In Game Of Thrones, it almost looks like the universe is lining things up in a neat little row. If you are a Game Of Thrones fan and have never heard of R+L=J, I'll be very surprised. It means Rhaegar Targaryen had a baby with Lyanna Stark, and that baby was Jon Snow.
So why does it matter who Jon snow's mother is? Well, there are two big reasons.
One being that he is going to be a very important person in the war against the White Walkers. In order to do that, Melisandre needs to use King's blood; so, if Jon Snow has king's blood in him via Rhaegar Targaryen, her magic will be much more powerful. also, noble blood, not exactly the same as King's blood. Also, another argument that stands is that the Starks were the kings of winter during the time of the first men. So, by any measure, Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, he has some King's blood in him; which is important on a supernatural level.
The second big reason, that he being a son of a Targaryen is an idea for the Targaryen restoration. he would have a certain amount of legitimacy in the eyes of the nobility of Westeros. Varys keeps talking a lot about the Targaryen restoration, because he has zero faith in the current leadership of House Baratheon, which is technically House Lannister because of the twincest between Jamie and Cersei. So way back in season 5 when Varys said that they needed a strong candidate that people would rally behind, and would have legitimacy. He was talking about Daenerys specifically. But; if Jon Snow was also a Targaryen, and as they imply in the episode 3 of season 6, people think that he is some sort of god because he came back from the dead. He would be a really strong candidate, and it'd be easy to get people to rally behind him.
The theory itself is very old. Book readers have had it since the first book came out. It involves a couple of big events, a couple of prophesies, and stories that people have told. Rhaegar Targaryen is described in the books as a firm believer in the prince that was promised prophesy.
This prophesy states that there is a promised leader that will come and usher them from darkness. So, they're talking about the long night in this case. The long night is coming and there is this mythical prince that is coming to save them from the long night. His coming is said to be foretold by a red commet, which appears in the sky the night Daenerys burns khal Drogo, so; a lot of people think tnhat she is the prince who was promised, and Rhaegar just misinterpreted the gender. Another part of the prophacy is that the prince will have a son, and it will be a song of ice and fire. The question is, what was Jon snow doing on the night the red commit came? It was the night when he was going to the wall. so. it doesnt matter who you think the promised prince is because here we have two important leaders taking their first step towards their larger destiny.
The story that littlefinger told Sansa in the cribs during season 5 was that Rhaegar crowned lyanna stark Queen of beauty with a crown of blue roses, although he had already been married and lyanna was promised to Robert Baratheon, stands evidence that Rhaegar was interested in Lyanna Stark, and cared for her. He did not rape per or steal her away as a lot of people believed. Not long after this,Rhaegar, with the help of this King's guard, Arthur Dane and a couple of other people absconded with Lyanna Stark, setting certain wheels in motion that lead to Robert's rebellion. They did not learn till later that he has taken her to the Tower of Joy. The death of Lyanna Stark happend in the Tower of Joy at the very end of Robert's rebellion. The timeline between the abduction and the time when Ned Stark came to rescue her, was enough time for a baby to come.
It is not just for fan service but to give the origin of a very important character.
So why does it matter who Jon snow's mother is? Well, there are two big reasons.
One being that he is going to be a very important person in the war against the White Walkers. In order to do that, Melisandre needs to use King's blood; so, if Jon Snow has king's blood in him via Rhaegar Targaryen, her magic will be much more powerful. also, noble blood, not exactly the same as King's blood. Also, another argument that stands is that the Starks were the kings of winter during the time of the first men. So, by any measure, Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, he has some King's blood in him; which is important on a supernatural level.
The second big reason, that he being a son of a Targaryen is an idea for the Targaryen restoration. he would have a certain amount of legitimacy in the eyes of the nobility of Westeros. Varys keeps talking a lot about the Targaryen restoration, because he has zero faith in the current leadership of House Baratheon, which is technically House Lannister because of the twincest between Jamie and Cersei. So way back in season 5 when Varys said that they needed a strong candidate that people would rally behind, and would have legitimacy. He was talking about Daenerys specifically. But; if Jon Snow was also a Targaryen, and as they imply in the episode 3 of season 6, people think that he is some sort of god because he came back from the dead. He would be a really strong candidate, and it'd be easy to get people to rally behind him.
