【Melodrama Archives】

George R. R. Martin's new book,Melodrama Archives Fire and Blood, recounts the 300 years of Targaryen history before the events of Game of Thrones. But it also has plenty of potential fodder for theories directly tied to the time period we know and love on the show.

But they're also very well hidden.

"There are a few that are definitely important, but I’m not going to flag them," Martin told EW in regards to whether the book contained connections. "Readers will have to find them and puzzle out whether they’re hints or red herrings."

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about the 'Game of Thrones' prequel series

As an in-universe textbook by an Archmaester named Gyldayn, we can't take everything in Fire and Bloodas fact. He's writing down history that happened centuries before he was alive, and a lot of accurate information has been lost to time.

But here are some of the most likely Fire and Bloodwill play into the Song of Ice and Fire books the final season of the HBO phenomenon.

Gendry's dragon blood, and his potential destiny to kill a dragon

Fire and Bloodconfirms a long-held rumor that Baratheon House was founded by Orys, a half-brother and Hand to the legendary Conqueror Aegon I Targaryen. This means that, though he may not look it, Gendry has blood of the dragon in him -- which could have all sorts of implications. Targaryen blood is required for magic like riding or even hatching dragons.

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So if anyone's going to be raising new dragons, it could very well be Gendry. There is a lot of prophecy around "the three heads of the dragon" (Targaryen sigil), so we know that at least one more secret Targaryen will emerge to take a significant role in the end game beside Daenerys and Jon.

From what we've heard about the actor who plays Gendry, Joe Dempsie, it sounds like he'll for sure be in the final battle to come in Season 8. Why else bring him back from all that rowing?

But dragon riding or hatching isn't the only way his destiny could be tied to House Targaryen's future. At two different points, Fire and Bloodmentions a mysterious and ancient prophecy that sounds a whole lot like it's about either Gendry, or his father Robert Baratheon:

"When the hammer shall fall upon the dragon, a new king shall arise, and none shall stand before him."

While mistakenly attributed to a different character in history, it reads like a prophecy of Roberts Rebellion, when he cut down Rhaegar in battle and all of House Targayen from the throne. That only accounts for the "new king" that rises, though, with no clear connection to the ominous second part of the prophecy.

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Martin likes to purposefully phrase his prophecies as red herrings with multiple possible interpretations. So who else could it be about instead?

Perhaps another Baratheon with a hammer, and a dragon to kill: our blacksmith bastard Gendry. I mean, the show couldn't have a whole hammer-making montage in Season 7 without bringing it back later, right? Gendry is also the only living person who knows how to smelt Valyrian steel, the weapon that kills White Walkers and (most likely) White Walker dragons.

If Gendry brings down undead Viserion, then that would make way for a new king (Jon), reigning over the wasteland of Westeros ravaged by the army of the dead.

There are more dragons, potentially even in Winterfell

Speculation over the birth of new dragons has been swirling around the fandom for ages.

Before they were generally confined to prophecies and visions about Dragonstone and the Wall. Chiefly, the Azor Ahai prophecy about a legendary Prince that was Promised who would "wake dragons out of stone" to save the day from the White Walkers.

Melisandre claims to see fire visions of dragons rising from the literal stone of Dragonstone, and even from ice at the Wall. But what if the "stone" the prophecy refers to is actually the fossilized dragon eggs that are apparently scattered all over the damn place, according to Fire and Blood?

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Hatching dragons requires very specific and mysterious magic. But as Dany proved, petrified dragon eggs still carry the potential to birth more dragons centuries later if you add a Targaryen to the mix. Fire and Bloodleaves the door open for eggs to be found everywhere, then hatched, and maybe even a repopulation of the creatures believed to have been extinct.

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And when we say everywhere, we mean everywhere. The dragons got busy not only all over Westeros, but potentially even in Essos.

Most promisingly, the feral-turned-domestic dragon Sheepstealer was spotted last near the Vale, where a hill tribe began worshipping it and its rider as their "Fire Witch."

