Daenerys's Dragon Dream

We know that Daenerys has had prophetic dreams and visions that came true. Let us hope that this dream she has is indeed as prophetic as her others.

She dreamed of Drogo and the first ride they had taken together on the night they were wed. In the dream it was not horses they rode, but dragons.
(Page 151, A Clash of Kings)

At the beginning of her story, she dreamed about the black dragon and it came true. She also saw a vision in the House of the Undying of the thousands of slaves that she freed and that came true as well. Let's hope that the dream Dany has of riding dragons with Drogo comes true. He was a great rider of horses. He can be a great rider of dragons too. It is known.

Did Khal Drogo Really Die? - What Happen During the Blood Magic Ritual

src: got-confessions

One of the things that disappointed some Game of Thrones fans was the fact that Khal Drogo died from a mere scratch when he, an undefeated warrior, could have had a more dramatic and exciting death. The prospect of seeing Drogo in an epic fight scene with a Westerosi knight and the white walkers ended with a scratch, blood magic, and a feather pillow.

One thought that does give me comfort is the that Mirri Maz Duur could have saved him inadvertently. Yes, we do see Daenerys smothering and later, burning the body of her sun-and-stars, but was his soul really in that body? Was any kind of spirit in there? It did not seem like it. So where did Khal Drogo's spirit go? To the Night Lands?

Through the blood magic ritual, Mirri Maz Duur's singing and dancing, the shadows could have transplanted Drogo's spirit into... drum roll please... one of the dragon eggs! And the same thing could have happened to Rhaego.

What we know is the that the three dragon eggs had been dead, fossilized for ages. We don't know how they came back to life, but I really think that the shadows had something to do with it. Mirri Maz Duur said only death can pay for life. So the life of dragons was paid with the horse, Rhaego, Drogo, or any of the bloodriders that died the night of the ritual. The shadows work in disturbingly mysterious ways.

This is what I think happened:

1. The shadows arrive and hear Mirri Maz Duur asking to switch the dead and the living
2. They decide to have some fun and disregard the witch's intentions when they see the dead dragon eggs
3. They transplant Drogo's soul into an egg leaving his human body as an empty shell
4. They see Rhaego in Daenerys's womb and transplant his soul into another egg
5. The third egg gets a soul (I am not sure where from yet)
6. They transplant all of the death and decay from the eggs into Rhaego's body in Dany's womb

I wish that Mirri Maz Duur's incantations were subtitled on the TV show. David Peterson, the creator of the Dothraki language, also created the language of Asshai, which was the language I think Mirri Maz Duur was singing in.

The incantations she must have been singing were probably to summon the shadows and ask them to replace the dead with the living. The shadows, being mischievous as they are, must have just done what they wanted to do. She knew that the ritual would be risky which is why she told Dany that death would be cleaner. She knew what could have happened which was why she showed so much contempt for Daenerys who expected the ritual to turn out perfectly.

When I read this chapter in the book, I noticed that after the ritual was the first time Daenerys could feel heat from the dragon eggs. Before then, they were just dead decorations. 

So there is my explanation of how I think Drogo's soul is still alive on the earth and not riding through the Night Lands. It was only the empty shell of his former body that was suffocated and burned by Daenerys. Drogo is still around, he just has a new body, the body of a dragon. If this hypothesis is true, then it would be pretty exciting to see what happens when Dany finds out the true identity of her dragons and how they came to be born. Drogo would turn out to have the coolest non-death in the story.

The White Lion in the Tall Grass

src: ybee

"A white lion ran through grass taller than a man." (Page 531, A Clash of Kings)

In the last set of visions in the House of the Undying, Daenerys sees images of her past and future. Before the mentioning of the white lion, she sees images of things that actually happened like the shadows dancing in the tent, her house in Braavos, and the man being dragged by the horse. After the mentioning of the white lion, she sees a line of naked crones bowing before and ten thousand slaves reaching out to her calling her "Mother!" Those who have read past A Storm of Swords knows that the last vision actually comes to pass. The vision of the naked crones is yet to happen, but it seems that this last set of visions depicts Daenerys's past, present, and future or at least just her past and future.

We might speculate, if the white lion is symbolic of something from the present or future, that a Lannister will meet Daenerys and they will be in disguise. The Lannister could be Tyrion, since we know that he is traveling to Meereen to find Daenerys or it could be Jaime because he wore white armor. These speculations could very well be true. However, even though lions are the Lannister's sigil, their lions are gold and not white.

