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Did HBO Just Officially Confirm the Identity of Jon Snow's Father on Game of Thrones?
An official network blog has the answer.
This post contains frank discussion of Game of Thrones Season 6, Episode 10, "The Winds of Winter." If you are not caught up with the season finale, now is the time to leave.
Ever since it was finally officially revealed that Lyanna Stark was Jon Snow's mother, Game of Thrones book readers have felt free to finally explain the mysterious acronym R+L=J. Rhaeger plus Lyanna equals Jon Snow! Simple! But there are some stubborn show watchers who refused to believe the truth about Rhaegar. Even though the show has been dropping hints for six seasons.
Some fans thought "R" stood for Robert Baratheon. Yes, even though the acronym was invented to be about Rhaegar and Lyanna says Robert will kill the baby if he finds out about it. Why would Robert kill the son of his one true love, Lyanna? Others decided Jon's father must be Aerys. Very unclear why. But thanks to a new infographic on MakingGameofThrones.com—the official blog of the series—the answer is clear. It's Rhaegar after all.
Making Game of Thrones is a great resource for storyboards, props, interviews, and general behind-the-scenes access that other sites don't have and it's owned by HBO. It's curious that Dan Weiss, David Benioff, and even some members of the cast have specifically avoided mentioning Rhaegar only to have this official site make the connection very clear. Did an infographic-making intern just go rogue? Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Isaac Hempstead-Wright said:
We don't hear a lot about what Lyanna says. Something along the lines of, "If Robert finds out, he'll kill him." When Bran sees his father's reaction and understands that this is a surrogate child his father has brought up, he thinks to himself, "Well, wait, what surrogate children has my father brought up? Oh! Jon Snow! So Jon Snow isn't my half-brother." But we still are pretty clueless as to the father, I think. And at this stage, it could even be Ned. There could be a Cersei and Jaime thing going on there.
I guess no one told the infographic maker the show decided to keep this one under its hat. But, listen, the Rhaegar revelation isn't a spoiler. It's really, truly, right there in the show. Now that you know to look for it, it should be hard to miss.
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