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These theories about Tyrion being a secret Targaryen will leave you SHOOK

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With nothing to do between seasons, and no new books to give clues, Game of Thrones fans have been doing what they do best: making batshit theories based on about three quotes.

Look, obviously, you clicked on a Game of Thrones theories article. You know the game. But we're going to do the honourable thing and say SPOILER ALERT .

Arya's going to kill Cersei. Bran is the Night King. Jon Snow isn't Ned's bastard, but the child of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.

Wait, if Jon can be a Targaryen, why can't…idk, Tyrion?

Lucky you. There are two whole theories which very very strongly suggest Tyrion is in fact a Targaryen.

Tyrion is the Mad King's bastard son

To get your head around this theory, you'll need to get familiar with a few characters from recent Westerosi history.

Aerys Targaryen, aka the Mad King, was in charge of Westeros before Jaime killed him and Robert Baratheon took over. He's also Daenerys' dad.

Joanna Lannister is Tyrion, Jaime, and Cersei's mum, and Tywin's wife. She was best friends with Rhaella, Aerys' sister/wife (it's an incest thing).

Those are all your key players.

Everything looks rosy. Except Aerys and Rhaella's bond was a forced marriage and he fancied Joanna instead.

This was so well known that Aerys was said to be "taken with" Joanna. During Joanna and Tywin's wedding, Aerys took "liberties" with Joanna, Barristan Selmy later recalls.

Now, this happened way too early for Tyrion to be conceived. But kings in Westeros can pretty much sleep with whoever they want. Whilst Tywin was Hand of the King, Aerys fancied his wife.

And so, at some point, the theory goes, they slept together. That's where Tyrion comes from.

This theory makes him Aerys' son and Daenerys' older brother, not Tywin's son.

There's a decent amount of proof to suggest Tyrion might be a secret Targaryen after all. Let's take a look.

Tywin treats Tyrion as though he's not really his son

Joanna died giving birth to Tyrion, but if he's a Targaryen there's more reason for Tywin to hate him.

When Tyrion shoots him, he goes as far as to say: "You're no son of mine."

His hair is described as blond like the Targaryens

If there's one thing Targaryens are known for, it's their silvery locks. "But-but-buuuuut Tyrion has got brown hair," you scream. How little you know, in the face of thousands of pages of source material.

In the books, Tyrion's hair is said to be "so blond it seems white." In fact, it seems to be a pale blond more similar to the Targaryen silver of Daenerys and Viserys than the Lannister gold of Cersei and Jaime.

And the seed is strong.

Tyrion's affinity with dragons

If there's one more thing Targaryens are known for, it's dragons.

Famously, they have dragon dreams. So does Tyrion, although this might just be because he's fascinated by them.

In Mereen, Tyrion frees the dragons from the vault they're held in and they're calm enough for him to pet them.

Before the Night King killed Viserion and made him into a cool zombie dragon, it was speculated that Tyrion would ride him, becoming the "third head of the dragon" along with Jon and Daenerys. Whilst the Jon bit came true, and he's now whizzing around above the clouds, the Night King's olympic-standard javelin throw put paid to this part of the theory.

Overall?

It's plausible, but not likely in the show, especially with the hair thing not holding any weight on TV. The dragons argument isn't conclusive – Tyrion's a curious guy and could just be really into dragons – but crucially, it could ruin one of the show's most complex relationships.

As argued in the video above, Tywin hating Tyrion because of a weird fan theory cheapens the drama of their relationship.

Rather, Tyrion representing the best and worst of Tywin – his cunning but also his impulsiveness – whilst being a dwarf who brings shame on the family, is a far more human motive for the hatred. Tywin sees a twisted version of himself who killed his wife during childbirth, and can't bear to accept it.

The Time Travelling Foetus Theory (D+D=T)

This theory is stupid, but too funny not to mention. To get the full force of it, read the full Reddit post.

When Daenerys and Khal Drogo got pregnant, the foetus time-travelled to Joanna Lannister, who gave birth to it as "Tyrion". Tyrion is actually Rhaego, Daenerys and Khal Drogo's child. D+D=T. Simple.

Remember Mirri Maz Duur, the magic woman who fucks Khal Drogo's shit up and then gets burnt by Dany?

When Drogo dies, Mirri says: "When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east… Then he will return, and not before.”

This is clearly a reference to time travelling backwards, and the crazy things that'd have to happen for Drogo to come back.

Daenerys is confronted with similar prophecy in Essos, as masked mystery woman Quaithe tells her: "To go north, you must go south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back.

Both of these prophecies come true.

As part of her weird magic, Mirri puts Rhaego, Daenerys' baby, in Joanna's womb, and swaps the existing one back to Daenerys. Dany gives birth to a dead version of Tyrion/Aerys' son.

In Game of Thrones, only death can pay for life, and so Mirri uses Drogo's soul to beam the unborn Rhaego into the past. Drogo's soul is absorbed by Rhaego.

Joanna delivers Rhaego, who gets called Tyrion and lives as a Lannister.

When Tyrion arrives in Essos, in a sense the sun has risen in the west. They have gone back to go forward. With part of Drogo's soul living on in "Tyrion", he has returned, just like Mirri Maaz Duur's prophecy.

Playing around with the past happens elsewhere in the show, too, with Bran going back and messing around with Hodor.

This theory is hilarious, but obviously not true. Obviously. Obviously?

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