How can Jon Snow wield the sword Dawn and become the Sword of the Morning?

Potential Spoilers Below

ASOIAF: How Jon Snow proves he is the Sword of the Morning

I have searched for a satisfactory answer as to how I believe Jon Snow can wield the sword Dawn, which I believe to be Lightbringer, and become the next “Sword of the Morning” for the longest time now and finally I believe I have done it based upon what came before in the pages of the Wheel of Time.  A lot of people have come around to my theory of how Bran is actually Bran the Builder and a lot/most of the famous Bran’s throughout Westerosi history.  If you don’t know that theory click here to see it.  So, what do we know of the Dayne family and their family sword Dawn?

Jon Snow

Dawn from the TV show

Bran

Bran the Builder as depicted by the DVD from the 1st Season.  Notice that he is being carried around directing the building the Wall.

“The Daynes of Starfall are one of the most ancient houses in the Seven Kingdoms, though their fame largely rests on their ancestral sword, called Dawn, and the men who wielded it. Its origins are lost to legend, but it seems likely that the Daynes have carried it for thousands of years.  Those who have had the honor of examining it say it looks like no Valyrian steel they know, being pale as milkglass but in all other respects it seems to share the properties of Valyrian blades, being incredibly strong and sharp.

Though many houses have their heirloom swords, they mostly pass the blades down from lord to lord. Some, such as the Corbrays have done, may lend the blade to a son or brother for his lifetime, only to have it return to the lord. But that is not the way of House Dayne. The wielder of Dawn is always given the title of Sword of the Morning, and only a knight of House Dayne who is deemed worthy can carry it.”

“For this reason, the Swords of the Morning are all famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms. There are boys who secretly dream of being a son of Starfall so they might claim that storied sword and its title. Most famous of all was Ser Arthur Dayne, the deadliest of King Aerys II’s Kingsguard, who defeated the Kingswood Brotherhood and won renown in every tourney and mêlée. He died nobly with his sworn brothers at the end of Robert’s Rebellion, after Lord Eddard Stark was said to have killed him in single combat. Lord Stark then returned Dawn to Starfall, and to Ser Arthur’s kin, as a sign of respect.”

Ser Arthur Dayne

King Aerys II - The Mad King

The TV show depicting Howland Reed stabbing Ser Arthur Dayne in the back as he was about to kill Ned Stark.

What GRRM has said of the Dawn:

The same guy asked about the Daynes and the Sword of the Morning, asking how that title is decided. George said the Sword of the Morning is always a member of House Dayne, someone who is deemed worthy of wielding Dawn as decided within the House, that whoever it is would have to earn the right to wield it.

Question: What happened to Ser Arthur Dayne's sword Dawn after Ned brought it back to Ashara?

Answer: Dawn remains at Starfall, until another Sword of the Morning shall arise.

So, the question is if I think Bran was Bran the Builder what happened?  I believe that Bran exists twice within the current story.  I believe he is the Bran that we know that we have seen become the 3-eyed crow but I also believe that he exists right in front of us and we just didn’t know it.  Remember what we learned from the TV show that the weirwood tree in which a singer resides takes on the face of said greenseer.  Well the face of the weirwood tree at Winterfell looks ancient.  I believe that Bran sits within that tree right now carrying out his role as the 3-eyed crow.  Click here to see that theory.

The 3-eyed crow who taught Bran.  Notice that his face looks like the face of the weirwood tree in which he sits.

Winterfell and its weirwood tree

Bran staring at himself?

So now lets go back and take a look at Jon Snow’s father:

“As a young boy, the Prince of Dragonstone was bookish to a fault. He was reading so early that men said Queen Rhaella must have swallowed some books and a candle whilst he was in her womb. Rhaegar took no interest in the play of other children. The maesters were awed by his wits, but his father’s knights would jest sourly that Baelor the Blessed had been born again. Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him.  No one knows what it might have been, only that the boy suddenly appeared early one morning in the yard as the knights were donning their steel. He walked up to Ser Willem Darry, the master-at-arms, and said, ‘I will require sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior.’

