Saturnine said:

Because it's a significant number, and because of the fact that every detail given in a story is important. Conservation of detail, and all that. Why is he the 998th Commander? Why not the 675th, 1093rd, or any other number?

My point is: Why even mention the exact number at all? It's either (a) to make 1000 important in some way (e.g. the last, greatest, etc., for whatever reason), or (b) in order to screw with us that 1000 is a significant number, but isn't in this story.

Not exactly Chekhov's Number, but close.

I'm going with option B. That seems to be Martin's MO. Make us think something or someone is important, and then ignore it entirely or kill it.

I can't find this anywhere, but I thought it was mentioned in one of the books that they think they are approaching the 1000th Commander but the number may not actually be correct?

I have the feeling that Jon will stay Lord Comander atleast untill he gets to do something cool, Others wise. I just finished the 4th book and saw a pattern. Quentyn Martell brings Dany to Drone (Possible, since Dorne already suppourts her and she needs a foothold in Westeros from which to stage her invasion) then Sarella (Alleras, whatever) lets Dany know about the shennanigans thats going down at the wall through Samwell. Boom, Now Dany has a perfectaly good reason to go to the Wall.

Also, how mental would it be if Jon was the prince that was pormised?

On a totaly different note, does anyone remember that really old GRRM interview where they asked him about Rhaegar's kids and he was like "Rahaynes is dead. Ageon...well...no comment" What do we think of that? =P

I still maintain that Aegon is Darkstar.

JerusalemJones said:

Wouldnt he be too old? Aegon is younger than Dany and shes only what? 18 by the end of Feast?

I always envisioned the ending to be that the next generation from all parts of the world come together, united in peace,  and have taken the place of the people who were there when the books starts.

I could see for example Arya finishing the books as Master of Whisperers and Samwell as Grand Maester of Kings Landing etc. Perhaps Jon on the throne. Rickon as lord of Winterfell etc.

DerBarchen said:

AEgon was a babe when the Lannister's sacked King's Landing. not sure of his exact age, but I'm thinking around 2. Dany was born after the sack, but before the taking of Dragonstone.

At the start of the books, it is 13 years after the rebellion. Dany is 13, Robb and Jon are 14. By the end of book 3, at least 2 years have passed. If Aegon was 2 at the time of the taking of KL, then it is easy to put Aegon at 18 years old, if he survives. Babes that young can be easily switched for protection.

This part gets muddy, but there are a few things that are possible based on some known facts.

Fact #1: The Targaryens tend to have platinum blonde/white hair and purple eyes. The Dayne's tend to favor the looks of the Targaryens. Darkstar has white/platinum hair and eyes so dark they appear to be purple. These are cosmetic, and somewhat weak to base a believe on by themselves.

Fact #2: Three of the Kingsguard are guarding the Tower of Joy at a time when, by all "known" facts, no member of the royal family is there, only Lyanna Stark. What can we make of this? Lots of things. Just starting with Lyanna, many of us (myself included) believe her to be Jon Snow's true mother, the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar. If we assume that Rhaegar married Lyanna, then her child would have been a legitimate heir to the throne. This makes her and her (at the time) unborn son part of the royal family, and thus the Kingsguard would be duty bound to protect them. The same is also true if they brought baby Aegon with them to Dorne; there is no doubt that this is the true heir to the Iron Throne if Aerys II and Rhaegar die. And what better place to hide his heir than with the woman many believe to have been kidnapped against her will.

Fact #3. Doran Martell says "Darkstar...is the most dangerous man in Dorne." I belive this is an exact quote, including the pause. Yet when we are first introduced to Darkstar, he fails to kill a 13(?) year old girl before riding off into hiding. So he obviously isn't the greatest warrior in Dorne. Something else must make him dangerous. So,Doran either knows, or suspects, that Darkstar is Aegon Targaryen.

Fact #4: After the fight at the Tower of Joy, Eddard rides to Asahra Dayne, who shortly thereafter kills herself. Stories are that it is either over the loss of her brother Arthur, or by being spurned by Eddard. It is easy to assume that Eddard, having left the ToJ with two babes, chooses to have one represent his own bastard child (the child of Rhaegar and Lyanna) and gives one to Ashara for the Daynes to hide, sincebaby Aegon looks like a Dayne. Asahra takes the babe, goes into hiding (of some sort), and the stories are told of her suicide.

