Three-Eyed Raven probably never saw this three-eyed python coming

We knew Game of Thrones was breaking viewership records left and right, but we didn’t realize such fervor had reached the reptile world. Yet what other explanation could there be for this three-eyed python recently found in the Australian Outback, other than that he was a huge fan of the show’s Three-Eyed Raven?

Oh, here’s one… science!

Back in March, at the peak of Thrones' pre-Season 8 fervor, park rangers from Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife discovered a juvenile carpet python, about three months old and 15 1/2 inches long, with one skull and three functioning eyes. They promptly named him Monty.   

According to their official Facebook page, after finding Monty “on the Arnhem Highway near Humpty Doo just out of Darwin,” — yes, Humpty Doo — the rangers realized the beast they’d found was indeed “peculiar,” functioning not with “two separate heads forged together,” but with a singular skull and additional eye socket, as verified via X-ray.

As opposed to getting groomed by Max von Sydow, those in the know “generally agreed” that the snake’s third eye probably began early on in the embryonic stage of development, noting that “environmental factors” weren't likely the cause, but more so a “natural occurrence as malformed reptiles are relatively common.”

Of course, they also noted that Monty’s appearance could foretell “The Dry is coming,” which seems like a prediction far better suited for a maester than a ranger.

Sadly, Monty won’t see that dry season with any of his eyes, as the young snake died last week. According to Ranger Ray Chatto (via NT News, via Geek.com), “It’s remarkable it was able to survive so long in the wild with its deformity and he was struggling to feed before he died last week.”

And so Monty’s watch has ended, but his remains — which are now being studied at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Darwin, per the Daily Mail  — may still shed light on the mysteries of the three-eyed python.