Dragonstone

Queen Rhaella

Rhaegar

So, what did he read and where did the scrolls come from?  I believe what he read came from “Signs and Portents”

I believe that the scrolls that he read that day told him of events to come concerning himself, Lyanna Stark, Ser Arthur Dayne, Jon Snow and the events that could save their world.  At the end of the War of the Usurper, at the Tower of Joy, Lyanna Stark died and I used to believe that she gave birth to Jon Snow who I believe was the reincarnated soul of Ser Arthur Dayne who was known as the Sword of the Morning; whom I believe died shortly before Jon Snow was born.  I now believe that Jon did the same thing that Bran did and goes back in time physically and becomes the original Azor Ahai.  He does this after everything in our story plays out.  After he is offered the Iron Throne which he declines because he has to fulfill the destiny that he has always fulfilled and founds the Dayne family line.  This is what I believe in part that which Rhaegar Targaryen passed onto his best friend Ser Arthur Dayne.  Something along the lines that sword is never to be taken up again, after his death, until one who comes along who can answer a question that has been passed down through the Dayne family lords since their beginnings.  Only then will another Sword of the Morning be named again.  This isn’t the only family that I believe carries a secret that has been passed down from its beginning.  I believe that the Starks had a secret that was passed down, from father to son, but an event that occurred with Ned’s father and brother happened and that secret has been lost.  To see that theory click here.

Lyanna Stark

The Tower of Joy

The Iron Throne

So how would Jon Snow know the answer to said question and answer?  He doesn’t; not until he does what he has to do first.  Jon Snow has had a recurring dream but it always ends and he never finishes it.  What is the dream?

“Do you ever find anyone in your dream?” Sam asked.

Sam

Jon shook his head. “No one. The castle is always empty.” He had never told anyone of the dream, and he did not understand why he was telling Sam now, yet somehow it felt good to talk of it. “Even the ravens are gone from the rookery, and the stables are full of bones. That always scares me. I start to run then, throwing open doors, climbing the tower three steps at a time, screaming for someone, for anyone. And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It’s black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don’t want to. I’m afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it’s not them I’m afraid of. I scream that I’m not a Stark, that this isn’t my place, but it’s no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream.” He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. “That’s when I always wake.” His skin cold and clammy, shivering in the darkness of his cell. Ghost would leap up beside him, his warmth as comforting as daybreak. He would go back to sleep with his face pressed into the direwolf’s shaggy white fur. “Do you dream of Horn Hill?” Jon asked.

The Winterfell Crypts

Ghost

Horn Hill

The answer to who lies within the Crypts of Winterfell.  You all know who I believe is there; Bran.  So, Bran being the 3-eyed crow will know the question and the answer that has been passed down the Dayne Family line since its beginning through his greensight abilities.  The new teaser trailer for Season 8 lets us all know that everything about that trailer is about Jon Snow and who he really is.  As Jon, Sansa and Arya make their way through the Crypts of Winterfell we hear the following: Lyanna’s statue whipsers “You have to protect him.” her words to her brother Ned, Catelyn’s statue whispers “All this horror that has come to my family.  It’s all because I couldn’t love a motherless child.” and Ned’s statue whispers “You are a Stark.  You may not have my name but you have my blood.”  All the whispers are referring to Jon Snow.  I believe that Jon will make his journey into the Crypts alone after speaking with the Bran we know and when he gets to the weirwood tree, the catacombs that make up the crypts, he will find Bran, an old frail man, sitting there.  It will be this Bran who will let him in on this secret.  Jon Snow will eventually make his way to Starfall, most likely riding on a dragon, and claim the sword Dawn which will in his hands become Lightbringer as it did so many thousands of years ago.

Arya, Sansa and Jon

Catelyn

Drogon

How do I come to this theory?  I didn’t really because that is kind of what happened in The Wheel of Time to the character Rand al’Thor who became the Dragon Reborn.  He was the reincarnated Lews Therin Telamon who was the original Dragon.  Time travel is funny and the same way Hodor was Hodor before Bran was born who made him the way he was; I believe the same thing to be true concerning Bran the Builder and Azor Ahai.  So, with that being said everything that GRRM said about Dawn holds true.  Only a member of House Dayne who is deemed worthy as decided within the House and the sword remaining at Starfall.  Without Jon Snow their House would cease to be by not giving him the sword.  Below is the story of what Rand al’Thor did to prove he was the Dragon Reborn; what I believe Jon Snow has to do in order to claim the sword Dawn and become once again the Sword of the Morning as he always was.

Lews Therin Telamon
aka The Lord of the Morning

Hodor

The Wheel of Time: How Rand proved he was the Dragon Reborn

“Rand al’Thor,” Paitar said. “I have a question for you. How you answer will determine the outcome of this day.”

“What kind of question?” Cadsuane demanded.

Cadsuane

“Cadsuane, please,” Rand said, holding up his hand. “Lord Paitar, I see it in your eyes. You know that I am the Dragon Reborn. Is this question necessary?”

