This new 'Game of Thrones' photo gives fans a major clue about how Daenerys might follow the path of her ancestors in season 7

HBO

The INSIDER Summary:

• Entertainment Weekly recently published new "Game of Thrones" photos.
• One showed Daenerys on the back of Drogon in the midst of battle.
• A fan account realized the picture mirrors an illustration of Aegon the Conqueror found in "A World of Ice and Fire."
• Aegon was Daenerys' Targaryen ancestor, and her journey to Westeros has had a lot of parallels to his conquest of the seven kingdoms.

Entertainment Weekly recently published a new set of exclusive photos from "Game of Thrones" season seven. The most hype-worthy picture was one of Daenerys riding on Drogon's back, seemingly in the midst of a fiery battlefield. 

If the image of Daenerys riding into battle on the back of a gigantic dragon isn't enough drama for you, then wait until you see an illustration of Dany's ancestor known as Aegon the Conquerer.

A "Game of Thrones" fan account on Twitter (which goes simply by the name Daenerys Targaryen) posted the two pictures side by side, highlighting how similar the depiction of Aegon the Conqueror was to the new photo of Daenerys.

Aegon was the first Targaryen ruler of Westeros, and he conquered the seven kingdoms on the back of his own enormous dragon known as Balerion the Dread.

The illustration of Aegon atop Balerion comes from "A World of Ice and Fire" — George R.R. Martin's encyclopedic text co written with Elio M. García and Linda Antonsson. The drawing appears in the book's title page, as seen in our copy below:

"A World of Ice and Fire"/Bantam

Here's a look at the full drawing, created by illustrator Jordi Gonzalez for "A World of Ice and Fire" in 2014.

Jordi Gonzalez/DeviantArt

The symmetry between Daenerys and Drogon next to Aegon and Balerion serves to remind fans of how much the two Targaryens have in common.

Aegon came to Westeros with his fierce sister-wives Rhaenys and Visenya, each of whom had a dragon, too. Now, more than three hundred years later, Daenerys is arriving in Westeros with three dragons of her own and a mission of conquest.

"Game of Thrones" YouTuber Alt-Shift-X made a thorough video comparing Aegon's conquest strategy to Daenerys' possible tactics thus far. Watch below for a full overview of how the two Targaryen rulers match up:

In addition to possible parallels between Aegon and Daenerys, there's a running fan theory that Daenerys will actually wind up being one of the villains in "Game of Thrones." Her increasing penchant for burning people alive isn't doing much to dissuade people of this idea. Now seeing her atop Drogon and presumably burning fields of enemies alive is increasing the odds of her engaging in similarly brutal conquest tactics — just like Aegon.

We can't help but think showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss intended for the season seven image of Daenerys to invoke comparisons to Aegon, but we'll have to wait for the new season before we know just how much of a "conqueror" Dany will be.

"Game of Thrones" season seven premieres on Sunday, July 16.

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