three-headed dragon prophesy, but I do think there is at least one piece of the prophesy that hasn't been revealed to us yet.

[Walder Waters]

The more I think about this, the more I like the idea that it's one person (one dragon), with three different heads, i.e. three different aspects or identities. I volunteered the possibilities that these three aspects could be Dany being queen of Westeros, Slaver's Bay and Essos, or Jon being a Stark, a Targ and a Night's Watch man. You get the idea.

In ACOC the Undying named her "Child of Three" and Dany did not understand and asked "Three?", followed by the Undying reciting "three heads has the dragon".

Therefore I always thought of three different persons.

[Ser Pollo Loco]

In ACOC the Undying named her "Child of Three" and Dany did not understand and asked "Three?", followed by the Undying reciting "three heads has the dragon".

Therefore I always thought of three different persons.

Child of three has always bothered me, child of three points to Jon (R + L, biut he's a "son" of Eddard Stark) in my mind not dany unless there is a interpretation im missing. I believe three heads = crowns

[rmholt]

Child of three has always bothered me, child of three points to Jon (R + L, biut he's a "son" of Eddard Stark) in my mind not dany unless there is a interpretation im missing. I believe three heads = crowns

Yeah that's a puzzlement. However they do seem to be referring to Dany. Which makes it even more puzzling.

[Bushido]

Child of three - her dragons. She is not only in charge,as their mom :D but she gets her strength and confidence from them,and in that light,she is indeed their child.

[three-eyed monkey]

But what do the three conquerors have to do with this prophecy? Is Rhaegar jumping to conclusions or seeing links where there are none, or was there something in the prophecy — the full extent of which we probably don't know yet, to be fair — to support his reading it that way?

The reason I ask is that the Targaryens took the three-headed dragon as their Westerosi sigil after the Conquering. And I suspect that this prophecy is much, much older than that. So is Rhaegar using a 300-year-old event/sigil to explain or interpret a prophecy that could very well be thousands of years old, not

hundreds?

Great question Apple, what do the conquerors have to with the prophecy? While I can see a clear link between 'the dragon has three heads', Aegon and his sisters, their three dragons, and the Targ's Westerosi sigil, the link to TPTWP is not so clear. Rhaegar seemed concerned with TPTWP/AA prophecy so how did 'the dragon has three heads' get into the mix?

Rhaegar has clearly made the link in Dany's HoTU vision, but is it mentioned anywhere else? Ok, the woods witch tells Aegon V that TPTWP will come from the line of Aerys and Rhaella, a clear link to the Targs if it turns out to be true, but no mention of three heads, iirc. The AA prophecy from Asshai makes no mention of three heads either, so why do Rhaegar and Aemon make the link? I think that they might well be jumping to conclusions.

I agree that 'the dragon has three heads' prophecy is probably well older than the conquest and indeed the Doom. I don't think we know how old it is in truth, or if it's even complete. (A lot of stuff got lost in the Doom.) Who knows what Rhaegar and Aemon were working with? We do know that Rhaegar got it wrong at least once if he believed he was TPTWP. Maybe even twice if he next thought it was Aegon. And I think Aemon got it wrong too when he said it must be Dany because her three dragons prove it. Would GRRM spoonfeed us the truth like that? Scholarly does not always equate to correct. I have a crackpotish theory - inspired by Robert Frost's poem 'Fire and Ice' which opens with the line 'Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice' - that we might be talking about two different prophecies. AA for when the world ends in ice and 'the dragon has three heads' for when it ends in fire, which was fullfiled when Aegon and his sisters survived the Doom. Who's to say Rhaegar didn't get his cataclysmic events crossed? It is a song of ice and fire afterall.

[kalix]

Quote from aFfC Prologue:

The Sphinx looks slight, but there’s strength in those slim arms, he reflected, as Alleras threw a leg across the bench and reached for his wine cup. “The dragon has three heads,” he announced in his soft Dornish drawl.

“Is this a riddle?” Roone wanted to know. “Sphinxes always speak in riddles in the tales.”

“No riddle.” Alleras sipped his wine.....

.... “No dragon has ever had three heads except on shields and banners,” Armen the Acolyte said firmly. “That was a heraldic charge, no more. Furthermore, the Targaryens are all dead.”

