Mythology is often more important to the characters in Game of Thrones than to the fans. Several characters worship deities, deify heroes, and embellish stories. Superstitious figures like Melisandre never stop talking about their chosen King in the Mountain. She's a devoted cleric of the Red God. His champion was a warrior who was said to defeat the darkness with a flaming sword. His name was Azor Ahai, and Melisandre believes he will return.
Narratively, Game of Thrones tells its ancient historical events through layers of mystery. While Tolkien created characters old enough to remember the beginning of time, Martin acknowledges the tradition of oral history. The myths of millennia before the narrative began are shared with the same air of fantasy modern people use to discuss Thor and Odin. This casts doubt on every story, but some believe with all their heart.
Who was Azor Ahai?
Roughly 8,000 years before Aegon's Conquest, the Long Night rose without warning, threatening to wipe humanity from the face of the Known World. No one knows why the sun never pierced the clouds nor why Spring wouldn't come for a generation. The bitter cold of the Long Night killed thousands. Its deadly chill summoned and aided the invasion of the White Walkers. These undead frozen monsters laid siege to Westeros, killing thousands. Humanity would have been doomed without a coalition of humans and indigenous species that drove back the darkness. In the Battle for the Dawn, the forces of light defeated the personification of death. Though the Long Night nearly destroyed Westeros, it spread across Essos. Cultures across the old continent developed stories about the heroes who triumphed over the Night King. The followers of R'hllor call their savior Azor Ahai.
Azor Ahai was a legendary hero who was said to have fought and defeated the Long Night. Like many legends, his tale is as much about his weapon as his personality. Azor Ahai saw the darkness encroaching and set out to forge a blade that could defeat it. He worked tirelessly for 30 days and 30 nights, but the sword shattered when he quenched it in water. He returned to the forge, hammering his next weapon for 50 days and 50 nights. He tempered this saber in a lion's heart. It broke into pieces as well. Finally, Azor Ahai knew what he must do. He worked for 100 days and 100 nights to craft his final blade. He called his beloved wife, Nissa Nissa, into his smithy and asked her to bare her chest. Azor Ahai drove his white-hot sword into his wife's beating heart. Her soul fused into the steel, creating a legendary weapon known as Lightbringer. Azor Ahai used Lightbringer to drive back the darkness, saving the Known World from the Long Night at the cost of his greatest love.
Will Azor Ahai return?
Melisandre, Game of Thrones's resident Red Priestess, vociferously advocates for the return of Azor Ahai. She believes another Long Night will come and only a reincarnation of the hero will save the world again. She selects Stannis Baratheon as her first candidate for the role. She dubs his sword Lightbringer and defends his claim to legendary heroism. In A Clash of Kings, she regales Stannis with this enthusiastic call to action,
There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him. Azor Ahai, beloved of R'hllor! The Warrior of Light, the Son of Fire! Come forth, your sword awaits you! Come forth and take it into your hand!
Azor Ahai's fated return crosses paths with another fated hero, the prince that was promised. The prince must be "born amidst salt and smoke, beneath a bleeding star." Like Ahai, the prince will stop the onslaught of a second Long Night scheduled to last forever. If he fails, humanity will be wiped out. Melisandre, the franchise's primary source on prophecies, mentions the prince and Azor Ahai interchangeably, causing some fans to speculate they may be the same figure. Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys's eldest brother, believed he or his son would be the prince. Due to a quirk of language that reveals the word "prince" to be genderless in this context, some believe Daenerys will fill the role. The prince that was promised is a great subject for fan theory-crafting, but nothing else can be known for sure.
Azor Ahai is a tragic mythic figure. His battle against the vague darkness required half a year of work in the forge and the life of his dearest love. Like every story from the Age of Heroes, Azor Ahai's tale could be fiction within fiction. Melisandre believes it in her bones. Her devotion to the cause animates almost every decision she makes in the series. Whether Ahor Azai is fact within the narrative, his myth calls for heroes to take up their swords and fight the darkness.
