GAME OF THRONES TV POP CULTURE

Ask the Maester:

Does It Matter If
Jon Snow Is a
Targaryen?
Plus: could Rhaegar really have had his
marriage annulled?
 BY JASON CONCEPCION AUG 15, 2017, 8:35AM EDT

HBO/Ringer illustration

Eastwatch was a lot. I would argue it

was too much. The pace at which the
show blows past story-altering twists and
reveals that, once upon a season, would
have taken multiple episodes to unfurl,
is, in this maesters judgment, slightly
concerning. World-building requires
meticulous, brick-by-brick consideration
and it isnt always the most obvious
story structures that end up carrying the
load. If the show knew it was going to kill
Randyll and Dickon, why not have Lord
Tarly mention Heartsbane, the Valyrian
steel sword Sam stole last season, just
once? Its not like they were going to have
to resolve the issue; Drogon would see to
that. Why does Jon not mention
Longclaw, the former ancestral weapon
of House Mormont, to Jorah? Why is
Jorah so eager to leave Dany, the love of
his life, who he had just crossed the
world and conquered greyscale to be
with? Davos considers Gendry, who he
had a conversation with four seasons
ago, a surrogate son, apparently. By the
way, Davos has a wife and a family; they
live in the Stormlands and hes yet to go
visit them or even mention their
existence in several seasons. Sam, who
cured greyscale because he pays
attention better than anyone else, hand-
waves Gillys monumental discovery
then quits the Citadel because reasons.
Actually, thats a great jumping o point
for your questions.

Ford asks, If Jon petting Drogon is

proof that hes a Targaryen does that
mean the other two allowing Tyrion to
get close and free the chains prove that
he is a Targaryen?

An amazingor bad, depending on your

mood and perspectiveaspect of
Eastwatch was that it gave us several
huge reveals as C- and D-plot. There was
Gilly discovering Rhaegars annulment
and concurrent nuptials to, we presume,
Lyanna Stark in Dorne. This was a world-
shaking bombshell teased out like a plot
from a Friends episode (the mystery of
Jons parentage enduring because Gilly
mispronounces Rhaegar; Sam, i.e., the
Person Who Cured Greyscale Because He
Pays Attention, hand-waving the reveal).
Then there was Drogon sning out
Jon and allowing the King in the North
to pet his scaly cheek like a very, very,
very good boyyet another conrmation
that Jon is a Targaryen and the son of
Rhaegar and Lyanna.
On its own, without Gillys discovery,
Drogons acceptance of Jon wouldnt
necessarily prove Snows lineage. This is
one of the shows dragon-centric retcons.
The book history is clear that a
prospective dragon rider need not be
strictly a Targaryen, or even half-Targ.
After all, Targaryens were but one of
several notable dragon-riding families of
Old Valyria.

During the devastating Dance of

Dragons civil war, which took place over
150 years before the events of the show,
riders were in such short supply that an
open audition was called. The two sides
in this classic war of succession were the
blacks and the greens. The former
supported the claim of Rhaenyra
Targaryen, the rst-born child and
handpicked successor of her father King
Viserys I. The latter believed that the
male line should always take precedence
over the female, the will of the king be
damned, and, thus, favored the claim of
Aegon II, Rhaenyras half-brother, the
rstborn son of King Viserys and his
second wife, Queen Alicent. (Aegon,
when oered the throne, initially
refused, saying his sister was the heir.
That idealism faded quickly.)

The greens had many advantages. They

could call on a massive army; Queen
Alicent was a Hightower, and their
military alone dwarfed that which
Rhaenyra could call upon. Aegon ruled
from Kings Landing, giving him access
to the symbols of legitimacy and power
the Iron Throne, the Red Keep, Aegon
the Conquerors swordwhile Rhaenyra
sat isolated, out of sight and mind, at
Dragonstone (sounds familiar!).
Additionally the greens could eld four
battle-ready dragons: Vhagar (former
mount of Aegon the Conquerors sister-
wife Visenya, and the largest, most
fearsome living dragon), Dreamfyre,
Tessarion, and King Aegon IIs beautiful
mount, Sunfyre, whose scales gleamed
golden in the sunlight. Nothing to sneeze
at. But the blacks had more.

