Five Song of Ice and Fire theories that may come true in The Winds of Winter

Aerys Targaryen official. Courtesy: HBO

Aerys Targaryen + Joanna Lannister = Tyrion

George R. R. Martin is known for his incredible attention to detail and careful planning of stories. He loves to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for attentive readers to follow, while the rest of us have our minds blown when we finally reach the destination. This next theory will have you believing Tyrion wasn’t the son of Tywin Lannister at all, but rather the child of a Targaryen king.

One of the things people love about this series is that even though there are thousands of pages, every single word in the book seems to be extremely deliberate. “You are no son of mine,” Tywin tells Tyrion after Tyrion shoots him in the gut. It could be the anger of the soon-to-be-dead talking, or it could be more straightforward.

Throughout the series, we know Tywin hates his son. “Men’s laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors since I cannot prove that you are not mine,” Tywin once tells him with another line that could be read multiple ways. He refuses to grant Tyrion his claim to Casterly Rock and blames him for the death of his mother, Joanna Lannister, in childbirth. It’s also well-known that Aerys II Targaryen — the Mad King — had a bit of a thing for Joanna.

Some backstory: Joanna married Tywin while he was serving as Hand of the King for Aerys. On their wedding day, the oft-grim Tywin smiled, a rare occurrence. At the wedding feast, Aerys drunkenly joked about how it was a pity the tradition of first night (which allowed lords to sleep with the wives of their subjects on their wedding nights) had been banned, and later on, he insulted Joanna by asking her if nursing her children had ruined her breasts. Then he refused the outraged Tywin’s resignation the next day. What a jerk!

After that, Aerys’ wife Rhaella dismissed Joanna Lannister from her service without reason, Joanna departed for Casterly Rock, and she and Tywin married sometime later. However, Aerys expressly summoned Joanna to court for the anniversary celebration of his ascension to the Iron Throne in the year 272, and publicly displayed his continuing sexual interest towards her, much to the anger of Tywin. If Tyrion was born in 273, it’s possible something untoward happened during that visit. Tyrion does have pale, golden hair and dark mismatched eyes, after all.

It’s uncertain if this theory will come to pass, but if Tyrion and Daenerys really are set to meet up in the books, this could give them something in common, and might even make Tyrion a candidate to ride a dragon.

And those are five A Song of Ice and Fire theories that may come to pass in The Winds of Winter. Even if you’re not convinced, they may provide food for thought, here’s hoping we get some answers to these mysteries sooner rather than later.

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