“It is vital, Lord al’Thor,” Paitar replied. “It drove us here, though my allies did not know it from the start. I have always believed you to be the Dragon Reborn. That made my quest here even more vital.”

Min frowned. The aging soldier reached down to his sword hilt, as if ready to draw. The Maidens grew more alert. With a start, Min realized Paitar was still standing close to Rand. Too close.”

Maidens of the Spear

“He could have that sword out and swinging for Rand’s neck in an eyeblink, she realized. Paitar placed himself there to be ready to strike.”

“Rand didn't break his gaze from the monarch. "Ask your question."

"How did Tellindal Tirraso die?"

"Who?" Min asked, looking at Cadsuane. The Aes Sedai shook her head, confused.

"How do you know that name?" Rand demanded.

"Answer the question," Easar said, hand on his hilt, body tense. Around them, ranks of men prepared themselves. 

“She was a clerk," Rand said. "During the Age of Legends. Demandred, when he came for me after founding the Eighty and One . . . She fell in the fighting, lightning from the sky . . . Her blood on my hands . . . How do you know that name!"

Demandred

Ethenielle looked to Easar, then to Tenobia, then finally to Paitar. He nodded, then closed his eyes, letting out a sigh that sounded relieved. He took his hand from his sword.

"Rand al'Thor," Ethenielle said, "Dragon Reborn. Would you kindly sit down and speak with us? We will answer your questions."

Why have I never heard of this so-called prophecy?" Cadsuane asked.

"Its nature required secrecy," King Paitar said. They all sat on cushions in a large tent in the middle of the Borderlander army. It made Cadsuane' shoulders itch, being surrounded like this, but the fool boy—he would al-ways be a fool boy, no matter how old he was—looked perfectly at peace

Thirteen Aes Sedai waited outside the tent, which wasn't large enough for them all. Thirteen. That hadn't made al'Thor blink. What man who could channel would sit amid thirteen Aes Sedai and not sweat?

He's changed, Cadsuane told herself. You're just going to have to accept that Not that he didn't need her anymore. Men like him grew overly confident A few little successes, and he'd trip over his own feet and land in some predicament.

But. . . well, she was proud of him. Grudgingly proud. A little.

"It was given by an Aes Sedai of my own family line," Paitar continued. The square-faced man sipped a small cup of tea. "My ancestor, Reo Myershi, was the only one who heard it. He ordered the words preserved, passed from monarch to monarch, for this day."

"Speak them to me," Rand said. "Please."

"I see him before you!" Paitar quoted. "Him, the one who lives many lives, the one who gives deaths, the one who raises mountains. He will break what he must break, but first “he stands here, before our king. You will bloody him! Measure his restraint. He speaks! How was the fallen slain? Tellindal Tirraso, murdered by his hand, the darkness that came the day after the light. You must ask, and you must know your fate. If he cannot answer . . ."

He trailed off, falling silent.

"What?" Min asked.

"If he cannot answer," Paitar said, "then you will be lost. You will bring his end swiftly, so that the final days may have their storm. So that Light may not be consumed by he who was to have preserved it. I see him. And I weep."

"You came to murder him, then," Cadsuane said.  “To test him," Tenobia said. "Or so we decided, once Paitar told us of the prophecy."

"You don't know how close you came to doom," Rand said softly. "If I had come to you but a short time earlier, I'd have returned those slaps with balefire."

"Inside the Guardian?" Tenobia sniffed disdainfully.

"The Guardian blocks the One Power," Rand whispered. "The One Power only."

What does he mean by that? Cadsuane thought, frowning.

"We knew well the risk," Ethenielle said proudly.  I demanded the right to slap you first. Our armies had orders to attack if we fell. 

“My family has analyzed the words of the prophecy a hundred times over," Paitar said. "The meaning seemed clear. It was our task to test the Dragon Reborn. To see if he could be trusted to go to the Last Battle."

"Only a month earlier," Rand said. "I wouldn't have had the memories to answer you. This was a foolish gambit. If you had killed me, then all would have been lost."

"A gamble," Paitar said evenly. "Perhaps another would have risen in your stead."

"No," Rand said. "This prophecy was like the others. A declaration of what might happen, not advice.”

Comments encouraged.  Love to hear the idea’s of others.  Most believe that since I present my idea’s as “fact like” I’m not open to change my viewpoints which is far from the truth.  I simply look at the information presented and go from there.  If you can shine a light on another way of thinking that opens the door to debate.