Jon Is a Secret Targaryen, What Does that Mean for GoT Season 7?

Alison Ryland
Jul 22, 2017 · 4 min read

Winter is here! While the season 7 premiere featured more exposition than some of us enjoyed, both the episode 2 promo and the Comic-Con trailer are deliciously action-packed. It’s not just the long-awaited reunion between Arya and Nymeria, or the much-promised Greyjoy sea battle, but also the development of the King in the North treating with the Dragon Queen.

You see, in between checking off every subplot we left way back in season 6, the show walked us through a fairly straightforward direction for episode 2. First we see Jon putting dragonglass at the top of the agenda for the North, then we see Samwell realize that Dragonstone really is built on a mountain of the stuff, and finally we see Daenerys return to her ancestral home, which is, according to some book fans, built from melted dragonglass itself.

Once Jon receives Sam’s raven about Dragonstone, he’ll decide to ally with Daenerys because, as we saw in the premiere, the White Walkers are the foremost threat in his mind. But as episode 2 promises, “Jon faces a revolt,” and in the promo we see Yohn Royce, the battle commander of the Vale, assert that “a Targaryen cannot be trusted.” And it’s not just a reference to the Mad King, but a foreshadowing of the knowledge bomb of Jon’s true heritage.

Confirming that R+L=J was immensely satisfying for fans, but Jon’s Targaryen ancestry seriously detracts from his claim as King in the North. While his mother Lyanna is a beloved figure in Northern lore, his father Rhaegar is reputed to have kidnapped her, dishonoring House Stark and instigating the war against the Targaryens. In this sense Jon embodies the tragedy of Robert’s Rebellion, and even the ancient conflict in which the King of Winter bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror.

Lord Royce’s words remind that the North still distrusts Targaryens, and that might extend to Jon if his true parentage were widely revealed. Not only would Littlefinger use this to push for Sansa to be queen, but Jon would suffer a serious blow to his sense of self. That’s why all of the promo material of Jon in the crypts, strangling Littlefinger and possibly looking up at Lyanna’s statue, are so tantalizing.

While episode 2 is a bit early for Jon to learn about his heritage, a raven from Bran about Lyanna or a well-placed comment by Littlefinger could prime him to reconsider his identity. We might even get a few speaking lines of him putting together why Ned Stark never talked about his mother or Lyanna, and why Benjen discouraged him from joining the Night’s Watch.

But the real thriller comes from the Comic-Con trailer, when Melisandre tells Daenerys that both she and another “have a role to play” in the coming war. When we last saw her, she was convinced Jon was the Prince Who Was Promised, but she seems to have no doubts now that Daenerys fulfills the prophecy as well. While her superior in Essos disclaimed her pronouncements that anyone besides Daenerys could be Azor Ahai, Melisandre reinterprets the prophecy quite easily, possibly because she’s the only servant of R’hollor to have met them both.

Back in season 3, Melisandre bought Gendry from the Brotherhood Without Banners and revealed that his father was Robert Baratheon. It’s not shown how she discovered this secret, but as a Red Priestess she may have been able to sense Gendry’s king’s blood, and its similarity to Stannis’. Given her penchant for royal blood and her close contact with Jon Snow, she may realize his relation to Daenerys the moment she meets the Khaleesi.

If so, Melisandre may be the one to break the news to Daenerys that she has a nephew in the North. And while Jon is first in line to the Iron Throne according to the old rules, he’s not likely to dispute her claim. What he needs is dragons and dragonglass, and she has both. Their blood ties might help solidify an alliance, but only if they know they’re related.

Of course, the show likes to upend our expectations, so when they meet for the first time neither might be aware of their kinship. But in my mind the most impactful direction for the scene would be solemn and wondrous, two monarchs discovering their unknown family, a still moment long-foreshadowed in the calm before the chaos of the coming wars.

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