Who is Jon Snow's Mother?
So, as you probably know, one of
the big questions of the Song of Ice and Fire series is Jon Snow's parentage. I'm not going
to propose any crazy, new theories here like 'what if Jon's mother was
actually Catelyn but she got amnesia and Ned made everyone pretend that
she wasn't his mother so she wouldn't realize she'd forgotten'. Though,
if that turns out to be true, it would create a lot of interesting and
unresolvable issues. I am pretty much firmly in the 'Lyanna Stark and
Rhaegar Targaryen are Jon Snow's parents' camp. And, following in my
tradition in which I weigh in on controversial A Song of Ice and Fire issues, I am going to tell you why I think Jon's is Lyanna and Rhaegar's son.
I think that this theory makes logical sense on a number of different levels:
1) It would tie everything up very nicely. Lyanna is such a pivotal character in the pre-history of the series and yet all the information we have been given about her is very vague. Jon Snow being Lyanna's son would explain the 'promise' that Ned made Lyanna; he was promising to take care of her child and conceal his identity from the people who would want to harm him. It would also explain the reference to the 'bed of blood'. To me, that could only mean one of two things: One, that Rhaegar had been abusing Lyanna (which seems unlikely because, as I'm going to explain later, Rhaegar and Lyanna were deeply in love). Or, two, Lyanna had just given birth to a baby. Because, if you didn't already know, natural birth is a tiny bit messy. Given that she was being held in a guarded tower, it doesn't seem like she could have gotten 'bloody' any other way.
2) Speaking of guarded towers, it seems significant that the only other person to survive the Tower of Joy besides Ned was Howland Reed. Reed is probably the only person now living who knows the truth of Jon's parentage, which explains the introduction of the Reeds and why they are being set up as such significant characters.
3) Ned Stark is not the type to have an illegitimate child. Given that Ned would have already been married to Catelyn at the time of Jon's conception, it seems unlikely that always-keep-your-promises, honorable, duty-bound Ned would have an affair with another woman. It would be extremely out of character for him.
4) Jon could easily be named after Rhaegar's best friend, Jon Connington.
5) If Jon's mother wasn't Lyanna, why was Ned so hesitant to tell Jon about her? Ned is, in general, an extremely honest person and he would have no reason not to tell Jon about his mother unless her identity would put Jon or others in danger.
6) The dragon needs a third head. It goes without saying that, as there are three dragons, there needs to be three riders. While this really should be explained in it's own blog, I think Jon is definitely going to be one of the dragon's heads.
And, lastly, it would just be so satisfying. It is my fondest hope
that Jon turns out to be the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar because it would
just be so tragic and beautiful. While everyone in the books seems to
think that Lyanna was kidnapped, I would like to point out that, as has
been suggested by others, Lyanna is not the type to be kidnapped. Given
the length of the time that the rebellion lasted, it seems unlikely that
someone as willful as Lyanna would not find a way to escape. Also,
while Robert was in love with Lyanna, it has never been proven that
Lyanna was in love with Robert. For more details about this theory, I
suggest you watch Comic Book Girl 19's video about the history of house
Stark.
The only real issue that I can come up with within this theory is Jon's appearance. He simply does not look like a Targaryen. Obviously, it is entirely possible that Jon took after his mother in that respect, but, given that the signature, Targaryen 'look' has been preserved over more than three hundred years, it seems pretty clear that they have the dominate genes. Also, when Rhaegar had children with Elia of Dorne, they grew up to look like Targaryens.
But that's a bit of a long-shot. It is, however, totally possible that everyone is completely wrong about everything and George R.R. Martin is just trying to throw us off; he has been known to throw in complete surprises before and do completely unexpected things. However, it seems extremely unlikely that the extremely tension laden question of Jon's parentage is going to be answered with the name of a completely unknown, insignificant woman who has no baring on the story what so ever.
Though, if everything works out the way I have just outlined, the story could be wrapped up beautifully. I think it's especially significant because the series is called A Song of Ice and Fire. This title really doesn't make sense except in a vague, poetic sort of way until you consider that the story that is being told in these books is what happens when Ice (Lyanna) and Fire (Rhaegar) mix.
I feel like someone should write a fan fiction about that. Just kidding, like five million people already have.
Valar dohaeris
I think that this theory makes logical sense on a number of different levels:
1) It would tie everything up very nicely. Lyanna is such a pivotal character in the pre-history of the series and yet all the information we have been given about her is very vague. Jon Snow being Lyanna's son would explain the 'promise' that Ned made Lyanna; he was promising to take care of her child and conceal his identity from the people who would want to harm him. It would also explain the reference to the 'bed of blood'. To me, that could only mean one of two things: One, that Rhaegar had been abusing Lyanna (which seems unlikely because, as I'm going to explain later, Rhaegar and Lyanna were deeply in love). Or, two, Lyanna had just given birth to a baby. Because, if you didn't already know, natural birth is a tiny bit messy. Given that she was being held in a guarded tower, it doesn't seem like she could have gotten 'bloody' any other way.
2) Speaking of guarded towers, it seems significant that the only other person to survive the Tower of Joy besides Ned was Howland Reed. Reed is probably the only person now living who knows the truth of Jon's parentage, which explains the introduction of the Reeds and why they are being set up as such significant characters.
3) Ned Stark is not the type to have an illegitimate child. Given that Ned would have already been married to Catelyn at the time of Jon's conception, it seems unlikely that always-keep-your-promises, honorable, duty-bound Ned would have an affair with another woman. It would be extremely out of character for him.
4) Jon could easily be named after Rhaegar's best friend, Jon Connington.
5) If Jon's mother wasn't Lyanna, why was Ned so hesitant to tell Jon about her? Ned is, in general, an extremely honest person and he would have no reason not to tell Jon about his mother unless her identity would put Jon or others in danger.
6) The dragon needs a third head. It goes without saying that, as there are three dragons, there needs to be three riders. While this really should be explained in it's own blog, I think Jon is definitely going to be one of the dragon's heads.
The only real issue that I can come up with within this theory is Jon's appearance. He simply does not look like a Targaryen. Obviously, it is entirely possible that Jon took after his mother in that respect, but, given that the signature, Targaryen 'look' has been preserved over more than three hundred years, it seems pretty clear that they have the dominate genes. Also, when Rhaegar had children with Elia of Dorne, they grew up to look like Targaryens.
But that's a bit of a long-shot. It is, however, totally possible that everyone is completely wrong about everything and George R.R. Martin is just trying to throw us off; he has been known to throw in complete surprises before and do completely unexpected things. However, it seems extremely unlikely that the extremely tension laden question of Jon's parentage is going to be answered with the name of a completely unknown, insignificant woman who has no baring on the story what so ever.
Though, if everything works out the way I have just outlined, the story could be wrapped up beautifully. I think it's especially significant because the series is called A Song of Ice and Fire. This title really doesn't make sense except in a vague, poetic sort of way until you consider that the story that is being told in these books is what happens when Ice (Lyanna) and Fire (Rhaegar) mix.
I feel like someone should write a fan fiction about that. Just kidding, like five million people already have.
Valar dohaeris
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