Warning! Game of Thrones spoilers live here.
It was one of the most memorable moments from the entire Game of Thrones series when a dual wielding swordsman, when outnumbered seven to two, demolished most of the men trying to attack him. Arthur Dayne, who is said to be one of the greatest knights in Westeros, fell in season 6 of the show.
One fan theory posted by Reddit user ChrisV2P2 today claims that Dayne didn't die and that we might see a bit more of his story in the books. The theory predicts that the great swordsman actually helped Ned save Jon, cover up his Targaryen identity, and protect him when he joined the Night's Watch.
That sounds confusing, I know. For those who aren't completely caught up or who don't remember everything, Arthur Dayne was a member of Rhaegar Targaryen's kingsguard. Instead of fighting alongside Rhaegar during Robert Baratheon's rebellion, Dayne stayed at the Tower of Joy where Lyanna Stark was giving birth to Jon Snow. Rhaegar, who ran away with Lyanna even though he was married to Elia Martell, tasked Dayne with the protection of his new wife.
At the beginning of the series we are introduced to Jon Snow, a bastard son of Ned Stark. Later on we realized that Jon was actually the son of Rhaegar and the rightful king of Westeros. This means that knowledge of his identity is incredible dangerous, if someone from the Baratheon camp found out about it then he'd be killed in an instant.
This theory argues that Dayne would have no reason to kill Ned and that Howland Reed actually convinced him to stop fighting in order to work together. We know that Dayne is incredibly serious about his oaths and Rhaegar asked him to protect his secret family. The theory says that Dayne gave Jon to Ned, agreeing to hide his name, and then took the black so he could protect Jon once he was old enough to join the Night's Watch.
He'd have to change his identity if that were to work. The theory suggests that he took the name Qhorin Halfhand, the man Jon Snow had to kill to join the Wildlings in the show.
It's another confusing theory that throws another secret identity out in the wild. Other theories like this exist, like the one that says Euron Greyjoy is actually Daario Naharis. Both theories have a handful of holes, but are plausible in some ways. We won't know anything until we get the last two books.
While show watchers may be out of luck as there are no more episodes to critique and draw mysteries from, book readers still have plenty of threads left open. While the show and books may have similar endings, there is still a whole other road to follow before we get to the end. If you haven't jumped into the series there has never been a better time to read A Song of Ice and Fire.
If you can't quite remember what went on in the final season, here's the Game of Thrones season 8 recap!
