Prophecies: Book x Tv Series - GOT

Prophecies are becoming so confusing in GOT, especially because the TV series changes some things from the books, which turn out to go against certain prophecies and create lots of confusions and doubts between the viewers. Another irritating thing is that the series often doesn't show the complete prophecies, which creates even more doubts among the fans. Let's discuss about some misunderstandings concerning the matter:

Mirri Maz Duur's Prophecy and Daenerys infertility

The book indicates that Daenerys became infertile after the ritual the Witch made to "bring Khal Drogo back to life", in which Dany end up paying with her son's life..........

In the series, after the ritual ends and Dany sees Drogo quiet and looking at nothing, we have the following dialogue:

When will he (Drogo) be as he was? —Dany asked

"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east," said Mirri Maz Duur, "When the seas go dry and the mountains blow in the wind like leaves."

But in the book, Mirri's line is a little bit longer. In addition to the three conditions mentioned above, she also says another one:

" (...) When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before."

So, the series omitted the part concerning Dany's infertility......maybe because she didn't become sterile in the series? I used to think that way, but then I rewatched the scene in which Dany was found by the Dothraki (after Drogon rescued her from the arena and left her in a place relatively far from Meereen) and was brought to Khal Moro. They had the following dialogue:

- Tonight I will lie with you, and if the Great Stallion is kind, you will give me a son. Do you understand? (Khal Moro)

- I will not lie with you. And I will bear no children, for you, or anyone else. Not until the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east. (Daenerys)

What we can understand from that is that she actually became infertile, like in the books. But why didn't the series show the whole prophecy? I mean, they can't jus show some parts of the prophecies and expect us to presume that the omitted parts are implied. After all, the series is different from the books in many aspects, so, when the series omits certain parts, we can't be sure if those parts are still valid. 

Maggy's prophecy and Cersei's death and the unexpected children

When Cersei was a teenager, she visited the witch Maggy so as to ask her about her future. The witch sucked the blood from Cersei's finger and told her she could make three questions. They had the following dialogue in the series:

Cersei: I'm promised to the prince. When will we marry?

Maggy: Never. You will wed the king.

Cersei: But I will be queen?

Maggy: Oh yes. You will be queen, for a time... until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all that you hold dear.

Cersei: Will the king and I have children?

Maggy: “The king will have twenty, you will have three. Gold will be their crowns, and gold their shrouds,”

In the book, though, Maggy's last line is a litter bit longer:

“(....) And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”

So, as we can see, the valonqar ("little brother" in Valyrian) part was not showed in the series...........and what can we conclude from that? Do we have to consider that the omitted part is still valid? Well, I guess it's still valid. After all, Dany's infertility was first omitted in the series, but was confirmed later.

As if it wasn't good enough, there is another confusing part concerning the prophecy: Maggy told Cersei that she would have only three children and that gold should be their crowns (which is probably a metaphor for the children's golden hair) and gold should be their shrouds (indicating that Cersei's children would die before her, which actually happened)............Yeah, everything seems okay, BUT what about the other unexpected children? I mean, Cersei is pregnant now........if she ends up having the baby, will the prophecy be broken?

Well, as a matter of fact, the prophecy has already been broken in the series, since Cersei had another son: her first born child was black-haired (and, therefore, we presume he was King Robert Baratheon's true son) and died because of a fever when he was still very young. 

Cersei first told that to Catelyn when the latter was taking care of Brandon, who was in risk of dying after Jaime pushed him from the tower. Some viewers wondered if the story was actually true, but later in Season 1 she speaks about the dead baby with Robert himself, which confirms she wasn't lying. 

This confused the fans a lot and there are lots of theories concerning Cersei's black-haired son. Some of those theories even say that Gendry was the black-haired boy, whose death was somehow faked........and one of the main arguments used to support these theories is that Gendry once told Ned his mother was blond.

However, we have strong reasons to believe that Cersei's black-haired son never survived:

- Writer Bryan Cogman was directly asked about this with regard to Maggy's prophecy, and he indeed confirmed that Cersei's black-haired son with Robert simply isn't included in her "official" count of children because he died in the cradle: "Maggy’s just speaking of the three official kids who lived and were known, etc. The black haired baby was kept quiet." 

 - In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Cersei never gave birth to any of Robert's children. When Eddard Stark confronts her about the identity of the father of her children, she admits that Jaime is their father, and that she loathed Robert since their first night, for coming to their bed drunk and calling her by Lyanna's name. She also reveals that Robert got her pregnant once, and her brother found a woman that could end the pregnancy. Robert was unaware of both the pregnancy and the abortion.

