Regardless of being the most important Recreation of Thrones for fairly some time, there have been numerous individuals who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen. Recreation of Thrones season 7 confirmed Jon Snow is the trueborn son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen who secretly married shortly earlier than Rhaegar was killed by Robert and Lyanna died throughout childbirth. Jon was raised because the bastard son of Ned Stark as Lyanna had requested her brother to guard him as Jon would possible be killed by Robert if his true parentage was revealed. Whereas he discovered in season 8 himself, there have been different characters who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen even earlier than he did.

Each a Stark and a Targaryen, the reveal of Jon Snow’s mother and father additionally meant that he was the rightful inheritor to the Iron Throne, which obtained in the best way of his loyalty to (and romance with) Queen Daenerys Targaryen. Whereas Jon initially tried to maintain his Targaryen blood a secret, the phrase shortly obtained out as his supporters, corresponding to his sister Girl Sansa Stark, needed him to vie for the throne over Daenerys. Jon’s parentage was Westeros’ best-kept secret for over 25 years, however as soon as it unfold to Jon himself, shortly turned frequent data amongst Westeros’ the Aristocracy. Nevertheless, whereas HBO’s Recreation of Thrones answered the query of Jon’s parentage, the A Track of Ice and Fireplace books have but to take action.

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Ned Stark

In each Recreation of Thrones and the books, Ned Stark is the one character confirmed who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen. In Recreation of Thrones season 6, the Three-Eyed Raven takes Bran again in time to when Lyanna died after giving delivery to a child, with Lyanna merely saying “promise me, Ned” earlier than giving him the kid. It isn’t till the top of season 7 that the id of the infant is confirmed to be Jon Snow, proving that Ned was at all times simply his uncle who needed to stay with the key of understanding Lyanna and Rhaegar had a toddler collectively.

Understanding that Robert would kill Jon, a.okay.a. Aegon Targaryen, if he discovered the reality, Ned additionally lied to his finest good friend for the rest of their lives, with most of Westeros believing that Jon was the son of Ned and a lady he met on the highway at warfare. Though making Jon his bastard son put a public stain on Ned Stark’s honor as he seemingly cheated on Catelyn, Recreation of Thrones reveals that Ned had saved his honor all alongside, as he was sustaining a promise he made to his dying sister. Whereas Recreation of Thrones’ books nonetheless trace that Ned may really be Jon’s father, the one certainty about Ned is that he’s the one one who is confirmed to know Jon’s parentage.

Howland Reed

Recreation of Thrones’ Ned flashback revealed that he wasn’t the one character who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen, as his good friend Howland Reed, the daddy of Jojen and Meera, was there with him when Lyanna died. Since Ned must clarify why he left the tower with a child in his arms and his sister deceased, it’s clear Howland no less than knew that Jon was by no means really the son of Ned Stark. Even when Ned hadn’t instantly instructed Howland that Jon’s father was Rhaegar Targaryen, anybody within the realm may have guessed as a lot.

The story of how Jon Snow was conceived went that Rhaegar Targaryen had kidnapped Lyanna, raped her, then killed her, so discovering Lyanna with a child must imply he was Rhaegar’s. Whereas Howland wasn’t within the tower with Ned in Recreation of Thrones’ sequence, he was the one who lastly pulled Ned away from Lyanna’s lifeless physique within the books. Creator George R.R. Martin revealed that Howland Reed received’t be a POV character within the A Track of Ice and Fireplace books as a result of he is aware of an excessive amount of, hinting he does additionally know the id of Jon’s mother and father within the novels.

Bran Stark

Though Bran Stark is not somebody who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen within the books, he was the primary character to substantiate his mother and father as Lyanna and Rhaegar in Recreation of Thrones. The top of Recreation of Thrones season 6 sees Bran have a imaginative and prescient with the Three-Eyed Raven. It was then that Bran found Jon Snow was really Lyanna Stark’s son, with the small print of Jon Snow’s father coming about in season 7.

Bran had already come to grasp that Jon was the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar however believed that he was nonetheless a bastard till Sam helped fill within the info on their secret marriage. Recreation of Thrones’ season 7 finale then noticed the Three-Eyed Raven Bran enter a imaginative and prescient by which he watched the wedding of Lyanna Stark to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, confirming that Jon, actually Aegon Targaryen, was their trueborn son and rightful inheritor to the Iron Throne.

