It's going to be important, this one…
If you've been fighting your way through the thickets of Game of Thrones internet fandom for the past few years, you'll probably have come across the R+L=J theory already.
If, on the other hand, you know nothing (Jon Snow) then allow us to explain: the theory was a bit of speculation about past and future events of the series, and after the season six finale, well, sh*t got a whole lot more real.
What we're about to explain could spoil a surprise or two in the coming series (but only if you've not been paying attention), so tread carefully if you want to stay pure.
R+L=J: what is it?
Let's start at the end: J is for Jon. The theory aims to explain who Jon's real parents are. From the start of the show (and the books) it's been obvious to everyone except the characters that Ned Stark is a really unlikely person to have fathered a bastard. Given that his honesty, nobility and integrity got him executed, how likely is it that he sired a boy on a random wench while out warring with Robert Baratheon under the reign of the Mad King Aerys II?
Ned promised Jon that when he returned from King's Landing he'd tell him the truth about his mother, but sadly Ned never came back and Jon never found out.
But Bran did.
In his visions of the past, Bran saw the young Ned (and Howland Reed, father of Meera and Jojen Reed, the brother and sister who helped Bran get to the Three-Eyed Raven) slay the legendary Ser Arthur Dayne and enter the Tower Of Joy. Inside the tower he found his sister, Lyanna, who, we know from series one, was "kidnapped" (more on that later) by Rhaegar Targaryen, Aerys' eldest son, precipitating Robert Baratheon's war on Aerys.
In the tower, the dying Lyanna hands over a baby to Ned, muttering words about someone wanting to kill him.
While the show is coy about it – Rhaegar rarely gets a mention – book-readers will be under no illusion that the baby is Rhaegar's. R+L=J, QED. OMG. WTF. LOL.
R+L=J: so what?
Rhaegar, incidentally, got an oblique mention in Season 7 episode 5, 'Eastwatch', when Gilly read that a "Prince Raggar" had his marriage annulled and was secretly married to someone else in Dorne. So we can assume that Rhaegar married Lyanna, making any offspring a legitimate heir.
If Rhaegar and Lyanna are Jon's parents, then Jon is a Targaryen. The Targaryens ruled Westeros for centuries. Not only does Jon have the strongest claim to the Iron Throne, being the Mad King's legitimate grandson,he's also Daenerys' nephew. (She was Rhaegar's baby sister).
Targaryens, as we all know, share an affinity with dragons. They also practice marriage between siblings, though whether that flexibility extends to aunts and nephews remains to be seen. Dany did mention looking for a husband in Westeros, after all, and Jon is King In The North…
And on that point, let's not forget that Jon is not only a Targaryen but a Stark as well, which makes him the living embodiment of a united Westeros.
Seems like that would be important, no?
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Chris Longridge
Deputy Editor, Digital Spy Chris has over 25 years' experience as a writer and editor, having worked as a journalist covering TV and movies since the '90s. Starting out as a TV listings editor at the Press Association, he was quickly hired by the nascent Heat magazine, where he rose to become Senior Editor, interviewing the likes of Simon Cowell, Boris Johnson and Paris Hilton. Over the years he has written about entertainment with clarity and wit for Heat, Elle, Q, The Telegraph and of course Digital Spy, and has served many times as a judge in the Royal Television Society awards. He has written and recorded a novelty single with Lord Lloyd-Webber, written scripts for the National TV Awards, made Noel Edmonds cry, accidentally punched an Inbetweener and stolen a small piece of rubble from the Battle of Hogwarts movie set. (They can't have it back.)
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