Hey Major Family... please enjoy today's reaction. Like, subscribe and hit the notification bell. Join us on Patreon for full reactions and Discord. Remember no spoilers or expectations (for the books- which Major plans to read- or the show)!

In the books it's made clear that Ned always insisted that Jon be treated the same as all of the other children. It's the main reason why Catelyn hated Jon so much, she had to see him at breakfast every morning. Most Lords kept their bastards hidden away, or treated them worse than their legitimate children, Ned raised Jon as part of the family. The only time that didn't happen was when Robert visited, Jon wasn't allowed to eat with the family then. He thinks it's because it would insult the Royal family, really its because Ned wanted to keep Jon as far away from Robert as possible.

Everyone calls Ned an honorable fool. Yet, in the most critical moments, he always chose love over duty (lying to protect Jon, confronting Cersei to spare her children so they would not get butchered like Rhaegar's children, confessing his "crimes" to save Sansa). Maester Aemon was right; love is the death of duty.

Biologically, Jon is 50% Stark and 50% Targaryen. But in mind and spirit, he is 100% Stark.

7:35 Jon tells Benjen in the very first episode that he wants to join the night's watch and that he doesn't care about having children or having a family. Benjen says "You might, if you knew what it meant." Now, you can interpret that as Benjen projecting his own experiences in not being able to have kids and a family, OR you can take that as him hinting at Jon's bloodline. I've always been under the impression that Benjen is the only other Stark who knew besides Ned.

Going with the R + L = J theory...The thing that really gets me about Ned is that initially whenever he tells Robert they shouldn't kill Dany because she's just a child and she's so far away, etc you think it's purely because he's doing the honorable thing. But in the context of this new possibility, watching it back you see that he's also doing it for Jon. Ned knowing Dany is Jon's Aunt, he wouldn't be able to face Jon again if he stayed silent while Robert plotted to kill his nephew's Aunt. Ned tried to protect Dany as much as he could in his discussions with Robert. Honor does play a part, but there's also that extra element of trying to protect his nephew's family too.

It’s so amazing to me the way dead characters like ned and rhaegar still have an impact on plot and theme so long after their deaths. It’s the same with Robb a little moreso in the books. The death of a character doesn’t mean we re done learning about and from that character In this story.

The books have never confirmed R+L=J because they haven't got that far yet. But most book readers had pieced it together, either on their own, or just reading fan theories on the internet.

The pain on Ned's face when talking about Jon's mother to him always gets me.

When Maester Aemon talks about Targaryens being alone in the world and then Jon walks in.... when I rewatched GoT for the first time I noticed it and I hollered!!!! Definitely hinting along the way since day 1!!

In the book Kat extra hates Jon because of his dark hair because the Starks were known for dark hair. She felt like Jon looked more like a Stark than any of her kids. Ned also let his nuts hang a little more in the book. When Kat tried to talk shit about the Jon situation he let her know that she is never to talk about it again

Most underated part of GOT is the actual fanbase, there are so many youtube channels dedicated to the universe, so many tribute vids so much stuff from the community. Hope we get close to that with house of the dragons 🙏

Also just wanted to say Robert Baratheon is the most underated character. Yes we saw very little of him but damn when you realize his life arc and the whole scope of it, he really had quite the life

I remember a flashback scene where Lyanna was telling Ned with distaste that she knew Robert would never be a faithful husband. I’m pretty sure she loathed her betrothal.

I posted this on the last vid too - but I definitely recommend watching the Harry Potter series (I’m sure you’ve gotten this before) the first 2 movies are a little kiddish, but they get intense pretty quick. It’s a very unique journey and a wild ride, i’m sure you’d love it. Loving ur GoT reactions, can’t wait to see what you think of the last 2 seasons. They’re a little controversial amongst fans but will be interesting anyway

This is why Jon is my favorite character. He is The Song of Ice & Fire, in my opinion! R+L=J is still just a theory to us book readers & Jon is still dead, laying in the snow 11years later... I'm a book nerd that's still excited for The Winds of Winter 🤞🏾 & continuing the story! Great reactions, thanks for sharing.

I think Ned didn't want Catelyn to have to lie to defend his honor. He probably thought she might tell people she think can trust or out of anger, to correct the record on the 'Honorable' Eddard Stark. He wasn't willing to take that chance.