Queen Rhaenyra had eight dragons at

her disposalCaraxes, Syrax, Vermax,
Arrax, Tyraxes, Meleys the Red Queen,
Moondancer, and Stormcloud (though
he was young and had yet to be mounted)
and a clutch of eggs in hand, ready to
hatch. And Dragonstone, though remote
and poor in terms of resources and
manpower, did have one advantage: Its
the ideal location for raising dragons.
The Dragonmont, the volcano from
which the island sprung, provides a
natural rookery from which the beasts
can y freely around the island, growing
stronger and larger than their cousins
caged in Kings Landings Dragonpit.
The volcano was also the home of several
dragons whose riders had died
Silverwing (former mount of Good
Queen Alysanne, a great friend to the
Nights Watch), Seasmoke (the former
dragon of Rhaenyras late husband,
Laenor Velayron), Vermithor (once
owned by Old King Jaehaerys the
Conciliator) and three wild dragons
Sheepstealer, Grey Ghost, and the
Cannibal. All these creatures called the
Dragonmont home. All that was needed
was the riders.

Enter the Dragonseeds. Over the

centuries, the Targaryen overlords of
Dragonstone had, shall we say,
intermingled with the common women
of the island. The bastards born from
these dalliances were called dragonseeds
 AD

and there were plenty of them.

Desperate for riders, Rhaenyras blacks
invited them to audition. Many wannabe
riders were maimed, many were killed.
But a few dragonseeds managed to claim
their dragons. They included Addam of
Hull, a 15-year-old bastard of mysterious
origins; Hugh Hammer, the bastard son
of a blacksmith; Ulf the Sot, an alcoholic
man-at-arms; and Nettles, a 16-year-old
girl who fed the dragon Sheepstealer a
sheep every morning until it accepted
her. How much Targaryen or Valyrian
blood is necessary to build a bond with a
dragon? We dont know. But, certainly,
Drogons reaction to Jon, and the
reasoning behind it, is a change from the
book continuity. And one that I dont
really mind.
Joanna asks, How can you annul a
marriage that was consummated
TWICE?!?! .

WELCOME TO THE PATRIARCHY!

Yeah, its not great that Rhaegar can
peace out on two children and years of
marriage to Elia Martell. But he was the
crown-prince and soon-to-be (so
everyone thought) ruler of the Seven
Kingdoms! The king is the embodiment
of Westeros and all power and property
ow from him. All lords of Westeros
wield their authority in the name of the
king and he can strip them of their
lands, titles, and even their lives
basically at will. The ip side of that is
that doing the king a favor is never not
rewarding! I imagine it wasnt
particularly dicult for Rhaegar to make
High Septon Maynard amenable to doing
a one-time-only annulment/wedding
mashup in some (I assume) random
tower in Northern Dorne.

Unfair as it might have been, it shouldnt

be a surprise that Rhaegar was able to
pull this o. Divorce is rare in Westeros,
but the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms has
the power to set aside marriages, either
for cause (like when a union fails to
produce ospring) or because they feel
like it. And in any case, Targaryens
approached marriage in their own
inimitable way, with little regard for
tradition or morality. They regularly
married sister to brother. Aegon the
Conqueror went full-polygamy with his
incest and married BOTH of his sisters
Rhaenys and Visenya. For anyone else,
acts such as these would be considered
abominations. Certainly, the Faith came
to object to Targaryen marriage
practices, most forcefully during the
reign of Maegor the Cruel. But, in the
end, after much bloodshed, the
Targaryens got their way. Kings usually
do.

Matt asks, Jons entire pitch to anyone

who will listen is that the petty
squabbles of the past are meaningless.
If we believe him, does it truly matter
whether he is a Targaryen, Stark, or
even just a Snow? Where does the
information that Jon is the rightful
king take us from here? Isn't it all just
titles, titles, titles?

Yes and no. The no. 1 thing a potential

 AD

ruler of Westeros needs to have is the

ability to take and hold the continent.
Everything else ows from that. Aegon
the Conqueror was not the legitimate
king of Westeros! The position, in fact,
had not yet been invented. He had the
power, in the form of three dragons, to
conquer Westeros and so he did. In this
world, might, ultimately makes right.
Robert Baratheons claim to the throne
was thinner than Aegons. Robert held
his lands and titles at the pleasure of the
king and rose in rebellion anyway. At
least Aegon wasnt breaking any oaths
when he overthrew the various petty
kingdoms that made up Westeros at the
time. Dany, the rightful Queen of
Westeros, was begging in the streets of
Essos not long ago. Shes taken seriously
now because of her dragons.
Jon Snow is (as far as anyone except
Gilly and Drogon and Bran knows) a
bastard. His right to be King in the
North is based on being the only Stark-
blooded male around at the time and
being a person the Northern nobles want
to follow. And Jon doesnt get proclaimed
in the rst place if Lyanna Mormont
doesnt push the issue.