Samwell Tarly

The final particular person to seek out out about Jon Snow’s mother and father earlier than Jon Snow himself was his finest good friend, Samwell Tarly. Sam realized about Jon Snow’s actual mother and father from Bran Stark. When Bran and Samwell meet on the finish of Recreation of Thrones season 7, Bran explains that Jon must know the reality about himself, with the brand new Three-Eyed Raven trusting the soon-to-be Grand Maester with such info.

Nevertheless, Sam had already unintentionally found the complete fact about Jon’s parentage when on the Citadel with Gilly. Gilly had learn in Excessive Septon Maynard’s diary that he had annulled Rhaegar’s marriage with Elia Martell, and had later secretly married Rhaegar to a different girl in Dorne. When Recreation of Thrones‘ Samwell Tarly hears from Bran that Rhaegar and Lyanna are Jon’s mother and father, he realizes that the key girl Rhaegar married was Lyanna Stark, making Jon not simply their respectable son, but additionally a Targaryen inheritor.

Wylla

Recreation of Thrones season 1 encompasses a fast point out of Wylla when Robert and Ned eat a meal collectively, with the 2 reminiscing about their time in the course of the rebel. Robert asks concerning the mom of Ned’s bastard, whom Ned confirms as “Wylla.” Ned by no means once more mentions Wylla, and dies earlier than he can inform Jon the reality about his mom. Whereas Wylla isn’t the true mom of Jon in Recreation of Thrones’ sequence, it’s nonetheless attainable that she is within the books.

George R.R. Martin’s books describe Wylla as a moist nurse who had served Home Dayne for a few years, although it’s unclear how she met Ned. Nevertheless, the character Edric “Ned” Dayne tells the adventurous Arya Stark that he and her brother Jon Snow are “milk brothers,” as they had been each nursed by Wylla as infants. Dayne was born a number of years after Jon Snow and Ned left, so he doesn’t know the true circumstances of their time at Starfall, however believes that Wylla is Jon’s mom.

It’s additionally been advised that even when Wylla isn’t Jon Snow’s mom within the books, she no less than is aware of a few of the fact behind his parentage. Recreation of Thrones‘ books verify that Ned went to Starfall following Lyanna’s dying as a result of he needed to return Home Dayne’s ancestral sword after killing Ser Arthur Dayne, with it being possible that Wylla was merely the moist nurse for Jon throughout their keep there. Wylla has additionally been imagined to have been the moist nurse current whereas Lyanna gave delivery to Jon Snow on Dorne, which might have made her aware of the details about Jon Snow’s Targaryen id.

Ashara Dayne

Whereas not confirmed, Ashara Dayne is one other rumored mom of Jon Snow within the books, which might clearly point out that she is aware of the reality about Jon Snow’s mother and father. Ashara was presumed to be a love curiosity of Ned earlier than Robert’s Rise up, together with her story apparently coming to an finish when she threw herself out the window and into the ocean at Starfall after the rebel. Catelyn, having heard rumors across the realm, believed that the mom of Jon Snow was Ashara, however Ned by no means confirmed it.

The extent of Ashara Dayne’s data was by no means revealed in Recreation of Thrones, nor has it been defined within the books. If Ashara really is revealed to be Jon’s mom in The Winds of Winter, she’ll have been in on the key, whereas it’s additionally possible that she would know the reality if her moist nurse is his mom. It’s additionally attainable that Ned instructed each Ashara and Wylla the reality about Jon being a Targaryen when he went to Starfall, although it’s unclear whether or not the books will ever verify her data.

Did Jon’s Targaryen Lineage Matter In Recreation Of Thrones?

Wanting again on the remaining seasons of Recreation of Thrones, there’s nonetheless the query of whether or not or not “how is Jon Snow a Targaryen” really vital to the plot. When the reality got here out, it felt like a game-changing revelation that set extremely excessive stakes for the remainder of the sequence with the concept he was a prophesied hero and that the Iron Throne would come all the way down to a battle between the 2 remaining Targaryens, Jon and Daenerys. Nevertheless, the truth was that the reality of Jon’s lineage barely factored into Recreation of Thrones‘ ending.