“Not all,” said Alleras. “The Beggar King had a sister.”

“I thought her head was smashed against a wall,” said Roone.

“No,” said Alleras. “It was Prince Rhaegar’s young son Aegon whose head was dashed against the wall by the Lion of Lannister’s brave men. We speak of Rhaegar’s sister, born on Dragonstone before its fall. The one they called Daenerys.”

“The Stormborn. I recall her now.” Mollander lifted his tankard high, sloshing the cider that remained. “Here’s to her!” He gulped, slammed his empty tankard down, belched, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Another mention of the three headed dragon. More food for thoughts.

[Walder Waters]

Quote from aFfC Prologue:

The Sphinx looks slight, but there’s strength in those slim arms, he reflected, as Alleras threw a leg across the bench and reached for his wine cup. “The dragon has three heads,” he announced in his soft Dornish drawl.

“Is this a riddle?” Roone wanted to know. “Sphinxes always speak in riddles in the tales.”

“No riddle.” Alleras sipped his wine.....

.... “No dragon has ever had three heads except on shields and banners,” Armen the Acolyte said firmly. “That was a heraldic charge, no more. Furthermore, the Targaryens are all dead.”

“Not all,” said Alleras. “The Beggar King had a sister.”

“I thought her head was smashed against a wall,” said Roone.

“No,” said Alleras. “It was Prince Rhaegar’s young son Aegon whose head was dashed against the wall by the Lion of Lannister’s brave men. We speak of Rhaegar’s sister, born on Dragonstone before its fall. The one they called Daenerys.”

“The Stormborn. I recall her now.” Mollander lifted his tankard high, sloshing the cider that remained. “Here’s to her!” He gulped, slammed his empty tankard down, belched, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Another mention of the three headed dragon. More food for thoughts.

Yes, why the exact phrase? Does Sarella know more about the PTWP-prophecy? From a Citadel-book?

[three-eyed monkey]

Food for thought indeed. Didn't Aemon say that the sphinx was the answer not the question before he died, or something like that? I'm also reminded of the time he said that the word for prince and princess were the same in old valyrian so the prince that was promised could well be the princess that was promised, etc. Sorry I don't have the exact quotes. But I do see some vague connection to the greek myth here. I'm thinking of one of the riddles posed by the sphinx in particular. 'There are two sisters, one who gave birth to the other, who in turn gave birth to the first. Who are these sisters?' The answer is night and day, both words being feminine in Greek. Makes me wonder if ice and fire are sisters too.

Also the sphinx was a combination of woman, lion, and eagle, which may tie into the three heads being the same person idea.

[kalix]

And again another quote :laugh: ... all this is coming from a re-read and after my post before, I wanted to get the exact quote to put the whole thing about dragon in and Maester Aemon in 1 place. It's in the 4th Sam's chapter of AFfC, and there's goes the quote:

“No one ever looked for a girl,” he said. “It was a prince that was promised, not a princess. Rhaegar, I thought... the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his

birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King’s Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. 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 salt and smoke. The dragons prove it.” Just talking of her seemed to make him stronger. “I must go to her. I must. Would that I was even ten years younger.”

[three-eyed monkey]

^^^That's the one, thanks.

[Bushido]

“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 salt and smoke. The dragons prove it.”

Yet Ghost of High Heart conformed the prince ;)

[tenchi]

I don't know if this has already been said here but I would just like to point out that at the point Jon was born and even before Rhaegar and Lyanna got together there was already three dragon childern Rhaenys, Ageon, and Viserys. So there is no reason to think that Rhaegar would kidnap or marry Lyanna to just have a girl he could name Visneya becuase Viserys was already there. So at the time Rhaegar was following his heart or he relaized that Ageon was not the prince that was promised either.

Either way since many people consider Jon to be Rhaegar's son and we know Dany is Aersy's daughter. Who could be their thrid head? Well i have seen that most people consider all three heads must be of the dragon's blood, so it can only be Ageon whether or not he is a Blackfyre. Or the thrid head is not a Targ. at all. Or the third head must a male becuase of both Stannis and Ageon. Well we have all forgot about scions of the dragons so here is a list of nearly all know people with dragons blood who are still alive or have yet to be confirmed dead.

