Young Griff was the biggest surprise in Dance with Dragons, and his absence from Game of Thrones season 5 was one of the rocky season’s many unusual, unexpected choices. But he’s a very big, possibly critical character in Dance and in the preview chapters we’ve seen so far in Winds of Winter. Is he really not going to be in Game of Thrones season 6? Can the show make that big of a change? Or does that mean he’s just not that important after all?
Aegon And Game Of Thrones Season 6
In A Dance With Dragons, Young Griff shows up during Tyrion’s long journey from Pentos to Volantis. After a Huck Finn-esque journey down the river, it’s revealed that the wanderer is supposedly Aegon Targaryen, the miraculously surviving son of Rhaegar and Elia of Dorne, in the care of Jon Connington—the former lord of Griffin’s Roost and a Targaryen loyalist. The loyalists weren’t content to simply have Viserys and Daenerys flopping about. They wanted another Targaryen, and they got one.
Of course, he never showed up in Game of Thrones season 5. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out, though. In the book, he didn’t have a ton to do until the very end of the narrative, when he, well, launched an invasion of Westeros. His quick attack on the Stormlands, culminating in a new siege of Storm’s End, could have big consequences if his victories stick… and if the Martells declare for him, which they probably will.
Aegon has long been rumored to be a fake—not who he thinks he is. He’s the “mummer’s dragon,” a product of manipulation by Varys and Illyrio Mopatis. That much is true, and he may or may not actually be a Targaryen—that’s the rub of the theory. If he’s just a product of machinations by sneaky fellows, it’s far less likely that he’s the dragon’s third head and an actual important part of the story. If so, it’s not as shocking if HBO cuts the character.
But on the other hand, he could very easily show up in Game of Thrones season 6, sans introduction, at the head of an invading Golden Company. The show doesn’t have much time for nuance anymore, after all. It can introduce Aegon when he’s necessary. That’s what the show is doing with the rest of the Greyjoys, who have been kicking around the books forever but are only getting properly introduced now. Heck, Balon Greyjoy isn’t even dead yet!
While none of the characters in the Game of Thrones season 6 casting list sound like shoo-ins for Aegon, don’t count him out just yet. If he’s important, he’ll show up. I mean, he has to… right?