From the second Jon discovered that he was the true inheritor to the Iron Throne, he immediately took a a lot much less energetic function within the sequence. The ultimate season was crammed with Jon watching different individuals do vital issues whereas he constantly insisted he did not need the throne. Even in killing Daenerys, the truth that he was successfully making himself the final dwelling Targaryen was by no means even talked about, neither is the truth that the inheritor to the Iron Throne determined to stay out his life Past the Wall.

It’s not arduous to see Jon ending up in an identical place within the novels, however it is usually simple to see George R.R. Martin discovering a bittersweet poetic justice in it. Maybe Jon being a Targaryen was by no means meant to result in him taking the Iron Throne, nevertheless it ought to have meant one thing for the character. He was a bastard with no actual title for his complete life and now he was Aegon Targaryen. But all of the present managed to do with all this info is to let him kind a bond with Daenerys’s dragons and fly them in two quick sequences.

How Home Of The Dragon Is Making Jon Snow’s Targaryen Lineage Matter

Home of the Dragon is exploring Jon’s Targaryen lineage in higher depth, and the introduction of the A Track of Ice and Fireplace prophecy is barely emphasizing how vital his household historical past is regardless of its lack of affect of GoT‘s line of succession. In Home of the Dragon, King Viserys provides his inheritor Rhaenyra Targaryan a well-recognized artifact: the Catspaw dagger. The Catspaw dagger is, in fact, the exact same weapon used within the tried assassination of Bran Stark in Recreation of Thrones season 1.

The Valyran metal weapon got here with a narrative from Viserys, considered one of Aegon’s dream, which seems to be the Track of Ice and Fireplace prophecy, together with the Prince that was Promised. Which means that the Targaryens would’ve identified concerning the coming White Walker menace — Aegon’s very purpose for conquering Westeros and uniting the nation to arrange for the invasion. The top of Aegon’s dream/the prophecy states that it’s the Targaryens who will save Westeros from the White Walkers, and Aegon’s dream does come true ultimately in some ways.

Although Arya was the one to defeat the Evening King in battle, Jon Snow was an integral participant within the survival of the Westerosi populace. Between the dragon he rode that took out swarms of White Walkers and on a regular basis he spent past the Wall, Jon performed a big function when it got here to taking down the Evening King. Ultimately, the eventual occupant of the Iron Throne would come all the way down to both Jon or Dany – each technically Targaryens.

Although a Targaryen did not find yourself on the Iron Throne on account of Dany changing into the Mad Queen and Jon being shipped again to the Wall (and the Throne being melted), Recreation of Thrones proves that these had been the 2 Targaryens that Aegon spoke of in his Home of the Dragon dream, solely solidifying the significance of Jon’s Targaryen heritage despite the fact that it did not matter so far as Westerosi politics had been involved. The prophecy was by no means about ruling — it was about safeguarding the individuals of Westeros towards an actual and imminent hazard, a warning that sadly turned misconstrued.

Jon’s Targaryen Heritage Ought to Be Explored Extra In His Spin-Off

The upcoming Jon Snow spinoff may reveal extra about Jon Snow’s mother and father, which is strictly what the sequence wants. With Home of the Dragon bringing the complete Targaryen line to the foreground, curiosity within the Targaryen household has by no means been extra palpable — and Jon Snow is a part of that household. In an interview (by way of Leisure Weekly), Jon Snow actor Equipment Harington teased that Snow’s journey after Recreation of Thrones will see the character going to battle with a lot of his previous traumas, and that might embrace his Targaryen lineage.

Recounting all of the harrowing occasions that befell Jon Snow in Recreation of Thrones, Harington had this to say about what the character goes by means of, “He is gotta return as much as the place with all this historical past and stay out his life fascinated with how he killed Dany, and stay out his life fascinated with Ygritte dying in his arms, and stay out his life fascinated with how he hung Olly, and stay out his life fascinated with all of this trauma, and that, that is fascinating.” The brand new Recreation of Thrones spinoff will no less than have to say Jon Snow’s father, however to what capability stays to be seen.