Spoilers if you’re behind on the show.

In Episode 3, Season 6 of Game of Thrones, one of the first things Melisandre says to the new(re)born Jon Snow is that he is probably the prince that was promised.

She had previously believed Stannis was ~the one~, which was one of the reasons she was so disillusioned by his failure at the end of last season.

If you're a show-only fan, it might be easy to miss the significance of this plotline: many book fans believe the "prince that was promised" is going to be the central figure by the end of the series.

Several characters talk about the prophecy of "the prince that was promised" in the books, and Melisandre also uses the name Azor Ahai in connection with it. While some fans believe these are two separate prophecies, there's a lot of overlap and it makes sense that they're about the same hero.

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Basically, Azor Ahai is a mythical figure in Melisandre's religion. He's said to be a great hero who fought against the darkness with a flaming sword called Lightbringer, which he forged by piercing the heart of his true love Nissa Nissa.

According to prophecy, he will be reborn after a long summer, when an evil darkness spreads over the world. This is obviously significant to the current events in Westeros, what with WINTER and the GIANT FREAKING ICE ZOMBIES ready to unleash themselves on the Seven Kingdoms. Many believe the prince that was promised/Azor Ahai is the key to defeating them. Rhaegar Targaryen also says "his is the song of ice and fire" a.k.a. the name of the whole damn book series. So, you know, pretty important.

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• They are the blood of the dragon (and some believe, more specifically, a descendant of Aerys II and Rhaella Targaryen).
• Born amidst smoke and salt.
• Born beneath a bleeding star.
• Will wake dragons out of stone.
• Will draw Lightbringer from the flames.
• Will possibly have to make a sacrifice.

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