Game Of Thrones: 10 Theories That Turned Out To Be Bulls*it

7. Mance Rayder Is Rhaegar Targaryen

There's a tendency among fans of A Song Of Ice And Fire to see secret Targaryens everywhere. From Jon Snow (who probably is) to Cersei and Jaime Lannister (who probably aren't), there are enough signs there if you really look for them. Ironically, the only character thus far actually presented as a genuine secret Targaryen is suspected to be a fake. One of the wildest theories, though, about who may be a dragon-in-disguise is that Mance Rayder, King-Beyond-The-Wall, is actually Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Erm...yeah... so the theory goes that despite the accepted history of events - Robert smashing Rhaegar on the Trident - there is a way the Targaryen was rescued and brought back, and sent to live at The Wall. It speculates on the prominence of rubies in the story of Rhaegar's death, which can be used in magic to glamour people into thinking a person is someone else, and then there are apparent similarities between the two: Mance wears a red coat, they're both good men and brave warriors, they share a love of music and similarities to Bael the Bard. However, George R.R. Martin has confirmed in an interview that, as is Targaryen custom, Rhaegar was cremated after his death. Aside from the already tenuous link between the two, not to mention the timeline would at least be slightly off, it seems unlikely the author would specifically state this if there were some way his body was going to magically reappear later in the series.