I think any one who knew Jon’s true parentage would automatically be in danger. I personally think that’s why Ned didn’t tell Kat.

Katlynn had been engaged to Ned’s older brother; after he was killed by the Mad King Ned married Katlynn because that was his duty as the brother next in line. When Ned went off with Rob to war, I believe Ned and Katlynn had been married for only two weeks. So Ned and Katlynn weren’t childhood lovers, she was his brother’s love. Eventually the two developed the love they had.

People often say A Song of Ice and Fire is the tragic love story of Rhaegar and Lyanna. But I look at it as the tragic love story of Robert and Ned. Ned had a choice. He chose his Brother in Arms, he took the fall for Robert's vindictiveness, and for the rest of his life he was tormented by whether he had made the right choice. There's that description of a young lean and fierce Robert caving in Rhaegar's chest with the Warhammer, as the rubies that made up the Prince's dragon sigil scatters into the wind turning the water of the river Trident blood red. It's such brilliant description. The conflicting inner monologue that Ned has throughout the first book about his sister,Robert and Rhaegar has to be some of the best fiction I've read. "Look at us, Ned,” Robert said. “Gods, how did we come to this? You here, and me killed by a pig. We won a throne together…”

If you were watching GoT live, you more than likely knew about it. It was the most talked about theory of the whole series. That's why the reveal was done like that without saying a word.Anything else would've been redundant. Most of the audience knew. They were just waiting for the confirmation. The transition to Jon's face was basically that moment of exhilaration. But yeah trust me, you need Sherlock Holmes skills to watch GoT years later without knowing anything and pick up on the R+L=J easters.

R+L=J was an old theory being kicked around for years before it was revealed. Hey, if you look really closely on some shots, Jon's eyes have a slightly violet appearance, the Targaryen eyes. In particular I noticed it in the shot when Aemon was talking about his family dying to Jon. There was a close-up of Aemon's eyes, and another close-up of Jon's eyes. A sharp-eyed viewer saw they both had violet eyes, though Aemon's eyes are grey-violet and Jon's eyes are black-violet.

My man, you are very, very intelligent! You are also very observant. You pick up on so many things. A lot of things that I missed the first time I watched. It's one of the reasons I really enjoy watching your reactions.

I love the way you refuse to just throw around the word 'whore'. Men do what they gotta do to survive in this world and they're seen as heroes. If a woman has to sell her body to get by here, why is it different? It's a tough world

Great reaction Major! You brought tears to my eyes. Ned’s sacrifice due to his love for his sister and Jon touches me so much. The Jon Snow reveal from S6x10 is the best scene ever! And S1x2 is still in my Top 5 episodes just for the JS and Ned goodbye scene. “He chose the love of his family” ❤️

I feel like the Starks have even crazier blood then the targaryans. Wargs and King's of winter for 8000 years. And Jon has both and doesn't have standard targaryan traits so apparently the stark line has more dominant traits

RE: What people who read the books know. So, in the books Jon hasn't even been resurrected yet. So they're not even close to this part of the story yet. That being said... R+L=J has been a fan theory for literally decades as you can see from the ending quote to this video, one of the reasons D&D got to direct the show was they guessed correctly who Jon's mother was when talking with George Martin. So glad you reacted to this. It's amazing how much was just... there. Out in the open for everyone to see.

You know what is really weird? When Jon was killed at the wall, when Davos said get him inside, they picked up Jons body and Davos looked at the ground in a weird way? The blood on the ground was taking the shape of the Targaryen Sigil. Look again..... I'll wait.😁 In the books, Jon is still dead. He hasn't finished them yet, and probably never will.

I find that Benjen did know things. The way he treats Jon, always looking out for him, telling him if he's sure about going to the wall, that he might regret it, talking to Ned to get the idea out of Jon's head.

This is probably the best fan made video ever made for Game of Thrones. He picks out every scene from the entire series up to that point. There are a couple of these that literally make you smack your forehead. The best two by far in my opinion. Are little finger and sansa in the crypt. That knowing smile he gives after sansa makes the kidnapping comment......chills. And Maester Amon telling Sam that a Targaryan alone in the world is a terrible thing. And RIGHT THEN Jon walks in the door.......super chills.