• Dany
  
• Jon (assuming R+L=J)
  
• Ageon (whether or not hes a Blackfyre)
  
• Brynden Rivers (Bloodraven)
  
• Stannis
  
• Eldric Storm
  
• Gentry
  
• Mya Stone
  
• Black Pearl
  
• Prince Doran
  
• Princess Arianne
  
• Obara Sand
  
• Nymeria Sand
  
• Tyene Sand
  
• Sarella Sand
  
• Elia Sand
  
• Obella Sand
  
• Dorea Sand
  
• Loreza Sand
  
• Brown Ben Plumm
  

If there are any unknown bastards of Robert that still live they go onto the list as well. But taking looking at this list it is more likely that the three dragons are 1 male and 2 female. For 11 of the remaining dragon decendants are women.

[Batman]

Also if he was naming he's children after the original aegon and sisters why would he have named Jon "Jon", rather than a male equivalent to visenya, not that I doubt r+l=j but kind of interesting.

Might look a bit suss

Ned - Family this is my bastard son, Viserys. I just like the sound of it, OK? OK, I'll be at the heart tree :leaving:

[Lord Bear Mormont]

I think the three headed dragon is going to refer to the new rulers of Westeros. Westeros will be divided into three kingdoms each ruler will have one of the dragons. There will be no more Iron Throne.

[Mist Isle]

Just a possibility: It could be that the three headed dragon represents a convergence of the power of fire in the world while each head consists of an individual who harnesses the power of fire, heat, light, and day against the night, dark, and cold. With this theory the dragon heads are completely separately fron dragon riders and the only dragon head that is also a dragon rider would be Daenarys.

This does not mean that the dragon or the power of fire is entirely positive or benign. It could become a serious problem (Valyrian doom type scenarios, dragons roaming around with insatiable appetites, etc) should the partisans or fire and light obtain excessive power resulting from victory or after triumph. The Others may have some knowledge of the coming of this dragon and view it as a mortal danger. If this scenario, or something like it, is true then I would expect certain factions, such as the Citadel, to try to destroy parts of this dragon. The Citadel may actively plan to kill Daenary's dragons.

There could therefore be three embodiments of Azor Ahai Reborn and the Prince that was Promised (if these are actually referring to the same person or people). Hence, each manifestation of the AA reborn is one head of the dragon.

Daenarys Targaryen drew forth a burning sword, Lightbringer, in the form of dragons and simultaneously woke dragons from dead stone. Khal Drogo functioned as Daenary's Nissa Nissa. Daenarys meets the PtwP lineage requirements (though there could be multiple meanings to this) mentioned by the woods witch in ADwD (in a Barristan PoV chapter).

Jon Snow (Targaryen) reforges the Night's Watch as another manifestation of the Red Sword of Heroes: Lightbringer. Jon will wake dragons from dead stone by discovering that he is descended from Rhaegar and Lyanna (maybe in the crypts of Winterfell). Jon will conclude, if he is trapped win the body of his wolf because of warging whilst dying, that he must kill his dire wolf in order to permanently return to his own body (corporeal revival is necessary as part of this for the return to work). If R+L=J is true then Jon meets the lineage requirements to be the PtwP seemingly placed in book #5.

That leaves one more person. This could be Gendry, who will draw forth a fiery sword (he is skilled at the forge), after his Nissa Nissa moment. If Gendry is one form of Azor Ahai Reborn then that would explain a lot about why Melisandre seems to be confused that Stannis is Azor Ahai Reborn and is utterly confident that it is Stannis.

The main issue would be whether Gendry meets the lineage requirements, but his great grandmother is Rhaelle Targaryen (the same name mentioned by the woods witch in ADwD) and his great grandfather is listed as an "unknown Baratheon" on the wiki page.

It is possible that there is something about the name of this Baratheon could have led to a double meaning in the words of the woods witch could have been referring to both Aerys II-Rhaella line and the other Rhaella who married into the Baratheon house. Melisandre does after all think that Stannis had the necessary Targaryen lineage to be the PwtP (though perhaps the information was not as precise as that of the woods witch).

[Queen of Procrastination]

I know this sounds a bit crackpot, but I thaught the 3 heads coul probably symbolyse the 3 different versions of the dragon:

The Red dragon

The Black dragon

The Ice dragon