GoT S6E4: Who's Jon Snow? A Guess.
Oct. 23rd, 2022 08:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerFrom the start of Game of Thrones it's stated that Jon Snow is the bastard son of Ned Stark. While that's the official line for most of the series, there are hints that Jon is someone else. The notion of who came together for me with a seemingly unrelated scene in S6E4. In a flashback to ~20 years ago we see Ned Stark and a handful of his bannermen fight two legendary kingsguard at a remote keep on the edge of nowhere.
I've been suspicious that Jon was somebody else's child since sometime in season 4 (I think) when Red Priestess Melisandre fixated on him across the yard at Castle Black. Melisandre is known to see visions about people who will be involved in extremely important events. She also has a strong focus on "king's blood". That got me wondering if Jon Snow might be a bastard son of a royal family. ....But which one?
This ties even further back to a minor, almost throwaway line in season 1 episode 2. Jon wanted to know who his mother was. When Ned says goodbye to him as he heads off to join the Night's Watch, Ned promises to tell him the next time he sees him. Ned says something slightly cryptic, though. He says that Jon is of his blood. He doesn't say "son". Ned is honest and artless. If he says something vague it's not because he's playing games (he doesn't know how to play games); it's because the truth is something else and he's not ready to share it yet.
S6E4 is where the answer becomes obvious IMO. In the flashback scene I mentioned, Bran Stark is practicing his supernatural ability to see visions of the past with the mysterious man called Three-Eyed Raven. He does several visits to the past with the Raven. In this one he sees back ~20 years to a skirmish his father fought at a remote keep at the tail end of Robert's Rebellion. The war was basically over; Mad King Aerys II Targaeryen and his heir, Prince Rhaegar, had been killed on the battlefield. So why are two legendary members of the Kingsguard out here protecting a small keep on the edge of nowhere instead of having guarded the king and his heir— which is, like, literally their sworn duty?
Ned hears a woman screaming in the remote tower. That would be his sister, Lyanna, I realized. That would explain why Ned left after the huge decisive battle and came here, risking his life and the lives of several of his companions.
As we learned in bits and pieces from other characters sharing stories about the pats, Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon, but at an infamous tourney Prince Rhaegar Targaeryen, son and heir of King Aerys II, rode past his own wife (Elia Martell) to give the winner's laurels to Lyanna. He subsequently ran off with Lyanna. Most believed he kidnapped her. These actions help triggered the war called Robert's Rebellion.
That explains why two Kingsguard, including the legendary Ser Arthur Dayne, are here. It's Lyanna. Rhaegar was protecting, as his kidnap victim and/or lover. And it's likely not just her, given the legendary duo here for protection; it's a child he's fathered with her.
I think Jon Snow is Ned's nephew, born to his sister Lyanna Stark. And as the only surviving male descendant of the Targaeryen line he has arguably the strongest claim to the throne of anyone in Westeros at this point.
Spoiler policy: My guess in this blog is just that— a guess, based on information revealed up through S6E4. Please do not comment with answers revealed later in the story.
Update: that was fast! Jon's identity is revealed (to us viewers) six episodes later, in S6E10.
I've been suspicious that Jon was somebody else's child since sometime in season 4 (I think) when Red Priestess Melisandre fixated on him across the yard at Castle Black. Melisandre is known to see visions about people who will be involved in extremely important events. She also has a strong focus on "king's blood". That got me wondering if Jon Snow might be a bastard son of a royal family. ....But which one?
This ties even further back to a minor, almost throwaway line in season 1 episode 2. Jon wanted to know who his mother was. When Ned says goodbye to him as he heads off to join the Night's Watch, Ned promises to tell him the next time he sees him. Ned says something slightly cryptic, though. He says that Jon is of his blood. He doesn't say "son". Ned is honest and artless. If he says something vague it's not because he's playing games (he doesn't know how to play games); it's because the truth is something else and he's not ready to share it yet.
S6E4 is where the answer becomes obvious IMO. In the flashback scene I mentioned, Bran Stark is practicing his supernatural ability to see visions of the past with the mysterious man called Three-Eyed Raven. He does several visits to the past with the Raven. In this one he sees back ~20 years to a skirmish his father fought at a remote keep at the tail end of Robert's Rebellion. The war was basically over; Mad King Aerys II Targaeryen and his heir, Prince Rhaegar, had been killed on the battlefield. So why are two legendary members of the Kingsguard out here protecting a small keep on the edge of nowhere instead of having guarded the king and his heir— which is, like, literally their sworn duty?
Ned hears a woman screaming in the remote tower. That would be his sister, Lyanna, I realized. That would explain why Ned left after the huge decisive battle and came here, risking his life and the lives of several of his companions.
As we learned in bits and pieces from other characters sharing stories about the pats, Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon, but at an infamous tourney Prince Rhaegar Targaeryen, son and heir of King Aerys II, rode past his own wife (Elia Martell) to give the winner's laurels to Lyanna. He subsequently ran off with Lyanna. Most believed he kidnapped her. These actions help triggered the war called Robert's Rebellion.
That explains why two Kingsguard, including the legendary Ser Arthur Dayne, are here. It's Lyanna. Rhaegar was protecting, as his kidnap victim and/or lover. And it's likely not just her, given the legendary duo here for protection; it's a child he's fathered with her.
I think Jon Snow is Ned's nephew, born to his sister Lyanna Stark. And as the only surviving male descendant of the Targaeryen line he has arguably the strongest claim to the throne of anyone in Westeros at this point.
Spoiler policy: My guess in this blog is just that— a guess, based on information revealed up through S6E4. Please do not comment with answers revealed later in the story.
Update: that was fast! Jon's identity is revealed (to us viewers) six episodes later, in S6E10.
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Date: 2022-10-24 07:23 am (UTC)"These actions triggered the war called Robert's Rebellion that"
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Date: 2022-10-24 02:07 pm (UTC)