If Aegon is still alive, Darkstar is the likeliest candidate.

Now, there are holes in this theory (ktom and I have discussed this before). For example, if Darkstar is the true heir, why would Doran scheme to wed Viserys to Arianne in the belief that she would become queen of the Seven Kingdoms (his letter to Quentyn shows us this belief). It is possible that at the time Doran knew not of Darkstar's true identity, or else he would scheme to make Viserys the only known heir and keep Darkstar in hiding (Darkstar appears to have no idea that he could be someone else than he truly is). We know so little of Ashara Dayne, she very well might have killed herself. Then who would be hiding the young child.

Any possible clues about Aegon surviving and who/where he is are few and far between, and need to be conjectured. But I think it at least is possible.

Aye I was just coming online to take back what I said about him being to young, my girlfriend schooled me at Thrones knowledge by pointing out that Dany was born after Ageon >.<

Thats actually a cool theory then! It would explain why Darkstar was included at all if you ask me, since his purpose so far has been basically non-existant. That said I think the argument that Doran wouldnt need Dany or Viserys then is a very strong one. Doran just wants the rightfull king on the throne and Ageon would have the best claim, easily.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that baby Aegon currently has a claim to the Throne, especially by the laws of Dorne (which it is fair to assume Doran would honor). Aegon is the son of Rhaegar, who was the heir until his death on the Trident. At the moment of Rhaegar's death, I believe that Viserys was then King Aerys eldest son. Does that not make him the heir? Then of course Viserys dies at the hands of Khal Drogo. According to the laws of Dorne, a female has the right of succession as well. Which, I think in Doran's eyes, puts Dany as the rightful Queen. 

If The Mad Kind had somehow died before Rhaegar, then Aegon (if still alive) would be the Heir. But of course it didn't happen this way, and unless I am missing something (any experts on the laws of Westerosi succession out there?) Dany is the Heir, by Westerosi, Valyrian, and Dornish tradition. 

Perhaps the "most dangerous man in Dorne" line points towards Darkstar's cruel nature coupled with the reality that if he is Aegon, then he is second in line since Dany has no heir herself. If he knew how close he was to a Targaryen throne, he might be dangerous indeed for Dany and for Doran's plans. 

No no, you are indeed correct. I think Doran wouldn't have bothered with Viserys at all if he had a better heir right under his nose. All this confusion is mainly due to the fact that its hard to keep track of the Targaryen family line >.<

According to the laws of Westeros (and the Frey's talk about this in detail), the sons of the eldest child are first in line before the second sons of the current lord/king. if the first son dies, his first son becomes the new heir, until all of his children are dead, then it passes to the next child in line.

Dorne has their own laws of succession, and tehy also count the female line.

AWSOME , cool post .

Just jumping back to the discussion about the Lord Commander position "1000" being of importance. I have to agree that this number will arise by the time the series will end and the 1001st will come into play with the generic and cliche "and so a new dawn of the Wall was started".

In my head I see Stannis moving South to King's Landing to try and sac it. And in the process, brings Jon down from the Wall to lead an invading army to the Eyrie where he finds Sansa still alive. And then brings her with him to King's Landing after Stannis succeeds. After this, I see Jon becoming the Lord of Winterfell and removing the "Snow" bastard name, period, and it's negative light as best he can. With all that, I then see someone being quickly brought in then killed by assassination at The Wall. Possibly a returning Stonesnake (someone who is expendable but can be of value for plot device reasons) who has news of the Wights coming. Janos then assassinating him then taking control. Upon hearing this, Jon Snow goes North, sentences Janos for his treason against his Lord Commander then elects Samwell as the 1001st Lord Commander.

That is how I see the whole "Lord Commander" situation going through. Like most said, with 3 books still left (including Dance), 1000 is a very close number to not have significance. And to give it a bit more importance, having Janos be it and by killing his predecessor gives a reason for his own execution at last and electing Samwell who will more than likely go back to Jon rather than to Dany as eluded to.

But I don't know. Seems a bit much to go through, but also seems possible in my own head.

Whoops, I didn't mean Janos. I confused characters, my mistake. I meant for it to be Cotter Pyke, not Janos.