The stallion who mounts the world[1][2] or Stallion Who Mounts the World[3] is a Dothraki prophecy about an individual who will rise to become the most powerful khal ever seen.
Description
[edit]An ancient Dothraki prophecy has promised that a khal of khals will come one day, called "the stallion who mounts the world". He will unite all the Dothraki into a single khalasar, and ride to the ends of the earth. All the people of the world will be his herd.[1]
Recent Events
[edit]A Game of Thrones
[edit]Khal Drogo has brought his khalasar and his pregnant wife, Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen, to Vaes Dothrak, where she performs a ceremony in which she must eat a stallion heart to give strength to their unborn child. After she finishes, fragrant grasses are burned to produce smoke, and the eldest of the dosh khaleen, an ancient crone with one eye, peers into the future. She proclaims that she has seen the face of Daenerys's son, and heard the thunder of his hooves. The other dosh khaleen echo her words, and then the crone proclaims,
As swift as the wind he rides, and behind him his khalasar covers the earth, men without number, with arakhs shining in their hands like blades of razor grass. Fierce as a storm this prince will be. His enemies will tremble before him, and their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief. The bells in his hair will sing his coming, and the milk men in the stone tents will fear his name. The prince is riding, and he shall be the stallion who mounts the world.[1]
The gathered Dothraki shout back, "The stallion who mounts the world!" and the crone asks Daenerys what her son is to be called. She replies that his name will be Rhaego, and the Dothraki screan his name over and over again.
After the ceremony, the pleased Drogo escorts Daenerys to the Womb of the World, and asks her what the name Rhaego means. She explains that he is named after her late brother Rhaegar Targaryen, who is called the last of the dragons. Drogo says it is a good name, and after Daenerys washes off the heart's blood in the lake, they have sex on the shore, while Drogo mutters "the stallion who mounts the world".
At the feast for the ceremony, the gathered Dothraki all shout praise on Daenerys and her unborn son, hailing the stallion who mounts the world. Daenerys, who has not understood why everyone is so excited, asks Ser Jorah Mormont the meaning of the title, and he explains the ancient Dothraki prophecy. Daenerys, somewhat stunned, tells Jorah she named him Rhaego, and Jorah replies that will make the Usurper Robert Baratheon's blood run cold.[1]
Daenerys believes her family's throne should be conquered for her unborn son, and attempts to persuade Drogo to invade Westeros. However, Drogo has no interest in doing so, saying that the stallion who mounts the world has no need for iron chairs, or to cross the poison water when he has all of the earth to rule. However, after Daenerys is nearly killed by an assassination ordered by Robert, the furious Drogo vows to conquer the Seven Kingdoms for his son.[2]
However, Drogo dies, and Rhaego is killed in the womb by Mirri Maz Duur before any part of the prophecy could be fulfilled.[4]
A Clash of Kings
[edit]In the House of the Undying, Daenerys has a vision of a tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair standing beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him. This appears to be a vision of what might have been, had Rhaego survived to be the stallion who mounts the world.[5]
A Dance with Dragons
[edit]In Meereen, Galazza Galare urges Daenerys to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq, telling her that their son will fulfill the prophecies and destroy her enemies. This reminds Daenerys of the prophecy of the stallion who mounts the world, and she dismisses the idea.[6]
Quotes
[edit]He shall be the stallion that mounts the world. Dany knew how it went with prophecies. They were made of words, and words were wind.[6]
—thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
Theories
[edit]While some readers believe that the prophecy of the stallion who mounts the world is a false one (as Daenerys does), others theorize that the true Stallion may be another of Daenerys's children, the dragon Drogon. Still others theorize that the actual Stallion who unites the Dothraki may be Daenerys herself, and connect "the khal of khals promised in ancient prophecy" to the prince that was promised.
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 46, Daenerys V.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 54, Daenerys VI.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 71, Daenerys X.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 68, Daenerys IX.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 48, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 23, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 61, Daenerys VII.