The finale of Game of Thrones Season 6 finally revealed Jon Snow’s real parents, fulfilling the grand R+L=J (Rhaegar Targaryen + Lyanna Stark = Jon Snow) design written in the Westerosi stars since George R.R. Martin’s first book in the series, Game of Thrones. But while the Tower of Joy reveal has been integral to the shape of Season 6, the finale’s R+L=J reveal was missing a crucial part of the truth about Jon Snow, Robert’s Rebellion and the Targaryens, with implications that could reverberate through the final two seasons of Game of Thrones.
In the Game of Thrones Season 6 finale, Bran Stark assumes the powers of the Three-eyed raven to once again throw himself back in time to the moments after Eddard Stark and Howland Reed defeated the Kingsguard — including legendary swordsman Ser Arthur Dayne and his meteorite sword, Dawn — garrisoned at the Tower of Joy in Dorne. Bran’s father charges up the stairs to find his sister bleeding to death in bed. She whispers her final words to Eddard. A baby is handed to him, her son with Rhaegar Targaryen.
While the scene proves Jon Snow’s parentage, it doesn’t reveal whether Lyanna was kidnapped by Rhaegar, as Eddard Stark claims, or eloped with him. Did Jon Snow’s parents love each other or was Lyanna yet another Targaryen victim?
This information, still missing from Game of Thrones, could change our understanding on a few important points.
If Rhaegar and Lyanna eloped — if he were more than a bastard — it could give Jon Snow a better claim to Queen Cersei’s throne than anyone currently in Westeros.
While R+L=J can shape the future, it also reshapes the past. The nature of his parents’ relationship could alter our perception of Robert’s Rebellion. While not the only reason for the rebellion against “Mad King” Aerys, Lyanna’s “kidnapping” was a pivotal incitement, since she was promised to Robert Baratheon. Eddard and Robert’s rebellion looks a lot less ennobling if it turns out Robert was chasing down a woman determined not to marry him, with the help of a brother willing to drag his sister away from the man she loved.
Plus, it speaks to the character of the Targaryens. With history in Westeros written by its winners, the Targaryen look nuts. King Aerys was a murderous loon and his eldest son a monster who kidnapped and raped a noble lady. It condemns the entire Targaryens and leaves us to wonder if Daenerys is as doomed to brutality and mental illness as the rest of her family. But if Rhaegar is recast as a romantic fool instead, you have a more complex portrait of the Targaryens.
With flashbacks and visions essential to Season 6, Game of Thrones has proven more willing to dive into the past than ever. So will it return to more fully flesh out Jon Snow’s family? Now that R+L=J is out there (and known by Bran), the show may find it doesn’t need to return to the past; from a practical standpoint, enough has been revealed to move forward with Jon Snow’s destiny. But it also leaves a great deal unsaid. We may just have to wait for Martin’s version of the reveal in The Winds of Winter.
