While "Game of Thrones" fans are waiting for a full-fledged season 8 trailer, the epic Jaime Lannister theory courtesy of Reddit user byrd82 has resurfaced. In this article, I'll go through some of the evidence that might just convince you that Jaime Lannister is Azor Ahai reborn, the true hero of "Game of Thrones" and "A Song of Ice and Fire." If that sounds interesting let's jump right in.

The Lord of Light, the Golden Hand, and the High Valyrian translation error

Reddit user u/byrd82 starts off his post by analyzing a few Valyrian words.

The words "aeksio" and "onos" mean "lord" and "light" in High Valyrian

While "aeksion" and "ondos" translate to "gold" and "hand."

Seeing just how similar these words are, it's entirely possible that the Lord of Light, "the one true god" is actually no god at all, but a real person, "a golden hand" destined to save mankind in the fight against the one true enemy, the Others a.k.a the White Walkers.

This further implies that the entire Lord of Light religion is based on a translation error. Now that indeed seems like a type of twist George R. R. Martin would pull off.

If only there was a character in our story with a golden hand.

Oh, that's right. It's the man with the most impressive redemption arc in the story, Jaime "The Golden Hand" Lannister.

Jaime Lannister, Azor Ahai prophecy and the forging of the hero's sword

Now that we've identified the not-so-mysterious "golden hand" in our story, let's tackle the Azor Ahai prophecy.

This rather cryptic prophecy goes "hand in hand" (pun intended) with the legend of Lightbringer.

As you can see, the legend of Lightbringer is essentially the story of forging the hero's sword.

Azor Ahai needed to temper it two times (in water, the lion's heart) to no avail before he was finally able to forge the sword when he plundged it into the heart of the woman he loved, Nissa Nissa.

How does this story relate do Jaime, you ask?

Well, according to byrd82, forging a hero's sword is metaphorical for forging a hero's character.

Jaime "forges his hero's sword" by getting rid of his "Kingslayer" persona. And the first step towards it was losing the physical representation of corruption - his sword hand. However, the hero had to temper his sword three times before he was able to forge the Lightbringer:

1) First, he tried to temper the sword in water, but it broke.

Jaime's first attempt to shed the "Kingslayer" persona happened when he shared the story of how he killed the Mad King and saved the population of King's Landing in the bath with Brienne. Jaime was, quite literally, broken at that time. But once he was back in King's Landing, his connection with Cersei corrupted him again.

2) The second time, Azor Ahai drove a sword into the heart of the lion, but the steel shattered again.

Tyrion shot Tywin, a lion, in the heart, which he was able to do because Jaime freed him. Cersei even said to jaime that he killed their father with stupidity.

Jaime's Nissa Nissa and the third attempt at forging the Lightbringer

In order to finally forge his hero's sword, Jaime would have to get rid of the corruption once and for all by killing the one person that's holding him back from fulfilling his destiny - Cersei Lannister, his Nissa Nissa.

Once he kills her, not only will he complete the forging of his hero's sword, but he will also fulfil the role of the valonqar from Cersei's Maggy the Frog Prophecy.

"And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you."

According to byrd82, Lightbringer won't be a sword itself, but the return of Jaime's sword hand ablaze.

In that case "the fiery hand," which just happens to be the name of the group of slave soldiers who protect the Lord of Light temple in Volantis, will be Lightbringer.

Once Jaime's hand is set ablaze, he will wrap his hands about Cersei's throat and choke the life from her. Only then will he be reborn amidst smoke (from his fiery hand) and salt (from Cersei's tears,) just like the Azor Ahai prophecy states.

As for Cersei, her joy will quite literally turn to ashes (from Jaime's fiery hand) in her mouth, just as Tyrion predicted.

The Fiery Hand - clues and foreshadowing

As byrd82 pointed out, there's one very strong piece of visual evidence that supports the fiery hand theory. It occurs in "Game of Thrones" season 4 episode 5 when Meera asks Jojen, "How will we know the end?" Jojen's hand is then set ablaze and he replies: "We'll know."

Take a look.

A passage from "A Storm of Swords" also makes a direct reference to Jaime's fiery hand:

To make matters even more interesting, Jaime actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau hinted in an interview that fire is a big part of Jaime's story.

As for how Jaime will end the conflict with the White Walkers, u/byrd82's answer is through diplomacy.

In "Game of Thrones" season 6 we saw three different conflicts and three different leadership styles. And unlike Jon (in the Battle of the Bastards) and Dany (in Slaver's Bay) who brutally killed those that opposed them, Jaime chose a peaceful resolution in Riverrun, proving that he is a champion for all.

He is willing to sacrifice his twin sister and his love in order to save mankind, even if it means saving the slavers and Ramsey Boltons of the world. Would Jon Snow do such a thing?

Would Dany? I don't think so. Jaime, on the other hand, is just the type of guy who would make that kind of sacrifice, just as Azor Ahai did.

After all, if there's one thing that "Game of Thrones" has taught us it's that the war is not a solution, so why in the world would the whole story end with one huge bloodbath between the good guys and the bad ones? The answer is that it won't. This story was never about war, and the hero being the hero all along. It was always the story of "a human heart in conflict with itself," grey characters, and redemption arcs, the story of Jaime Lannister.
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