As to your question "did uncle Benjen know?" for me I feel he probs did because when Jon told him he was joining the black. Jon was talking about how he knew he was giving up his future of farthering children and Benjen cryptically said back "You'd be giving up more than you know" as if he knew of Jon's true parentage and the fact that he was not really a bastard.

Neds the best character in the show, hands down. Not even close.

And now we understand why Ned said he confess his treason...but he didn't confess the treason he had in mind. Keeping Jon alive and safe. It was a treason against Robert but he was loyal to was the correct thing to do

The irony of watching this, and having an advert interrupt saying "This game... you're not ready for it".

It's not that Ned didn't trust Cat, he did. He would have told her if his honor would let let him, but it didn't let him. When it comes to Ned's code of honor, it's very simple: Lyanna made him promise to protect Jon. The moment he agrees and keeps him, that's it. It's sealed. In his eyes, he's honor-bound to do anything and everything to keep that promise. His honor wouldn't let him ever break it, no matter what. A vow, especially a vow to his sister who he loved, is unbreakable in his eyes.

What if a household servant overheard The Starks discussing Jon's heritage? Imagine how much money Robert would have paid for such information. As long as Robert lived, he was a threat to Jon. Ned knew Robert, and the depth of his obsession when it came to Lyanna.

This "GAME" of Thrones, you're not ready for it. Perfect ad. XD

We were all so quick to judge Ned for being honourable to a fault. And I don't think we were entirely wrong in that. He refused to play the game by the game's rules, and his entire family was endangered and slaughtered for years as a result. But. We need to keep well in mind that he compromised his honour to protect Jon and keep his promise to his sister. I wrote a whole thing about it, but I like how TV Tropes puts it: In hindsight it's a Moment of Awesome for Ned Stark. In Season 1, he was the Butt-Monkey of a Decadent Court, which eventually led to his death. But it was he, of all people, the one who managed to keep maybe the most dangerous secret of Westeros, fooling for almost twenty years consummate chessmasters of the size of Tywin Lannister, Littlefinger and Varys. Also with that comes vindication for Ned in the fact that he never fathered a child with anyone but Catelyn and was loyal to her through and through. One of Ned's few pitfalls was never true to begin with and, in addition to that, the real truth behind it all makes him even more awesome: Ned spent the rest of his life protecting his nephew (Jon), raising him as his own, and honored his sister's dying wish to save her son, out of love for them both. He accepted the stain on his honor and kept one of the most dangerous secrets in Westeros to protect the only child of his deceased sister. And it is another awesome moment for Ned (sadly posthumously) in that it is a subtle refutation of how men like Varys, Littlefinger, and Tywin think: they're all so focused on the politicking and backstabbing way of thinking that they never could have imagined or expected Jon Snow to NOT be Ned Stark's bastard son. As far as they were concerned, Jon Snow was simply an amusing reminder that no one, not even noble and upright Ned Stark, is perfect and that everyone has skeletons in their closet. They never once stopped to think that Ned Stark would choose to stain his reputation and cause a rift in his marriage to Catelyn simply because he was willing to do the one thing that Varys, Littlefinger, and Tywin Lannister seem incapable of doing: selflessly think of someone other than himself. As a result? Jon Snow stands poised to contend as the true King of Westeros.

I am HYPED for house of the dragon but I WISH we had a show for ROBERT'S REBELLION. Yes we know the general story but it's a great one nonetheless

woww. As many times as ive seen this show, that "cant get your hands on this one, can you" line sailed right by me🤯

Hi Major, many people spread theory that Benjen knew about it, but at the current state of books we know that the only two persons that knew about it were Ned and Howland Reed (Meera's father who was with Ned at the Tower of Joy).

How lucky is Jon that he has the Stark hair though. There's no way Ned would have gotten away with that lie if Jon had been born with the Targaryen silver hair.

for the books, we are not at the point where Jon's parentage is revealed. But there was tons of circumstantial evidence that almost everyone was fairly certain of his true parentage

If ned had told catlyn the truth, she would have been able to love jon like a son... but that couldve been a dead give-away. Maybe anyone who knew cat well would have known she would struggle with loving a bastard child and with ned being too honourable to cheat, it may have led to suspicions. Ned chose to keep the secret even thoughbit would mean hardships for all 3 of them.

