Top 10 wildest Game of Thrones fan theories ahead of season 8

Rhaegar Targaryen is still alive; he’s actually Jaqen H’ghar, of the Faceless Men

Buckle up, we’re about to see dead people. Like the theories surrounding Sam Tarly, the theories about Rhaegar Targaryen can be delightfully out there.

Let’s start with a comparatively simple one: Despite the widely circulated story that Rhaegar died at the hands of Robert Baratheon on the Trident, he is actually alive. The person who died at the Trident was an unknown soldier — probably someone devoted to Rhaegar, of which there are many — wearing Rhaegar’s armor. Remember: Rhaegar’s armor covered him head to toe, so there would be no way of knowing who was really under there…until after the fight was done. And that’s when the rubies come in. Rhaegar’s armor was covered in them. We’ve seen another important ruby on the show: the one Melisandre wears on her choker, which allows her to alter her appearance. Whoever wore Rhaegar’s armor that day wasn’t him, but looked like him through a combination of sartorial mimicry and magic.

That was the easy part. So what might Rhaegar have gotten up to after he got a second lease on life? According to this theory, he went to Braavos and became a Faceless Man, because if you don’t want the world to know you’re alive, changing your face helps. But this theory has it that Rhaegar didn’t just become any Faceless Man; he became Jaqen H’ghar, who stumbled upon Arya Stark outside King’s Landing. Arya, so the theory goes, reminded him of Lyanna Stark, his dead wife, so he took an interest in her.

Incidentally, the actors who played Rhaegar and J’quen on the show — Wilf Scolding and Tom Wlaschiha, respectively — have both been spotted near the season 8 set, so there could be something to this. Or it could be coincidence, but far be it for us to dismiss a theory just because it’s dumbfoundingly improbable.