Ser Jorah Mormont: Azor Ahai?
Why the exiled knight is more important than you may think.

It comes as no surprise that HBO’s Game of Thrones leaves the audience with more questions than answers, especially in the series’ second to last season. The pacing this season is incredibly fast — weeks and months worth of story happening in a short 55 minutes; figuring out the timeline can be a bit confusing, and it does make a lot of events seem quite rushed. The writing is standard, and the focus this season is not on the slow-paced story the audience is familiar with but rather the high intensity fight sequences. Some of the dialogue from certain characters seems misplaced, out of character for the likes of supposed character development over the show’s six year run. Despite all this, people keep coming back every sunday to find out what happens next to their remaining favorites. Even I find myself at the edge of my seat wondering what fate has in store for my longtime favorite, Ser Jorah Mormont. Now, for those not caught up on the show turn back now — SPOILERS AHEAD.
The exiled Westerosi knight has been through the thick and thin with Daenerys Stormborn, presumably the last of the Targaryen dynasty (until we find out in S06xE10 that Jon Snow was actually the offspring of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark). Later in the series we find out that Jorah Mormont isn’t as loyal as he once seemed and that he’d actually been working with spymaster Varys of King’s Landing, informing on the Targaryen girl in hopes of receiving a royal pardon from then King of the Seven Kingdoms, Robert Baratheon. The knight’s ulterior motive drove him until he watched her in the flames of Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre, coming out unscathed and unburnt and with three baby dragons. In season five upon capturing Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf asks, “Why Daenerys?” and Jorah states that seeing her survive the flames from the pyre was the moment he stopped being a cynic and started believing in something — her. The knight’s story arc is as loyal as ever after that funeral pyre scene in S01xE10; sadly, it’s later filled with heartbreak and betrayal after Daenerys finds out about his treachery and banishes him from her city of Meereen. Despite this, Jorah honorably fights his way back to her, not once but twice and ends up saving her life from the Sons of the Harpy in S05xE09.
His arc remains strong throughout, taking on the theme of redemption, healing, and getting back in his queen’s good graces. As a fan of Ser Jorah, I was ecstatic to watch his story progress as he searches for the Greyscale cure and inevitably finds it all thanks to Sam “I killed a white walker once so I can do anything” Tarly at the Citadel. Literally, the knight in shining armor was back, curing himself as Daenerys commanded (of course he would). I expected no less from this honorable knight, but I think it’s time to expect the unexpected. I’m sure many question the death of fan favorite Olenna Tyrell, wondering why Jorah (of all people) outlived the sassy and equally clever grandmother of thornes. I propose that Jorah is simply more important to the story than one might think. I think his purpose is far more crucial than serving the mother of dragons. As Lady Melissandre has stated since the beginning, the night is dark and full of terrors — unless, the prince that was promised defeats the Night King and therefore ends the Long Night.
There are many theories out there detailing as to whom it might be, but as dedicated GoT watchers know, don’t believe the theories that seem just too easy. GRRM is unpredictable, and I fully expect the end of this epic tale to be bittersweet. GRRM stated that, “Prophecies are a double-edged sword. You have to handle them carefully. They can add depth and interest to a book, but you don’t want to be too literal or too easy.” Many theorize that Daenerys or Jon is the prince that was promised by the tell tale signs given throughout the show’s history. Melissandre seems to believe that Jon is; then again, she also thought Stannis was and we all know how that went. While those are great theories and certainly match the Azor Ahai prophecy mentioned in ASOIAF, I think those are far too predictable. The dark horse candidate, which seems far more believable than one might think, is Jorah Mormont. We’ve seen Jorah the Andal come a long way, and it’s doubtful to think that his story would end so soon and it’s highly unlikely that it would be during an average battle scene. D&D have kept him around, longer than a seemingly more important side character (Olenna Tyrell). The big question is why? Why is a character like Jorah so crucial at this point in Game of Thrones? Answer: Jorah Mormont, a great man of character and honor, plays a leading role in determining the fate of the Seven Kingdoms because he is Azor Ahai.
