Valonqar/Theories

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 Theories may be removed if ... 
  1. Stated as questions or possibilities.
  2. More appropriate for another article.
  3. Illogical or previously disproven.
  4. Proven by canon source, and moved to main page.
  5. Speculative and lacking any evidence to support arguments.
  6. Responding to another theory (use discussion page instead).
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In her youth, Cersei Lannister received a prophecy from Maggy the frog that she would die at the hands of the "valonqar", which is the word for "little brother" in High Valyrian. No one person has been confirmed to fill this role.

Female valonqar: Several of the people hypothesized as the valonqar are females. As Maester Aemon informs Samwell Tarly that the word used to indicate the Prince that was Promised in the prophecy concerning this prince could have been indicating a "princess" as well, it has been speculated that there might be more gender-neutral words in High Valyrian. As such, it has been speculated that "valonqar" cannot only mean "little brother", but also "little sister", or "little sibling".

Other, less frequently used arguments, are that possibly, High Valyrian uses the male gender when gender is actually unknown, that Maggy is not fluent enough in High Valyrian to know or to correctly employ the gender differentiation, or that she is actually speaking one of the dialects of the Free Cities that might not completely agree with High Valyrian regarding this word. Although Septa Saranella's translation of "little brother"[1] might have been wrong, a Tyroshi who brings Cersei a dwarf's head claiming it to be Tyrion's refers to him as her 'valonqar'.[2] Because of this, the valonqar is generally considered to be slightly more likely to be a man than it is to be a woman. It is worth noting that the name "Maggy" is itself suspected to be a misrepresentation of the title of Maegi.

People suspected of being the Valonqar include:

Tyrion Lannister

Cersei Lannister has become convinced that her youngest brother, Tyrion Lannister, is her valonqar.[1] She has blamed him for the death of her mother, Joanna,[3] who died giving birth to Tyrion in 273 AC.[4][5] Maggy's prophecy, made three years after Tyrion's birth, has served to make Cersei despise and mistrust Tyrion even more.

Jaime Lannister

Jaime Lannister, Cersei's twin brother, is most often identified as Cersei's valonqar by the fandom, based on a poll held in 2015.[N 1]

Supporting evidence

The following pieces of information can be considered supporting evidence for the theory:

  • Jaime was born after Cersei, making him her younger brother.[6]
  • Jaime's relationship with Cersei deteriorates severely after he returns from captivity to King's Landing. By the end of A Feast for Crows, he refuses her request for his aid after she has been arrested by the Faith of the Seven, and commands her letter to be burned while at Riverrun.[7]
  • When Bran Stark discovers Cersei and Jaime in their incestuous affair, he thinks they are wrestling and that Jaime is hurting Cersei.[8] Fans has suggested this to be foreshadowing of Jaime eventually "hurting" (killing) Cersei.[9]
  • Both Jaime and Cersei have often stated their believes that their deaths are linked, claiming that, because they came into the world together, they will leave the world together.[10] Examples include:
    • "I cannot die while Cersei lives, he told himself. We will die together as we were born together."[11]
    • "We will leave this world together, as we once came into it."[12]
    • "If he were dead, I would know it. We came into this world together, Uncle. He would not go without me."[13]
  • The Stranger, one of the seven aspects of the Faith of the Seven, represents death.[citation needed] Cersei has come to consider Jaime a stranger ("He was your twin, your shadow, your other half, another voice whispered. Once, perhaps, she thought. No longer. He has become a stranger to me.",[14] while Jaime comes to identify Cersei as the actual Stranger ("I thought that I was the Warrior and Cersei was the Maid, but all the time she was the Stranger, hiding her true face from my gaze."[15]

Counter-arguments

The following pieces of information can be considered supporting evidence for the theory:

  • The prophecy states that the valonqar shall wrap his "hands" around Cersei's neck.[1] Jaime's right hand has been cut off by the Bloody Mummers,[16] making him unable to wrap both his hands around Cersei's neck. He subsequently makes use of a prosthetic hand, and it has been suggested that Jaime uses this hand to choke Cersei. However, the golden hand is shaped to fit around the stem of a wine cup, with only a small opening between the fingers and the thumb.[citation needed]
    • A solution to the fact that Jaime has only one hand has been proposed. It has been speculated that Jaime will use the chain of the Hand of the King, which is made up of golden hands holding each other and which has been used by both Tyrion Lannister[17] and Tywin Lannister[18] in the office of Hand, to choke Cersei, similar to the way Tyrion Lannister choked Shae while she was wearing the chain.[19] In further support of this interpretation,[20] a possible foreshadowing has been identified when Jaime, at Riverrun, thinks to himself that he would happily have strangled Sybell Spicer with her seashell necklace.[7]

Aegon Targaryen

Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, was the younger brother of his sister Rhaenys Targaryen. Rhaenys and Elia died at hands of Lannister forces. If the person claiming to be Aegon Targaryen really is Aegon Targaryen, he has plenty of reasons to want to kill Cersei.