Many also speculate that, ultimately, that dragon ended up in Skagos. A magical island in the North populated by descendants of the First Men, its name translates to "stone." Some even believe the wild dragons mentioned in the book could've survived to this day, since they live for hundreds of years.

The most tantalizing possibility is the rumor that there are dragon eggs in Winterfell.

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While the Grandmaester writing the book disregards the rumor, there's solid evidence to support hidden dragon eggs in the crypts of Winterfell.

Early into Targaryen rule, a Prince Jacaerys made a deal with Lord Cregan Stark for his support in battle. And while many presumed Jacaerys dragon, Vermax, was male, it is impossible to tell the sex of a dragon. Some maesters even think they can change their sex as needed.

Also wouldn't it be lovely if Jon, this other embodiment of a dragon bred in Winterfell, raised his own dragon hatchlings to join Dany's? Why else would they have had that very odd conversation about children in the dragon pit during Season 7's finale?

Varys might be a Targaryen descendent of Saera Targaryen

A joke in the Ice and Firefandom is that everyone's a secret Targaryen.

But this theory is particularly well-founded for either Varys or even Tyrion Lannister. For our purposes though, let's focus on Varys' potential.

We don't have to get into the details of the Varys Targaryen theory. But do consider: He's teamed up with many people to protect the Targaryen house (Daenerys), and might keep his head shaved to hide the dead giveaway of Targaryen silver hair.

While some believe Varys to be a descendant of a famous Targaryen bastard line, the Blackfyres, one new story learned in Fire and Bloodoffers another possibility.

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During the long reign of King Jaehaerys Targaryen, one of his daughters Princess Saera was embroiled in such scandal that she ran away to Essos. There, she became a coveted whore in Lys, supposedly making tons of Targayen bastards. Later in Fire and Blood, she's mentioned as still being alive and well in Volantis, after becoming wildly rich as the owner of a famous pleasure house.

Why does this matter to the Varys Targaryen theory?

Well, Varys says he was born a slave in Lys. While this would be centuries after Saera Targaryen, dragon blood would still run through his veins. And that matters for the same reasons it matters for Gendry: Because only the blood of old Valyria can ride or help hatch dragons.

As Melisandre told him cryptically in Season 7, Varys will have a big part to play in the endgame, before dying in this foreign land of Westeros.

We will probably go back to Valyria, where horror or salvation awaits

In Season 4, Tyrion and Ser Jorah rode through the ruins of Old Valyria. While this is damn near impossible in the books, the show's insistence on showing audiences the original, ancient, doomed homeland of the Targaryens and dragons felt like a clear signal that it would come back later.

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Now Season 8 and winter is upon us, and uncovering the mysteries of Valyria has never been more pressing.

Fire and Bloodgives one horrifying glimpse into what awaits people who venture into the dangerous and toxic ruins, though. And it's much worse than just greyscale.

One young and willful Targaryen Princess, Aerea, makes the terrible mistake of running away by stealing the biggest, baddest, oldest dragon of all time: Balerion the Black Dread. She disappears for a year, before returning to King's Landing dying from the most grotesque Aliens-esque horrors the Seven Kingdoms have ever seen.

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Snake-like worm parasites are not only boiling her alive from the inside, but squirming under her skin -- particularly her stomach -- as if they had impregnated her.

Many interpreted these as an evolution of firewyrms. There are many tales of Valyrians doing monstrous hybrid human-beast experiments, specifically by impregnating slave women with firewyrms.

Most fascinatingly, Balerion the Black Dread -- again, the fiercestdragon to ever grace Westeros -- also came back severely wounded with claw marks. Not much in this world can harm a dragon, aside from other dragons and maybe fully grown firewyrms.

So what hurt Balerion? Are there other, even fiercer dragons left in Valyria, who could turn the tide in favor of the humans when they clash with the Night King, his White Walker army, and ice dragon?

Only time can tell how the blood of Valyria will play out in this song of ice and fire.

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