IF you think the show runners are slick when it comes to dropping Easter Eggs, the books are going to make your brain explode. George R.R. Martin is very good at foreshadowing and dropping critical facts, and then making you forget all about them.

When it comes to R+L=J you gotta check out Alt Shift X channel, he was among the first to sus out R+L=J way early on

« You don’t Have my Name but you Have my blood » If Jon have not Stark as name so Ned isnt the father And if they have the same blood it meens that they are in the same family During all this Time from the first episode We had the clue

Littlefinger knew that it wasn't a kidnapping. He didn't know about Jon's parentage.

In the full episode , when Jon died, the blood on the snow took the shape of a wolf, then a dragon

A commenter on another r + l = j vid wrote the reason Ned told Jon he would talk about his mother the next time he spoke to him is because after Jon joined the night’s watch he would be forgiven for all ‘crimes’ and basically couldn’t be touched. Everyone could know the truth even though he wouldn’t ever able to be king. Crazy.

I’m so thrilled you watched this bc revisiting those hidden moments when you have the right knowledge really reveals the full depth of this show’s tragic nature. Yes the murder, betrayal, the loss and the torture are atrocious but I’ve always found the saddest parts to be the loose ends that never get closure. We’re just left having to cope with the discomfort of them never being resolved. That Ned and Jon never got to talk after Ned promised they would when they reunited, that Cat died never knowing the truth about Ned’s fidelity or Jon’s true parentage. The entirety of the Stark siblings journeys just… always missing each other. For me, that’s what made Jon and Sansa’s reunion so damn powerful because we sooo rarely get resolution and they threw us a friggin’ bone. Felt so good.

Stargaryen

After this reveal I just wanted to give Jon a hug 🥹

Love to see more people enjoying the series

"There is power in a King's blood." --- Melisandre, the Red Priestess.

It hasn't been revealed in the books yet! But the fans knew it long before. It is the most famous ASOIF theory. There are discussions on online forms from the 90s about the theory.

this is the reason why jon is my fav

the one thing i don't like is that Ned Stark said to Jon "the next time we see each other, we'll talk about your mother." Ned wanted to wait until Jon took the black, forfeiting lands and titles, to tell him the truth.

Just a bit of context for the video - I believe it was a fan made video that was made after the end of season five. At that point, the identity of Jon's mother was not known in the show OR in the books. In fact, in the books the identity of Jon's mother is STILL not confirmed. Season 5 of the show basically caught up to where the books are and beginning with season six the show moved past the books for the first time. The "R+L=J" theory had been around for years. This video was made as a way of assembling evidence supporting the theory but, as I said, at the time it had not been confirmed in the show or in the books. When we saw that scene with Lyanna and baby Jon Snow at the end of season six, it was finally confirmation of the theory. At the end of the video, that was show co-creator David Benioff telling the story of how they met with author George R.R. Martin to talk about doing the show and to test them to see how much they knew about the books Martin asked them "Who is Jon Snow's real mother?".

So, in the books, the R+L=J theory hasn't been positively confirmed like it was in the show, the books just hasn't come that far yet. However, i'd argue that the hints/evidence are even stronger in the books.

Either way Jon actually was Benjin’s nephew.

It’s sad that Maester Aemon died without knowing that Jon was Rhaeger’s son

“Rest in peace, O” 🤣🤣🤣🤣😭

Meera's dad knew the secret

Good to see that you got it, unsure to drop reminders, clues that you have already seen.

3rd time lucky? *finger crossed* :)

I've often wondered if Aemon Targaryen knew that Jon was Rhaegar's son when he cast the deciding vote for Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. Jon had his own merits but still......

