Winds of Winter theory reveals a secret dragon twist hiding in plain sight

Game of Thrones failed to follow through on the promise of many of its storylines.

That’s especially true in the series’ overall treatment of both the Faceless Men and Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk), two parties that had the potential to be far more interesting than they ultimately turned out to be. Fortunately, most fans of the series remain convinced that author George R. R. Martin, whose Song of Ice and Fire books provided the source material for Thrones, will avoid the HBO series’ mistakes.

In fact, one popular fan theory about Martin’s next installment in the series, The Winds of Winter, suggests the two parties could be connected in one powerful and surprising way.

The Theory — A number of Game of Thrones fans believe that Euron Greyjoy may have paid the Faceless Men to kill his brother Balon with a dragon egg he recovered from the ruins of Valyria.

The theory goes on to speculate that said exchange may be why there’s a Faceless Man (likely Jaqen H'ghar) infiltrating the Citadel in Oldtown. There’s said to be a book called “The Death of the Dragons” locked in a vault beneath the Citadel, and the Faceless Men may be interested in procuring it.

While it’s unclear what information about dragons is actually included in the book, the Faceless Men could suspect that it will teach them how to hatch the egg Euron gave them.

A Major Twist — While Game of Thrones Season 6 includes a scene in which Euron Greyjoy personally tosses his brother Balon off a bridge to his death, that’s not exactly how the latter character dies in Martin’s books. Instead, although Euron says he was responsible for his brother’s death, he claims that it was not him who actually forced him off the bridge. That admission, combined with a moment from earlier in the series, suggests Euron paid the Faceless Men to kill Balon for him.

That’s not an easy thing to do, and the Faceless Men aren’t cheap. The cost to get them to kill for you is high, but a dragon egg would almost certainly cover it. And not only does Euron claim to have had possession of a dragon egg in the book, but he also says that he threw it into the sea when he was in a bad mood, which could be a reference to how Balon was killed.

Assuming that’s what actually happened, not only are the Faceless Men currently in possession of a dragon egg in the books, but they may also be actively searching for information on how to hatch it. For what purpose? It’s honestly hard to say. However, it’s difficult to think of anything more deadly or dangerous than a dragon commanded by the Faceless Men.

The Inverse Analysis — Until The Winds of Winter is actually released, it’s impossible to know everything that’s actually going to happen in it, even with the final few seasons of Game of Thrones spoiling some of its surprises. In fact, the more we look at Martin’s books, the more we realize how much he can do that the HBO series never did.

That includes revealing that the Faceless Men have a dragon egg of their own.

The Winds of Winter will be released whenever George R. R. Martin finishes writing it.