Game Of Thrones: Why THAT Death Was A Mistake (& How It'll Be Different In The Books)

4. Azor Ahai/The Prince That Was Promised

Prophecy plays a big part in A Song of Ice and Fire, whether they actually come true or not. That's something the show has been less forthcoming with, as they have, by and large, paid much less attention to the importance of things like prophecies, dreams, and visions (their streamlined version of the House of the Undying provides a good contrast of this). Martin often subverts what the prophet has said, but the prophecies themselves generally have an impact in one way or another.

When it comes to both books and shows, the biggest prophecy is that of Azor Ahai, or The Prince That Was Promised. Some think they're different, but for the most part they are conflated (especially on the show), and it's a bit easier to work with that train of thought. But whether they are one or two, it's fair to say we can expect the books to give a lot more time to it (like it has with Maggy's prophecy too, for example).

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The show has mentioned the prophecy a few times, but when it came to killing the Night King, there was... nothing. No nod towards prophecy, no sign of Azor Ahai. Maybe just having someone - say, Jon - lead the living against the dead is what qualifies as being Azor Ahai. But it's thin, with no real mention or hint that it is the case. That might change in the coming episodes - perhaps the real darkness that needs to be defeated is Cersei - but with just three episodes left and Melisandre (our main connection to it) now dead, it seems a little unlikely. The books, however, presumably WILL go a bit deeper into this prophecy.

It won't be as simple as Jon or Daenerys quite literally wielding Lightbringer and defeating the Others. It probably won't happen as people expect. But whether it does involve Jon killing Daenerys to bring forth Lightbringer and defeating them, or it's more of a figurative, leadership role in beating them, it's the kind of thing Martin has very much setup to be paid off in some way. Martin loves playing around with notions of these prophecies and what they mean, whether that's to subvert expectations of them, show how they're self-fulfilling, or even have things carried through (and in that regard, since Stannis is the one Melisandre believes to be Azor Ahai, just about anyone else is technically a twist on that), and the books will do something with it.