When the HBO series caught up with George R.R. Martin's novels, Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire took different paths. While it's not yet known where the conquest of Westeros will end for the books' contenders, assuming the novelist manages to finish The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, fans already have their own ideas. There is notably a character aspiring to reign over the 7 Kingdoms whose plot was omitted by the series, and we think we know why.
But who is Young Griff, the great forgotten one of the series Game of Thrones?
Those of you who have read George R.R. Martin's books know that HBO left out a twist that could have changed everything at the end of the series: the presence of Griff the Younger, a mysterious protagonist first appeared in A Dance with Dragons. He is mentioned during Tyrion Lannister's journey, as he flees Westeros, where his sister has put a price on his head, convinced that he is responsible for the death of Joffrey Baratheon. Outsmarting the smart alecs of the Seven Kingdoms, the Dwarf soon discovers his secret. He is actually Aegon, the hidden son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, murdered during the rebellion that saw Robert Baratheon inherit the Iron Throne. The two children of the Prince and Princess of Dorne, Elia Martell, were babies at the time of the events, and are also believed to have been killed during the rebellion. It was Varys who supposedly substituted a common baby for Aegon to protect the Targaryen heir, before sending him to the master Illyrio Mopatis in Pentos. There, Jon Connington, a very close friend of the King and Rhaegar at the time of the events, took it upon himself to protect and raise the child in order to prepare him to one day become King of the Seven Kingdoms.
Griff the Younger, a serious pretender to the Throne?
This, as you will have understood, is what Griff the Younger claims, but various characters in the novels (including Tyrion Lannister) as well as readers of A Song of Ice and Fire suppose that he is a usurper intended to serve the political plans of Varys and his colleagues. Whether or not he is a relative of Daenerys Targaryen, he is on his way to Westeros, after Tyrion convinced him not to beg his aunt for help (something he originally planned to do by joining her in Meereen) but to begin his conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, like a true warrior. At the end of A Dance with Dragons, he seized the stronghold of The Gryphony and revealed his "true face" to the world. The HBO series completely ignored this character (and he is not the only one) for obvious reasons of clarity and understanding of the already overloaded plot. An oversight that is all the more sensible since Griff the Younger has a good chance of passing away before the end of the story.
Griff the Younger, a useless element of the plot?
And why? As Tyrion Lannister, one of the most intelligent protagonists of Game of Thrones, so rightly suspects, Daenerys Targaryen will have only one desire once this supposed nephew reaches Westeros: to join him. Not to kill him with her own hands, as some theories presume (the young Queen is desperate to be the last of her family and dreams of a home), but to build an alliance or at least see this lost relative with her own eyes. However, the said Aegon Targaryen could die before she arrives in King's Landing. Two clues corroborate this hypothesis: his arrogance and Tyrion's ease in manipulating him, but also the fact that he is a rather bland replica of his aunt. Like her, he is a Prince in exile at the head of an army of mercenaries, accompanied by a former knight of Westeros, who understands "the little people"...
But only in appearance, because what life has given her, the Mother of Dragons has earned by the sweat of her brow, in fire and blood. Now, the plot of Game of Thrones doesn't need two Daeneryses, and certainly not a second failed copy! George R.R. Martin is probably using this character to force Daenerys to finally leave Meereen, she who has so much trouble leaving her "children," and Griff the Younger is the perfect narrative lever for that. Afterwards, having no more use for him, the novelist should have him assassinated before his aunt's arrival in King's Landing. Knowing this for years, he must have advised HBO not to introduce the character. Now it remains to be seen who will be the assassin!
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