Jon Snow’s Lineage — Here’s What Ned Stark Has To Say About It

While the parentage of Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow is constantly questioned, with Season 5 adding fuel to one of the fan favorite theories, the ante has officially been upped. Now, Sean Bean, the man who played Jon Snow’s onscreen father, Ned Stark, has jumped in and offered his opinion on the matter. Be warned though, if you have no idea — or want no idea — on Jon Snow’s parentage, beware — there are spoilers aplenty below.

If Sean Bean could offer some advice to his son now he has risen from bastard to Commander of the Wall, what would he say? According to Vulture, Sean Bean is a huge fan of the “R+L= J” theory, where Jon Snow is actually the child born from the relationship between Ned’s sister, Lyanna, and Rhaegar Targaryen. Rather than have to either deal with the fallout of their relationship or spend his life endlessly protecting the heir apparent, he lied to his wife and brought home Jon Snow to raise as his own. While Sean Bean has come out and said he assumes he is not the father of Jon Snow, he is in fact Jon’s uncle, if the R+L=J theory is correct, so raising Jon as his own is suddenly not such a long stretch. While we saw Ned lead Jon with compassion, he was also — in hindsight — raising Jon to be a ruler. Perhaps Ned would have plenty to say about Jon’s current position on the Wall, or about his affair with Ygritte, but mostly it seems Sean Bean is concerned about the mental health of Jon Snow and how the actor who plays him, Kit Harrington, has one of the best roles in Game of Thrones.

“[Jon Snow is] probably a bit psychologically confused, I would imagine! I think that’s probably an interesting journey for Jon Snow as a character and for [Kit Harington] as the actor. He’s been very fortunate in being one of the characters that had a very meaty, substantial, very complex story to be able to discover for himself. He’s been lucky to survive!”

With beheading prominent in Game of Thrones, and many of them centered around the Starks, it was interesting to note Season 5 ran two beheadings close together, one performed by Jon Snow and another by the Targaryen that Jon might be related to (or destined to marry if the fan theory is correct), Daenerys Targaryen. If HBO is trying to lead us down a certain path, with Jon Snow one day being the one true ruler of Westeros, than this comparison of beheadings — and how Jon Snow got it right — might just be the giant clue fans needed. HBO managed to show how Jon Snow — who has been raised around the fair ruler, Ned Stark — managed to get his beheading right, whereas Daenerys was fumbling around once more, playing at trying to be queen.

Of course, the other famous Game of Thrones beheading involved Jon Snow’s apparent father, Ned Stark. And, with HBO often using flashbacks in their TV shows, Bean is open to having a heart-to-heart flashback with Jon Snow, if HBO would allow it, although he suggests his real son, Bran, could be the conduit.

“I’ve definitely got some unfinished business that needs to be resolved there. I’m obviously not Jon Snow’s dad. And you need that to be revealed at some point, don’t you? So, Bran would kind of be the one having the flashback, and he would see Ned praying, right? And revealing those things?”

If you want to find out more about all the Jon Snow lineage theories, you can do so by visiting this previous Inquisitr article on the topic.

What do you think about Jon Snow’s parentage? What advice would you give to Jon Snow? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!

[Image Credit: HBO Inc.]