They were dropping those eggs for the book readers, because we had been postulating R+L=J for decades. Most of the hints in the show were too subtle for the show fans to pick up on. But they were just enough to tease the book fans without giving us anything concrete. That said, the books unveil their hints in a variety of ways - some similar and some different from the show. To start, maybe it's because Star Wars has made me a person who questions the parentage of all fictional character, but I started growing suspicious when so many characters in the books noted how "unexpected" it was for the "honorable Ned Stark" to father a bastard. And I can't remember who says it (or if it's from multiple POVs), but it's mentioned that Ned came back from with war with only his bastard and Lyanna's bones. So I started paying attention, and I noticed that Ned never calls Jon his "son" in the books, only his "blood." Even in his inner monologue. He also lists his "children" at one point and doesn't include Jon. In addition, Ned often thinks about how much Arya looks like and reminds him of Lyanna. And, in turn, Arya constantly thinks about how Jon is her only "sibling" who looks like her. So in a roundabout way we learn that Jon looks like Lyanna. Another thing I noticed while reading the first book is that Ned thinks of Rhaegar a lot. And he often wonders what the realm would be like under Rhaegar - in a way that made me curious if he thought Rhaegar would have done a better job than Robert. But he also wonders about Rhaegar as a parent, which I found...notable. Also, when Ned's suffering from his busted leg - especially while he's waiting in the cell in Kings Landing - his fever dreams are full of Lyanna dying in a "bed of blood," begging "Promise me, Ned." And during one of the times Varys visits Ned in the cell, he asks Ned if he wants to write letters to anyone. Ned thinks about how he needs to write to Jon. (Not sure if he And throughout the books, but especially in those scenes, Ned's inner monologue often segues from Rhaegar to Lyanna to Jon or some combination of the three. Then, when Ned dies, Bran, Rickon, and Jon all have dreams of the Winterfell crypts. In Jon's dream, he's trying to go into the crypts to look for Ned and Robb, but the Kings of Winter are telling him he doesn't belong because he's not a Stark.

ned chose his children(those whohe love) and jon chose duty over ygritte

Thinking about the choice Ned had to make in order to protect Jon, makes me think of Jaime's speech about vows. "So many vows. They make you swear and swear. _Defend the King. Obey the King. Obey your father. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak._ But what if your father _despises_ the King? What if the King _massacres_ the innocent? It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or another." Jaime thought someone like Ned couldn't possibly understand. And for what it's worth, maybe Ned still wouldn't have understood even if Jaime had told him the truth. But Ned has been faced with a choice like that, too. _Keep your promise to your sister. Protect your family. Be loyal to your king and best friend. Be faithful to your wife._ But what if keeping your promise means lying to the whole world, including your best friend and king and even your own family? What if being loyal to the king would get your nephew killed? What if protecting your nephew means claiming to be unfaithful? No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or another. Jaime thinks Ned Stark can afford to be so honourable only because he's never faced a choice like that. But he has. And like Jaime, he made the right choice, but has been resented for it ever since by people who don't know the whole story. It's sad really, that neither of them knew how alike they really were.

Book readers were never told about Jon's parentage but I think most of us guessed it before the last book.we never got as far as the show is where your at.

Little Finger knew that Rhegar and Lyanna fell in love, but he didn't know about the baby. I completely agree with you about Benjen! Here's a question no one ever fully investigates: Why did Benjen, a lord of Winterfell and brother to the Warden of the North, take the Black in the first place? He committed no crimes. They never address it in the show, and the books say he did it to get away from Winterfell. I have ALWAYS believed Benjen took the Black so he could protect Jon when he came of age to join the Watch. What's more, I think Lord Commander Mormont knew who Jon was as well.

to be honest Ned could have at least told Catelyn. She would have understood and kept her mouth shut and probably loved Jon.

I like to imagine George R. R. Martin asking "Who is Jon Snow's mother?" was not some sort of test, but because he hadn't figured it out himself yet and he was digging for ideas.

Unfortunately you can't call Jon a Targaryen, just like you can't call him a Stark. Rheagar and Lyanna would have to be married for that to be true. He can't carry a family name, so Jon remains a bastard.😞

“In deep geek - R + L = J” Simply put 🙂 Edit: in the books I believe we still don’t officially know his parentage.

The only thing missing was a clip of Arthur Dayne saying “I wish you good fortune in the wars to come” goosebumps every time!!

