Game of Thrones: Azor Ahai, the Valonqar, and other prophecies from the books that came true on the show
*Spoilers for season 8, episode 5*
As we head into 'Game of Thrones' finale weekend, fans of the HBO show have been divided over the way the final and eighth season may culminate.
There have been a lot of complaints about the season over abrupt changes in plot and character arcs, and also with the writing.
Fan even started a petition to remake the entire season claiming that none of the prophecies made in the original books by George R. R. Martin, or in past seasons of the show, were shown to have directly materialized.
However, this is not entirely true. The show did make some of the prophecies come true in their own way. One must keep in mind that the show is not a direct adaptation of the book—it has differed from the original material a countless number of times in the past.
That said, here are all the prophecies that DID materialize on the show.
Maggy the Frog's prophecy regarding Cersei
Back in Season 5, a flashback showed Maggy the Frog prophesying Cersei Lannister's fate. Maggy predicts “You’ll never wed the prince” but “you’ll wed the king. You’ll be queen, for a time. And comes another, younger, more beautiful to cast you down and take all you hold dear. The king will have 20 children. And you’ll have three... Gold will be their crowns. Gold, their shrouds.”
All of this came true on the show. Right at the beginning, we saw Cersei (Lena Headey) marry king Robert Baratheon, and now prince Rhaegar Targaryen, as she was initially supposed to.
While Robert was shown to have several bastards in all of King's Landing, Cersei had three children of her own with her twin brother and lover Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.)
Out of her two sons and one daughter, both the sons became kings and, later, all three of her children died while Cersei was still alive.
The most recent episode 'The Bells' showed another queen — Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) — presumably the 'younger and more beautiful' from Maggy's prophecy — burn the entire city down.
Cersei — with her fourth child in her womb — died crushed under a pile of rubble.
All that Cersei held dear was taken away by Daenerys.
Jaime Lannister as the "valonquar" (almost)
There's also another part of Maggy's prophecy in the original books which the show hadn't initially shown at the time.
Maggy's prophecy concluded with “And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”
"Valonqar" means "little brother" in high Valyrian — the ancient language of Westeros.
Jaime was born just minutes after Cersei.
A lot of fans predicted that the prophecied "valonqar" could be the duo's dwarf sibling Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), but it was actually Jaime, kind of.
In episode 5, Jaime and Cersei die together in each other's arms crushed under a pile of rubble. Even though the "valonqar" in question didn't choke the life out of her, in one shot from the scene, Jaime's hands are wrapped around Cersei's face in affectionate reassurance as she begs to not die amidst the havoc wreaked by Daenerys' dragon.
Also, in season 5, Jaime told Bronn that he hopes to die "in the arms of the woman I love". And then episode 5 happened. Neat!
Azor Ahai, the promised prince
The prophecied Azor Ahai — referred to by Melissandre (Carice Van Houten) several times on the show — was “the Prince who was promised.”
His reincarnation was supposed to bring an end to the long night and, over the years, we have seen several characters from the show being considered as the reincarnation.
This includes Stannis Baratheon, Daenerys, and even Jon Snow, as Melissandre considered all three of them to be the potential rebirth of the prince who was promised.
However, in the end, we see Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) rising to the occasion by killing the Night King and bringing an end to the long night.
Now, we know that it was the prince who was promised, and Arya doesn't fit the gender description, but, at one point in the show, Melisandre tells Daenerys that “prophecies are dangerous things.”
So, if she means they are prone to be tweaked, then yes, the show was able to materialize this prediction too.
The prophecy also says "Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt." So when Arya emerged from a pile of rubble in episode 5, after we almost thought she had been crushed, it was a rebirth of sorts.
Arya and the green eyes she shuts forever
In season 3, Melissandre — upon meeting Arya for the first time — tells her “I see a darkness in you, and in that darkness, eyes staring back at me. Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you’ll shut forever. We will meet again.”
When the battle night finally arrives and the army of the dead are on a rampage, it is Melissandre again who reminds Arya of the prophecy, saying she still has to shut a pair of blue eyes after shutting the brown eyes of Walder Fray.
And Arya acts on the prediction and kills the Night King, leaving only one color of eyes she still has to shut.
Fans leaped with joy as this meant she was going to kill Cersei next, but that didn't quite happen on the show.
Cersei died elsewhere while Arya rose from the ashes and reflected upon what Daenerys had done.
As Arya rode the white horse, we just presumed that she had a new pair of green eyes to shut forever.
'Game of Thrones' returns with the series finale — episode 6 of season 8 — on Sunday, May 19, at 9 pm, only on HBO.
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