The white lion might even simply represent what happened in the past, when Drogo hunted the lion. It may not tell us anything of the present or future at all.

To relate this post to Khal Drogo's return, I am going to say that vision of the white lion running through the tall grass shows what is happening Dany's present, that her "white lion" is with her, but hidden in the "tall grass" or disguised.

It was Drogo who had given her the pelt she wore, the head and hide of hrakkar, the white lion of the Dothraki sea. It was too big for her and had a musty smell, but it made her feel as if her sun-and-stars was still near her.
(Page 31, A Dance With Dragons)

"There are ghosts everywhere," Ser Jorah said softly, "We carry them with us wherever we go."
Yes, she thought. Viserys, Khal Drogo, my son Rhaego, they are with me always.
(Page 149, A Clash of Kings)

My speculation is that Drogo's spirit is alive and has been with Daenerys all along, but she could not recognize him because he is living in the body of her dragon, Drogon. The prophecy might be fulfilled when Dany recognizes Drogon as Drogo. This is a different kind of plot twist than just having Khal Drogo magically and randomly come back from the dead in his Jason Momoa form. It will still be sad in a way and won't erase the grief that came with Drogo's death by pillow. People just won't understand it if their queen was claiming her dragon is her husband and might deem her insane. This is one way I think Drogo can come back without dumbing down the story. Maybe Mr. Martin thought so too. We will see.

I can explain why I think Drogon is Drogo and how I think it happened in later posts. Stay tuned. There are many more analyses on the way.

Mirri Maz Duur's Prophecy

src: gameofconfessions

 As any A Song of Ice and Fire fan would know, George R. R. Martin just loves to keep his readers guessing with prophecies. Some of the prophecies are clearly identified as such and others are not so clear as to whether or not they are actually prophecies. It is uncertain whether Mirri Maz Duur intentionally prophesied, unintentionally prophesied or the words she said had no bearing on the future at all. Many people believe the latter, that these words were not prophecy, but a mere curse. However, I must question why this non-prophecy is repeated so often in the books, why all the conditions of this non-prophecy are somehow being met through symbolism in the latest book, and why other dead characters did not get a sad little poem as they died. Why is Khal Drogo's death so special? I must question.

"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. When  your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before." 
(Page 734, A Game of Thrones)

These words are repeated by Dany as she is about to smother Drogo's unresponsive body.

"When the sun rise in the west and sets in the east," she said sadly, "When the seas go dry and the mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When my womb quickens again, and I bear a living child. The you will return, my sun-and-stars, and not before."
     Never, the darkness cried, never never never.
(Page 736, A Game of Thrones)

These words are remembered by Dany as she is alone and stranded in the Dothraki sea.

    Bells, Dany thought, smiling, remembering Khal Drogo, her sun-and-stars, and the bells her braided into his hair. When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, when the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves, when my womb quickens again and I bear a living child, Khal Drogo will return to me.
     But none of those things had happened.
(Page 941, A Dance With Dragons)

These words are not mentioned in A Clash of Kings or A Storm of Swords, but repeated three times in A Dance With Dragons. It is also worth noting that Dany says the words to the vision of Khal Drogo in the House of the Undying scene on the season 2 finale of Game of Thrones. With all this repetition, do you think that Martin is just trying make his books longer? It is so much simpler just to say "never". I would say that Martin has a purpose for repetition. It is to get the idea in our heads so that when the prophecy is fulfilled, we will remember the words and be astonished as the curse turned out to be an unexpected prophecy and that it did not unfold in ways that we first thought it would.

Will Khal Drogo Return?

src: gameofconfessions

This topic has been debated amongst A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fans for years. Many fans believe that bringing dead characters back to life is not what George R. R. Martin should do as it would have made their deaths meaningless. If he wanted the characters in the story later on, he should not have killed them off in the first place. Though it would seem to be a terrible, random, and pointless plot device to bring back a deceased character, perhaps there would be an exception for Khal Drogo. Why? He had a mysterious death imbrued with Blood Magic and a "prophecy" was made stating when he will "be as he was". At the end of A Dance With Dragons, we see that some of the conditions of the prophecy have been met. All we need to do now is wait for the last two books in the Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, to be published to see if he comes back. Until then, all we can do wish, hope, and speculate.

src: theloupgaroux