The theory itself is very old. Book readers have had it since the first book came out. It involves a couple of big events, a couple of prophesies, and stories that people have told. Rhaegar Targaryen is described in the books as a firm believer in the prince that was promised prophesy.
This prophesy states that there is a promised leader that will come and usher them from darkness. So, they're talking about the long night in this case. The long night is coming and there is this mythical prince that is coming to save them from the long night. His coming is said to be foretold by a red commet, which appears in the sky the night Daenerys burns khal Drogo, so; a lot of people think tnhat she is the prince who was promised, and Rhaegar just misinterpreted the gender. Another part of the prophacy is that the prince will have a son, and it will be a song of ice and fire. The question is, what was Jon snow doing on the night the red commit came? It was the night when he was going to the wall. so. it doesnt matter who you think the promised prince is because here we have two important leaders taking their first step towards their larger destiny.
The story that littlefinger told Sansa in the cribs during season 5 was that Rhaegar crowned lyanna stark Queen of beauty with a crown of blue roses, although he had already been married and lyanna was promised to Robert Baratheon, stands evidence that Rhaegar was interested in Lyanna Stark, and cared for her. He did not rape per or steal her away as a lot of people believed. Not long after this,Rhaegar, with the help of this King's guard, Arthur Dane and a couple of other people absconded with Lyanna Stark, setting certain wheels in motion that lead to Robert's rebellion. They did not learn till later that he has taken her to the Tower of Joy. The death of Lyanna Stark happend in the Tower of Joy at the very end of Robert's rebellion. The timeline between the abduction and the time when Ned Stark came to rescue her, was enough time for a baby to come.
Also, Daenerys' brother told her that their other brother, Rhaegar, was unhappy in his marriage. Remember how it is not uncommon for Kings to have bastards, and since Rhaegar loved Lyanna Stark, then it is not unheard of that they would have a bastard together. Lyanna Stark might have not loved Robert Baratheon to begin with but we all know that Robert loved her greatly.
The reason they can not travel to the Tower of Joy in the present day to look for evidence is because Ned destroyed it later. So as she lay dying, the story goes, that she extracted a promise from Ned Stark. 'Promise me Ned' those were her last words. But we don't know what the promise is; but because he finds her in a pool.of blood looking as though she'd just give childbirth. She secretly made him promise to protect the baby who is Jon Snow.
So,what we do know is that at the end of the war, Ned Stark comes home to Catlyn Stark, with this bastard baby but never really explains anything about the baby, so she just assumes that Ned has been unfaithful to her, and Jon Snow is his bastard. True to his word, Ned Stark never spke a word about it to anyone. The only person we know who still lives and knows the truthh about that night is Howland Reed. He is Jojon and Mira's father.
The idea behind Ned Stark not mentioning Jon Snows parentage to Jon himself is because his birth was so controversial that he was the son of one of the enemies of the Kingdom, and Robert's enemies, and if Robert's were ever to learn of Jon Snows parentage, he would kill Jim without a second thought, just as he had the Mountain do to baby Agon.
Then why are they doing The Tower of Joy on the TV show?
It is not just for fan service but to give the origin of a very important character.
However, the TV show has given us ample amount of hints to show that Rhaegar was actually a good person, who loved to play music and was very kind to people. We also know from Bran's flashback that Lyanna Stark was a total badass and free willed. Probably even a good fighter. So it is not like someone could take her against her will if she didn't want them to do so. It's almost like they're creating circumstances to give us hints that R+L=J.
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Ankita Joshi, young aspiring writer with full of unconventional views about the world and society. She is passionate about learning new things and sharing them with people.
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