The Azor Ahai prophecy must be met by this outline:
- Born admist salt and smoke.
- Born beneath a bleeding star.
- Has the blood of the dragon.
- Dragons will follow shortly.
Born admist salt and smoke: Thinking of born as in reborn, let’s think back all the way to season one and that epic finale. Daenerys Targaryen stands in the flames of Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre and reemerges afterwards unburnt. While this applies to Dany, it also applies to Jorah. The smoke represents the aftermath of the funeral pyre, and as mentioned earlier, that’s when Jorah stopped being a cynic and started being a believer [in Daenerys]. This could represent being reborn as a devoted knight of Daenerys’ queensguard and it’s approximately when he stopped informing on her to Varys. As for the salt, think back to season five; after being banished from Daenerys’ service, Jorah sets off on his own journey and inevitably runs into Tyrion Lannister. He captures him and ventures back to Meereen; on the journey there, they sail through Volantis where Jorah gets infected by a Stoneman. They sail on the salty sea, and this is significant because it’s another life changing event that has happened to Jorah, which was contracting Greyscale, a life threatening disease. So again, we see Jorah reborn — a man who doesn’t know how much longer he has left to win Daenerys’ forgiveness and be by her side when she conquers Westeros.
Born beneath a bleeding star: Recalling S02xE01, appearing over the skies in both Westeros and Essos, a red comet or bleeding star flies over Daenerys and Jorah when they’re traveling through the red waste. Again, this applies to both Daenerys and Jorah. In the world of Game of Thrones, a red comet signifies the return of dragons, and surprisingly enough this comet appears shortly after Daenerys' dragons have been hatched. Jorah remains committed to Daenerys even during their hardship traveling through the barren red waste. He remains her strength.
Has the blood of the dragon: While ancestrally, Jorah is no where near related to the Targaryens, the prophecy states that they have the blood of the dragon, not that they are the blood of the dragon. Being at Daenerys’ side, he has easy access to the blood of the dragon whether it be her or the dragons themselves. He always has.
Dragons will follow shortly: It’s true, after aligning himself with the Targaryens, dragons did in fact follow shortly. A creature once to have been thought extinct for a century has returned (also signified by the bleeding star).
To the actual story of Azor Ahai himself, Azor Ahai is said to have forged the weapon “Lightbringer” that defeated the others (white walkers and the Night King). The only way he could forge this was by plunging it through his wife Nissa Nissa’s heart. In other words, Azor Ahai could defeat the others and save the world from darkness but at a price. Looking at this prophecy, if Jorah Mormont is Azor Ahai, it is clear the most terrible and tragic event that could very well happen is Jorah plunging a sword right through Daenerys’ heart. The woman he loves most and is fully committed and devoted to could be the person he has to give up for the greater good of Westeros; perhaps D&D is keeping Jorah around for the sole purpose of completing the circle. The audience has been through everything with Jorah and Daenerys, so it’s only fitting that we watch one of them die, Dany in this case — and tragically, by Jorah’s hand.

The story also details how Azor Ahai tried forging Lightbringer by plunging it through the heart of a lion he captured, so I wouldn’t be surprised if an unfortunate series of events leads Jorah to either kill Tyrion Lannister (the lion he captured) or perhaps Jaime. I am also left wondering if Lightbringer could possibly be Longclaw, the Mormont family sword, currently in Jon’s possession. As we saw in S07xE06, Jon tried giving Longclaw back to Jorah but he refused. I’m wondering if in season eight we’ll get to see Longclaw somehow come back into Jorah’s possession — that is, if it is indeed Lightbringer waiting to happen. If Jorah is indeed the prince that was promised, I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing him face-off against the Night King. I’m not sure as to how exactly Jorah killing Daenerys would play out, but what I am sure of is that it would be the most heartbreaking twist in television history and would fit perfectly within the unpredictable world of Game of Thrones.
