Who are Jon Snow’s parents? ‘Game of Thrones’ infographic provides definitive answer

By Stephanie Topacio Long June 29, 2016

game of thrones jon snow parents s6e9 4 — Helen Sloan/HBO

Game of Thrones fans have long been told that Jon Snow is Ned Stark’s bastard, but speculation has run rampant that the fan favorite may actually have been born to a different member of the House Stark. While the HBO series has never offered any definitive proof either way, the network has now put an end to the speculation with a new infographic. And if you aren’t ready to know the truth, stop reading — there are spoilers ahead.

The answer came in the form of a very convoluted diagram, posted on the Making Game of Thrones blog, that confirms what was seriously hinted at in the season 6 finale: Jon Snow is indeed the son of Ned’s sister, Lyanna Stark, and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. It is known.

Related Videos

The infographic served in part as a family tree, though in the form of a circle, and presents 20 key Game of Thrones characters using different lines to indicate connections between them. Both Lyanna and Rhaegar have black lines running to Jon, indicating that they are his parents. There is also a pink dashed line between the two deceased characters to show that Rhaegar abducted Lyanna. Another line — this one blue — connects Jon to Ned, and it means that the late Lord of Winterfell was his guardian (not to mention his uncle).

got-connections-infographic — HBO

HBO

The information all fits with the events of season 6, episode 10, The Winds of Winter. The epic finale revealed how Lyanna was engaged to Robert Baratheon, only to be abducted by Rhaegar. By the time her brother got to her, she was on her deathbed, leaving her brother to raise her newborn son as his own.

The reveal has been a long time coming, and it is bound to have a huge impact moving forward. As a Targaryen, the new King of the North now has closer ties to the Iron Throne. If only season 7 weren’t so far away.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Entertainment

House of the Dragon and the power of female rage

Alicent and Rhaenyra look at each other in House of the Dragon.

HBO's flashy House of the Dragon is four episodes in, but fans are already hooked on the politics and drama in King's Landing. Following a disastrous ending to what was arguably the best television show of the new millennium, the world of Ice and Fire had a steep climb uphill to recover the audience's trust. Game of Thrones broke our collective hearts, so why should we trust this franchise again? Still, George R. R. Martin's hold on us is more powerful than Valyrian steel because we are back in Westeros and all seems forgotten and forgiven.

It's easy to see the appeal. House of the Dragon was the last chance to save Game of Thrones' stained reputation. If fans were to return to Westeros, they wanted things bigger and bolder than ever; they wanted dragons raging in the sky and fantasy elements to spare, two aspects that the original show didn't use enough. After disposing of a costly spinoff that would've expanded on the White Walker lore, HBO chose to focus on a less risky bet that would make audiences' return to Westeros more digestible: the Targaryen dynasty. The Dance of the Dragons is one of the flashier chapters in the larger World of Ice and Fire, if not the most complex. It has dragons, exciting battles, and political intrigue aplenty. Above all, it has some of the most compelling female characters in Martin's world; in fact, the Dance of the Dragons is all about women, for better and worse.

Entertainment

Game of Thrones: the best Jon Snow episodes

Jon Snow beyond the wall in Game of Thrones.

Though we're only two episodes into the new series, HBO's House of the Dragon has so far successfully captured the thrill of week-to-week dark fantasy epics, political drama, and overall excitement for the characters and world of Game of Thrones. A second season was already greenlit less than a week after the series premiere but with the recent bombshell of the Kit Harington/Jon Snow-led sequel series in development, it's worth revisiting the impact of the original show as well as its potential future.

Despite a final season that went off the rails, Jon Snow cemented his status as a pop culture fantasy icon and one of the most compelling characters in Thrones' main cast. As such, he's had a great spotlight in a handful of the series' best episodes.
Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things (season 1, episode 4)

Entertainment

Why Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power can’t be a Game of Thrones rip-off

Morfydd Clark in The Rings of Power.

Even before Game of Thrones went off the air, there was rampant and wild speculation about which show might emerge that could replace it. Game of Thrones was, according to some, the end of an era where TV fans would all watch the same show and then spend the following week discussing the latest episode and speculating about what was to come. Recently, House of the Dragon has attempted to prove that Game of Thrones can be an heir to itself, but another show that has also entered the fray hopes to become something of a phenomenon.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has often been described as Amazon's version of Thrones. The company has invested enormous sums of money into the show, and it's set in a similar fantasy universe as Thrones, with flying creatures and human actors wearing bad white wigs. George R.R. Martin, the mind behind Game of Thrones, was a huge J.R. Tolkien fan, and wrote his own fantasy series essentially in response to Tolkien's totemic works. That's part of the reason why, whatever Rings of Power turns out to be, it has to be more than just a riff on Game of Thrones, even though its source material was created long before anybody sat on the Iron Throne.
Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones are not the same thing