FIRE AND ICE 🔥💙

There are some really great videos out there that you’ll be able to watch soon. A lot of the fan content is amazing. Specific videos for Dany, Jon… some of them made me bawl my eyes out. This video should def be the first in the line of reactions to fan-driven vids. Your mods will know what videos I’m referring to and advise when you’re allowed to watch them. I don’t even wanna post the names to some of the videos because even that can be a spoiler. Lol

Book readers picked up on R+L=J a lot earlier, but I don't think that's a ☆book readers are smarter and more highbrow☆ thing lol. Just due to the actual mechanical difference between reading text (which is active) and watching film (passive). When I'm reading something I don't get, I'll go back and read that paragraph, page, or even chapter over until it makes sense. In a show, you kinda gotta just keep moving cuz no one wants to pause and rewind that much. I didn't know about "*R+*L=J" that early, but as early as book 1 I and most other avid readers who can recognize tropes were aware that he was Lyanna's child (or at the very least, not Ned's).

Jon's parentage hasn't even been confirmed in the books yet, but it''s been a huge question/theory since the first book, so yes, most have been looking for the foreshadowing from the start. Getting the confirmation was just as good for us as it was for you though, it was just a theory after all.

its been several years since I read the books but if I remember right, Danerys is still in Essos and hasn't crossed the narrow sea yet. I think season 5 is about where the books are at now.

I also remember thinking, yea Ned's noble, but if he really fathered a bastard... why bring it home? He could have left it with the mother and no one would have been the wiser. That was the dead give away to me.

They don’t tell us in the books, we still have 2 books to go

I am very conflicted about Ned telling Catelyn. I do wish he had told her that Jon was his nephew at some point because it would've eased a lot of her fears (she worried Ned loved Jon's mother more than her and would disinherit her children. I mean, I think she rationally knew he wouldn't but that was a deep fear she couldn't shake). It also would've made things easier for Jon if Cat knew. Jon knew she didn't like him and it must be hard to watch all your "siblings" have a mom when you don't. But, Ned and Cat did not know each other at all when they were married. She had originally been promised to his brother, Brandon. Robb was conceived and then he had to dip to go to war. So it wasn't like they had a strong bond or trust between them when he came home with Jon. That was probably an awkward first few years of marriage. She had her baby (Robb) and Ned had Lyanna's. She didn't know him well enough to know he wouldn't be bringing back more bastards throughout the years. And yet somehow they seemed to be the best parenting team in Westeros. None of them are crazy. Targs are 50/50 crazy. Lannisters seem to be 1/3rd crazy (Cersei of the older generation, and Joffrey in the younger). Five Starks and one snow all sane is some good odds.

i get why Ned didn't tell Cat- especially book!Cat- at first, it's bc they're newly wed and don't know each other at all. later i think he would reason that if he tells her, she's potentially jealous bc Jon "outranks" Robb, or she could accidentally slip and tell her sister, or something to that affect. i think no matter how Ned played it, she was always going to treat Jon differently somehow and it was safer to let her think Jon was born of an act of infidelity. everyone who TRULY understands Ned always has a little "but did he tho?" thing going on about him cheating on his wife, whereas Robert and Catelyn can't see past their own expectations. Robert expects men to rut around like he does, Cat took it for granted that even her Ned could be a cheater. the "i couldn't love a motherless child" line kills me EVERY.TIME. even she can see that her jealousy has put a stain on the lives of her family but just couldn't let it go. it's really good and realistic writing, for sure.

It's sad that Ned had to lie to even Catelyn, since I'm sure she would've been so horrified with herself if she knew that was her legitimate nephew that she was treating so hatefully. But that's probably exactly why Ned didn't tell her. It would've made everyone suspicious if Catelyn ever treated Jon with kindness and love. It would've drawn attention and curiosity towards him.

Yo Major another show that I feel would suit you (maybe) would be Season 1 of Westworld. Just feel that with you being really naturauly intellegent Westworld season 1 would fit you. Season 2 and 3 have drop offs but even if just in your personal time I highly suggest Westoworld season 1. To be fair westoworld does not draw numbers like shows like GOT and Breaking bad, so mb it's a private thing idk

and to think about it Robert was Ned’s best friend so Ned could’ve just asked him to give Jon his family name and be a stark but idk I think Ned didn’t want to erase jon's whole identity by doing that

at 7:22...Baelish doesn't know what happened, but he does understand how most people work with emotions. Ned, Howland Reed ( meera and Jojen's dad ), the Kings guards at Tower of Joy, Willa the wet nurse and most likely Ashara Deyne and Benjen.

