Hey, this realization hit me the other day and I wanted to put it somewhere in case I need to refer to it later.
People continually grouse about season 8 of Game of Thrones, really angry that GRRM made “Jon Snow” into the sixth Aegon Targaryen only for that revelation to go absolutely nowhere.
Well, let’s see, shall we.
“Born in the place of smoke and salt” = Aegon was born in Dorne. I don’t know if Dorne was ever labeled with that epithet, but it definitely fits the description.
“The song of ice and fire” = Aegon carries the bloodlines of both Stark, through his mother Lyanna, and Targaryen through his father Rhaegar. He was also instrumental in helping to end the threat of Ice posed by the Night King and definitively ended the threat of Fire posed by the Mad Queen Daenerys Targaryen.
“The prince who was promised” = Aegon was crowned king as “Jon Snow” by the North, but only because they thought he was an illegitimate Stark. (Ironic, innit, that the “rebellious” North accidentally crowned the true king?) As a Targaryen, he was never crowned. He was the crown prince and that was all. He also refused the Iron Throne, cementing his status as a prince and not a king.
I also think it’s neat the way House Targaryen started with an Aegon and ended with an Aegon.
It was the “prince who was promised” bit that finally caught me. It just landed on me one day like a ton of bricks. “OH OF COURSE.” The thing about prophecies is that we don’t pay attention to how they’re worded and assume that things are going to go a certain way. But sometimes you just have to take the words literally.
And if you think that’s fucked up, wait’ll I tell you about the Hound.