Who will ride the three dragons?

As the prophecy goes and the Targaryen sigil illustrates, 'The dragon has three heads'. Conveniently, it just so happens that there are three dragons currently flying around in Westeros. Therefore, many take this to mean that all three dragons will be ridden into the final battle of the show: the Battle for the Dawn. But by whom? Who are these three 'heads of the dragon'?

Well, going by this line of logic, one would assume that all three of these dragon-riders will be Targaryens and in the show, we are already aware of two: Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. We have already seen Dany ride Drogon and this makes a lot of sense, given that this particular dragon was named after her lost lover Khal Drogo. Thus, there is obviously a family bond and connection between the two. Additionally, in the latest episode 'The Queen's Justice', when Jon arrives on Dragonstone and says the line 'I'm not a Stark', Rhaegal flies over his head, sending a clear message to us all. Personally, I think this is very blatant foreshadowing and practically a confirmation that Jon will ride Rhaegal into battle, the dragon named after his father.

So that's two out of the way but Viserion is more of a tricky one to place because he is named after Viserys, who was truly a nasty piece of work. In the book series, the third head of the dragon could easily be the character known as 'Young Griff' who is allegedly meant to be the child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell under a false name. The story goes that this child, Aegon Targaryen, was sent away by Varys and swapped with another child before the Mountain could kill him. He certainly has the look of a Targaryen in the books too as he has purple eyes and light hair, which he dyes blue. However, many book-readers have considered him to be a fraud and an impostor: a red herring put in by George RR Martin to throw people off the true identity of the third dragon-rider. Also, Dan and Dave have not introduced this character in the show which pretty much reduces his chances of being Viserion's rider to zero on HBO's Game of Thrones.

Another popular theory is that Tyrion Lannister is the third Targaryen dragon-rider. This is because he is described as having two different coloured eyes and hair that is almost as light as a Targaryen's in the books (even though his hair has gotten consistently darker as the TV show has progressed). Also supporting this theory are Tywin's last words to Tyrion before he dies 'you are no son of mine' and the fact that he was able to stroke a dragon in Season 6. Furthermore, the idea that he is one of the main 'good' characters on the show alongside Daenerys and Jon has convinced many people that he must be one of the three dragon-riders . Despite this though, I don't see Tyrion as much of a fighter. He also seems like an outlier because he has no spiritual connection with Viserys, unlike Dany with Drogo and Jon with Rhaegar. All I can think of is 'Lannister gold' and Viserys' 'Golden Crown' but that is really stretching it.

So that doesn't really leave many Targaryen options for Viserion's rider. Many have interpreted the Three Eyed Raven's prophecy that Bran 'will fly' to be an indication that he will be able to warg into a dragon and control it. To me, this does not constitute 'riding' a dragon though. It is more likely that he wargs into Rhaegal whilst he is being ridden by Jon to help him fight... the Night King... On a Viserion wight... In an aerial battle. Yes, that is my theory. If one dragon is to go this season in the battle with Cersei and her deadly ballistas (oh no, I'm so scared *sarcasm*), I think Viserion will unfortunately be the one to go. Game of Thrones has a tendency of making the odds against 'good guys' seem insurmountable - I mean, just look at Cersei's total dominance of Daenerys in strategic warfare so far this season. So what could be more intimidating than The Night King controlling and riding a zombie dragon? I mean, The Night King may not be a Targaryen but this just seems like a direction that Dan and Dave would go in. It also doesn't contradict the idea that there will be three dragon-riders in the Battle for the Dawn. The connection between Viserys and The Night King is small but it would make a lot of sense if the dragon named after one of the worst people in Daenerys' young life is the one who turns to the dark side...

Did I miss any theories? Who do you think is the third dragon rider? Let me know in the Facebook comments.

#JonSnow #Daenerys #Dragon #Tyrion #TheNightKing