Daenerys Targaryen

Daenerys Targaryen was the younger sister to her brothers Rhaegar and Viserys and as one of the contenders for the Iron Throne also has plenty of reasons to kill Cersei.

The surviving Stark-children

After the death of their parents and older brother Robb all of the Stark children (Bran, Sansa, Rickon and Arya) have reasons enough to kill Cersei. Arya has gone as far as to include Cersei on a list of people she wishes to kill. Jon Snow calls Arya "little sis" repeatedly, and they both think of it throughout the series whenever they recall each other. If "valonqar" can indeed refer to a female younger sibling as well, the repeated use of "little sister" for Arya could point to her as a candidate.

Though Bran is crippled, his warging ability means he could kill Cersei. Because of his youth Rickon seems unlikely, but it's also possible that he could kill her through his direwolf.

Stannis Baratheon

Stannis is the younger brother of Cersei's former husband, King Robert. He is attempting to overthrow Cersei.

Brynden Rivers

Brynden Rivers was a younger brother to a few siblings, the Great Bastards, but unlike the Blackfyres he was a Targaryen loyalist. Still alive beyond the Wall, he could also be the Valonqar.

Tommen Baratheon

The valonqar passage was a fragment of Maggy's response to Cersei's third question, regarding her, and king's, children. Thus it could be read as "you will see all your children die, and then the youngest will kill you". That would require Tommen to die, rise from dead and only then strangle someone to death, like Ser Waymar Royce in the series' prologue.

The Sand Snakes (except Obara)

The Sand Snakes are the daughters of Oberyn Martell and nieces to Elia Martell, both were killed by the hands of the Lannister-man Gregor Clegane. All Sand Snakes have reasons enough to kill Cersei but because of the circumstance that Obara isn't a younger sibling to anyone she won't fit the prophecy. Her younger sisters Nymeria, Tyene, Sarella or possibly Elia could be candidates, the other three Sand Snakes seem unlikely because of their youth.

Sandor Clegane

Sandor Clegane is the younger brother to his sibling Gregor and was for a very long time in service for House Lannister, at least as Joffrey Baratheon's sworn shield and member of the Kingsguard. During the Battle of the Blackwater he deserted and encountered Arya Stark. He travelled together with her through the devastated Riverlands until he was left behind by Arya after he was badly wounded. His fate is unknown until now. Some believe that he is still alive. If he is, he could also be the Valonquar because of his despise for the Lannisters.

Trystane Martell

Trystane is the younger brother to Arianne and Quentyn Martell. As part of a marriage pact orchestrated by Tyrion Lannister, he was betrothed to Myrcella Baratheon. Cersei planned to kill him as part of a plot to get her daughter back to King's Landing. If Trystane would get knowledge of this he has another reason for revenge besides the fact that his uncle and aunt died by the hands of the Lannisters.

Brienne Tarth

Brienne was the younger sister to her brother Galladon and in the service of Renly Baratheon, who challenged the Lannisters, and Catelyn Stark who was murdered in an assassination orchestrated by Tywin Lannister. Tasked to find the daughters of Lady Catelyn and to protect them she could decide to kill Cersei as a kind of protection.

Loras Tyrell

Loras is the younger brother to his siblings Willas and Garlan. He and Cersei have a rivalry at court, as he is a champion of Queen Margaery, a likely candidate for the "young queen" mentioned earlier in Maggy's prophecy, and Tommen's favourite among the Kingsguard. Cersei sent him to lead the battle for Dragonstone, hoping he would die in the attempt; he is reported to be alive but badly burned.

Garlan Tyrell

Garlan is the younger brother to Willas, the heir to Highgarden, and the older one to Margaery and Loras. Because of the mistreatment of his sister (humiliated by the Faith Militant) and younger brother (badly injured during a attack on Dragonstone), both events caused by Cersei, he has good reasons to kill her.

Gendry/Edric Storm

Gendy and Edric Storm are the bastard-children of Robert Baratheon and younger siblings to others, for example Mya Stone, who was the first bastard Robert sired. They both survived the purge of Roberts several bastards in King's Landing because they were not present. But as long Cersei is alive, she could pose a danger to them, so killing her could be a goal for both of them to protect themselves.

See Also

References


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