So, while the books showed Cersei as a despicable human being that killed her own child just because it was Robert's son, the TV series prefered to show a more human version of Cersei, who gave birth and loved a true son of Robert, who ended up dying in the cradle. 

Therefore, the black-haired son was never meant to be someone important, it was only a different way to represent Cersei and Robert's child in the story: instead of being killed in the womb by his own mother, he was a beloved child that actually lived for a while, but ended up dying because of a fever. 

Anyway, I know it's very cute that the producers wanted to show a less evil version of Cersei, but the truth is that they shouldn't have inserted this black-haired baby. This only confused the fans and created a huge incongruity with Maggy's prophecy. After all, a born child is a born child, of course it should be taken into account.........and it doesn't matter what lame excuses the producers try to give, it was indeed a huge and careless flaw in the script.

Well, getting back to the discussion concerning Cersei's recent pregnancy, I rather believe that she will have a miscarriage, otherwise there will be another huge incongruity with the prophecy..........and I am aware that prophecies might not turn out to be true, but we can't forget that GOT is a fictional universe where magical and unnatural things happen........so, why prophecies should be an exception?!

The prophecy of the Azor Ahai and/or the prince who was promised 

Another prophecy that is very confusing is the one concerning the Azor Ahai, which, as far as I can remember, hasn't been brought up in the series yet. Maybe it never will...........unless the Azor Ahai turns out to be the prince who was promised, which Melisandre talked about when she met Daenerys in the series:


- What does your Lord expect from me? (Danerys)

- The Long Night is coming. Only the prince who was promised can bring the dawn. (Melisandre)

- I am afraid I am not a prince. (Danerys)

- Your Grace, forgive me, but your translation is not quite accurate. This noun has no gender in High Valaryan. So, the proprer translation for that prophecy would be "the prince or princess who was promised to bring the dawn". (Missandei)

- And do you believe this prophecy refers to me? (Danerys)

- Prophecies are dangerous things..........I believe you have a role to play, as does another: the King of the North, Jon Snow. (Melisandre)

So, things are very confusing. We can't even be sure whether the Azor Ahai and the prince who was promised are the same. I believe they are indeed the same, since they seem to have the same purpose: fight against the darkness that fell heavy in the world. However, if that turns out to be right, I don't understand why the series hasn't brough up the term "Azor Ahai" yet......

From all the theories concerning the matter, the "Jon Snow Azor Ahai" theory is the one that most makes sense. He fulfills all the requirements for being the Azor Ahai and the prince who was promised. The only thing that isn't very clear yet is the part of the legend which says that the Azor Ahai must kill his true love so as to create Lightbringer, the burning sword that he will use to fight against the evil.

Well, it's possible that Daenerys turns out to be Jon's true love that must be sacrificed. After all, Melisandre believes that both Dany and Jon have a role to play in the prophecy and, as the previous episodes are indicating, they will probably be romantically involved at some point..........well, I do hope that doesn't happen, I think it would be too pathetic. I believe Daenerys has a more important role to play (rule the Seven Kingdoms for a while before she goes mad like her father) than just being someone's true love that must be sacrificed in order to bring up a sword........

In fact, if we analyze the theory in a more literal way, neither Jon nor Daenerys fit the prophecy, since they aren't prince and princess. They are King and Queen: one represents the ice and the other, the fire, respectively. I mean.......literally speaking, the most logical thing to happen is that the prince who was promised (which is the one that has the song of ice and fire) turns out to be their son. The expression "SONg of ice and fire" might even suggest that the prince will be the son of a King and a Queen that represents the ice and fire.

I am aware of Dany's infertility, but the truth is that this is the least of the problems. After all, if the Lord of Light could even ressurect Jon Snow, it's totally possible that he could bring back Dany's fertility....

The biggest issue here is that the army of the dead is already invading Westeros, the darkness is already being instated in the world. There's no time for the prince to be born and grow up so as to fulfill his destiny........or is there another solution for this? I talked about some hypotheses in my last post, check it out later =)

And, of course, there's always the possibility that the prophecy is much more metaphorical than we think.......let's just trust George Martin because I am sure he won't disappoint us. Though, there might be a problem if the producers change too many things.......




Anyway, the series should be more careful with the prophecies, otherwise the story will be very confusing and pathetic, which will make this fascinating fictional universe that we love lose part of its enchanting.

Prophetic Kisses,

Tati.