The Three Red Priests and Azor Ahai(Spoilers Extended)
I thought it would be interesting to look into something that seems (at least to me) to rarely be talked about in conjunction with one another:
Melisandre, Thoros, Moqorro originally all have different ideas on who Azor Ahai is, but after time they will realize/have realized they were wrongly interpreting visions
#Melisandre
Melisandre currently believes Stannis is Azor Ahai:
Melisandre lifted her hands above her head. "Behold! A sign was promised, and now a sign is seen! Behold Lightbringer! Azor Ahai has come again! All hail the Warrior of Light! All hail the Son of Fire!" -ACOK, Davos I
One thing that must be noted and can lead to some confusion is that Mel is not just a red priestess, she is also a shadowbinder, which gives her some powers that (as of now) haven't been attributed to Thoros/Moqorro.
GRRM stated that she has gone to Stannis on her "own accord":
Why did Melisandre seek out Stannis? Did she see him in her flames and decided to seek him out on her own, or is she on a mission on behalf of the red priests? It doesn't seem at any point as if the latter is the case, when you compare to Moqorro who has been sent out by the priesthood.
GRRM: You're right. Melisandre has gone to Stannis entirely on her own, and has her own agenda. -SSM, Asshai.com Interview in Barcelona: 28 July 2012
That said she is great at receiving visions:
Skulls. A thousand skulls, and the bastard boy again. Jon Snow. Whenever she was asked what she saw within her fires, Melisandre would answer, "Much and more," but seeing was never as simple as those words suggested. It was an art, and like all arts it demanded mastery, discipline, study. Pain. That too. R'hllor spoke to his chosen ones through blessed fire, in a language of ash and cinder and twisting flame that only a god could truly grasp. Melisandre had practiced her art for years beyond count, and she had paid the price. There was no one, even in her order, who had her skill at seeing the secrets half-revealed and half-concealed within the sacred flames. -ADWD, Melisandre I
She is just less skilled (but not terrible) at interpreting them:
Yet now she could not even seem to find her king. I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R'hllor shows me only Snow. "Devan," she called, "a drink." Her throat was raw and parched. -ADWD, Melisandre I
So its very possible/likely even that Mel will at some point switch her belief in Stannis to Jon (maybe after watching Jon be resurrected "waking a dragon from stone").
#Moqorro
Sent from the Red Temple in Volantis/Benerro to bring the faith of R'hllor to Dany as they believe her to be AA:
Haldon nodded. "Benerro has sent forth the word from Volantis. Her coming is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. From smoke and salt was she born to make the world anew. She is Azor Ahai returned … and her triumph over darkness will bring a summer that will never end … death itself will bend its knee, and all those who die fighting in her cause shall be reborn …" -ADWD, Tyrion VI
and:
Moqorro said in the Common Tongue of Westeros. He spoke it very well, with hardly a trace of accent. No doubt that was one reason the high priest Benerro had chosen him to bring the faith of R'hllor to Daenerys Targaryen. " -ADWD, Tyrion VIII
But if they have a the vision wrong as well (Moqorro seems so good at interpreting visions, it would be interesting if he got the main one wrong) we could see Moqorro get more info once he reaches Meereen and there is no Dany and we know he has had visions of "other dragons":
"Dragons," Moqorro said in the Common Tongue of Westeros. He spoke it very well, with hardly a trace of accent. No doubt that was one reason the high priest Benerro had chosen him to bring the faith of R'hllor to Daenerys Targaryen. "Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all." -ADWD, Tyrion VIII
So Moqorro has at least seen Jon/fAegon in the flames before (where as Mel/Thoros no one has actually seen anything about Dany in a single vision unless you consider her AA/Last Hero/TPTWP).
This would fit very well with what Moqorro is doing with Victarion/dragonhorn as well.
#Thoros
Thoros (who gives all the credit to R'hllor) resurrects Beric via the last kiss which gives Beric a very pious Seven Lives. Due to GRRM stating that what brought Beric back was partly a "sense of purpose", I think it can be argued that Thoros could view this as AA.
Thoros is also seeing things in the flames that haven't been shared with the reader:
Yet I am not the false priest you knew. The Lord of Light has woken in my heart. Many powers long asleep are waking, and there are forces moving in the land. I have seen them in my flames." -ASOS, Arya VI
which matches similarly with this:
There was no question of riding double. Stonesnake offered to lay in wait for the pursuit and surprise them when they came. Perhaps he could take a few of them with him down to hell. Qhorin refused. "If any man in the Night's Watch can make it through the Frostfangs alone and afoot, it is you, brother. You can go over mountains that a horse must go around. Make for the Fist. Tell Mormont what Jon saw, and how. Tell him that the old powers are waking, that he faces giants and wargs and worse. Tell him that the trees have eyes again." -ACOK, Jon VIII
So if Thoros originally thought the resurrected Beric was Azor Ahai, he must have changed that view now that Lady Stoneheart leads the Brotherhood. This is the part where I had to start speculating the most but the best I came up with is that as one of the last thing she witnessed before she died was Robb's will, maybe she feels a desire to carry it out:
A trestle table had been set up across the cave, in a cleft in the rock. Behind it sat a woman all in grey, cloaked and hooded. In her hands was a crown, a bronze circlet ringed by iron swords. She was studying it, her fingers stroking the blades as if to test their sharpness. Her eyes glimmered under her hood.
Which could be a part of a showdown at Greywater Watch, etc. where Thoros gets more knowledge? Idk complete speculation on my part.
That said, the brotherhood is also looking for Arya as well:
"He answers to the name Sandor Clegane. Thoros says he was making for the Twins. We found the ferrymen who took him across the Trident, and the poor sod he robbed on the kingsroad. Did you see him at the wedding, perchance?"
"The Red Wedding?" Merrett's skull felt as if it were about to split, but he did his best to recall. There had been so much confusion, but surely someone would have mentioned Joffrey's dog sniffing round the Twins. "He wasn't in the castle. Not at the main feast . . . he might have been at the bastard feast, or in the camps, but . . . no, someone would have said . . ."
"He would have had a child with him," said the singer. "A skinny girl, about ten. Or perhaps a boy the same age." -ASOS, Epilogue
So the working theory is that they are all wrong about their initial thought/vision on AA and will later switch that belief to Jon.
There are a few other quotes that are somewhat relevant (even if they can somewhat be counterpoints):
Maester Aemon dies thinking its Dany
Dude dies after looking all this time and finally finds out its Dany, but actually it was Jon right in front of him the entire time
On Braavos, it had seemed possible that Aemon might recover. Xhondo's talk of dragons had almost seemed to restore the old man to himself. That night he ate every bite Sam put before him.** "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." -AFFC, Samwell IV
Tyrion's thoughts
The hairs on the back of Tyrion's neck began to prickle.** Prince Aegon will find no friend here. The red priest spoke of ancient prophecy, a prophecy that foretold the coming of a hero to deliver the world from darkness. One hero. Not two. Daenerys has dragons, Aegon does not. The dwarf did not need to be a prophet himself to foresee how Benerro and his followers might react to a second Targaryen.** Griff will see that too, surely, he thought, surprised to find how much he cared. -ADWD, Tyrion VII
Lastly before anyone tries to drag me into a debate about AA/Last Hero/TPTWP identities, this post is was just to discuss the possibility and agendas of the red priests and their beliefs. I can completely understand arguments about it being multiple characters, just Dany, no characters, etc.
TLDR: The Three Red Priests were all initially wrong on their belief about Azor Ahai and will all later come to realize it is Jon
Posted May 31, 2020, 2:25 PM UTC