Song (Jon) of Fire (Targaryen) and Ice (Stark)

In the books it’s still a massive mystery, a lot of people believe r+l=j but some people believe that jon is neds son with ashara dayne. Or that jon is ned’s son with some random woman we don’t know since asoiaf is always twisting the fantasy tropes we know and making it dark/realistic. Some people think because the show has r+l=j that that’s the right one but if you read the books and watch the show you know that the books and the show are incredibly different. Even getting into the r+l=j theory there are so many different ways to interpret it for example, I personally believe in r+l=j but I don’t think it was because of love, I think the 15 Lyanna (who is said to be wild just like Ayra) was infatuated with the 23 prince/future king Raegar and was manipulated by him for his prophecy but that’s just me.

@Major Reacts, when you watch the History and Lore, pay particular attention to the tale of The Knight of the Laughing Tree narrated by Meera Reed. It's a conversation she had with Bran in the books. Meera and Jojen both know the story very well as their father Howland has told it to them several times. They're so surprised Bran hasn't heard it before that they question him about it more than once while they retell it. Why? The Knight of the Laughing Tree jousted at the infamous Tourney at Harrenhal. The key players were Howland Reed - the bannerman to House Stark who was later with Ned at the Tower of Joy - Benjen and Lyanna Stark and Aerys and Rhaegar Targaryen. Ned was probably drawn into the situation after the fact. It doesn't seem Ned's father and brother Brandon knew the truth. They accused the Crown Prince of kidnapping and were executed for it. Damn. Alt Shift X and In Deep Geek each have excellent collections of R+L=J and Harrenhal videos. Additionally, In Deep Geek has two videos I very highly recommend. The first is about how Littlefinger most likely told Brandon about R+L and when. The second is about why Benjen really joined the Night's Watch and how his comment to Jon about not joining "if he knew what it meant" takes on a deeper significance considering Benjen's involvement in the events at Harrenhal. He and Howland (the only one still definitely alive) would know that Jon is heir to the Iron Throne.

Catelyn isn't evil and Ned not telling her wasn't because she would hurt him or anything like that. Catelyn didn't have an issue with Ned having a bastard, her problem was always that Jon was being raised at Winterfell with her children when that is not the expected custom of how any noble lord dealt with bastard children. For Catelyn, it would have felt like an extra slap to the face, extra humiliation. But Ned was using that anger as a shield, because if Catelyn acted all nicely towards Jon then it would have given it away. The show may have had Catelyn say this whole line about her not being able to love a motherless child or being the worst person, but there's hundreds of noble ladies in Westeros who would have reacted far worse than Catelyn would have about having a bastard child living with them.

You should checkout Ramsey Bolten: the ultimate kindest man in Westeros

Yay I caught it this time! Lol 😅 KZfaq back up! 😂

Jon is more a Stark than a Targaryen. He is so much like Ned, he is his father’s son clear through. Targaryen is just biology.

15:05 - Yes. It's possible to know the truth about Jon already in the first book

This video was done in the gap between seasons 5 and 6, as I think part of the larger fan speculation that Jon Snow either wasn’t dead or would be brought back to life. The books, as they stand now, end with Jon’s death. Ned didn’t tell Catlin because he knew her better than anyone, and she would have sold Jon out in a heartbeat to save her own children. I mean she seriously undermined Robb in his war effort by freeing Jamie in order to get the girls back. She was a fierce mother, but she wasn’t Jon’s mother. Ned promises Jon he’ll tell him about his mother next time they talk because by then Jon would be a sworn brother of the Night’s Watch, and would be unable to father children, or to hold any lands or titles, so he would be no threat to Robert. Oh and a fantastic bit of irony I love is the reason Alliser Thorne is such a dick to Jon is because Alliser was a Targaryen loyalist, who was given the choice to die or go to the Night’s Watch after the war. He singles Jon out because he’s Ned’s son and he hates the Starks. So this Targaryen loyalist ends up killing Rhaegar’s son. Oh and the conversation at the end is David and Dan, the show runners, talking about a conversation with George RR Martin. George asked them who Jon’s mother was to see if they were adequately invested in the story, and had read the books closely.

Because he was raised a stark even though treated as a outsider. One grandfather killed his other grandfather