Legitimacy and titles do have a place,

though. In a world where might makes
rightand any megalomaniac with
enough cash, dragons, and men can seize
an entire continent at a whimtheyre
stabilizing mechanisms, allowing for
(what everyone hopes are) peaceful
transitions of power. They exist to defuse
succession disputes which invariably
blossom into full-blown wars.

Jons just-revealed legitimacy matters

because it changes two decades of
commonly held history and has the
potential to upset the budding
Targaryen-Stark alliance. (P.S., nd you
an ally to look at you the way Dany looks
at Jon.) After all, Westeros has never had
an undisputed female ruler (shouts to
the aforementioned Rhaenyra for
coming the closest). Theres centuries of
precedent setting the male line of
inheritance above the female line. If Jon
wanted to be a dick about being
Rhaegars trueborn sonwhich, on
paper, makes him the rightful rulerhe
could do that. The question then, though,
is who would listen to him? Varys might.
Tyrion, Missy, the Worm, the Unsullied
troops, and Jorah would not. The
Dothraki are Danys bloodriders, and will
follow her to the death. Jon being
Rhaegar and Lyanna Starks legitimate
son is an important reveal. But at least in
the short term, that information would
likely cause more problems than it
solves. What will the lords of the North
think?! Theyve stated loudly that they
wont follow Southern lords anymore.
Would they consider Jon the product of
the South or North? And what happens
when they all realize that the famously
honest Ned Stark lied to Robert, Catelyn,
and the entire North for years?

Kirk asks, Why is Jon unwilling to

discuss his resurrection with the
woman who can't be burned by re?

I agree. Jon should mention it (or at least

 AD

have Davos mention it), but its kind of a

weird subject to broach, dont you think?
Hey, I came back to life once. Not really
sure how that happened, but yeah. Also,
theres an inherent dissonance in
arguing on the one hand that the army of
the dead must be defeated while on the
other being kind of an undead person. I
thinkand this is just my own theory
that Jon has something like survivors
guilt. Thousands of people have died in
Westeross various conicts over the last
few years, including Jons family
members and rst love. Why did he get
to come back? This manifests in his
discomfort discussing his resurrection
and the way he approaches danger
which, in my opinion, amounts to a
death wish. I think Jon wants to die.
 The Ringer Follow
@ringer

.@netw3rks #GameofThrones theory:

Does Jon Snow want to die?
Watch the #TalktheThrones replay:
bit.ly/talkthethrones5
9:30 AM - Aug 14, 2017

1 3 19

At the Battle of the Bastards, he rode out

far ahead of his troops and attempted to
ght the Bolton cavalry by himself. He,
the King, volunteered to go south to treat
with Daenerys despite the fact that the
last four male Starks to go southLord
Rickard, Brandon, Ned, and Robball
met tragic ends. Danys father burned
Lord Rickard alive and still, against the
advice of his advisers, Jon went down to
talk to her with, like, four guards plus
Davos Im not a ghter Seaworth, then
promptly gave up his priceless Valyrian
steel sword. Hes just volunteered to lead
a ranging beyond the Wall to kidnap a
wight, one of the dumbest plans in this
seasons storied history of dumb plans.
Again HES THE KING IN THE
NORTH! Hes supposed to delegate the
really dumb, dangerous stu to other
people! In this context, Jon consistently
putting himself in extreme danger seems
less like bravery and kind of like a death
wish.

Emily asks, What exactly can Bran

see? If he knows the past, present, and
future (does he?), why does he need to
warg into ravens to scout out the army
of the dead?
Great question! And one that theres no
satisfying answer to. Back in Season 6,
the Three-Eyed Raven told Bran that the
past cannot be changed. The ink is dry,
the man who was once Brynden Rivers
said. That, of course, seems to not be
entirely true. While viewing the past,
Bran warged into present-day Hodor
through his younger self, thus damning
young Wylis to a damaged and ultimately
tragic life. Despite seeing a bunch of
Phish shows, Ive never actually traveled
the pathways of time through the roots of
a tree. But I imagine its a disorienting
process! Bran says as much. I can see
everything, he told Sansa in the
godswood earlier this season.
Everything thats ever happened to
everyone. Everything thats happening
right now. Its all pieces. Fragments. I
need to learn to see better.

Seems to me that one way Bran could be

pretty sure that hes doing stu in the
present, not the past, is to go see things
via warging rather than go through
time. Thus the ravens. Theres also the
issue of the magical wards running the
Wall. Last time Bran, in his astral form,
encountered the Night King, the lead
White Walker touched him, which
shattered the magic guarding the Three-
Eyed Ravens lair. He surely does not
want something like that to happen to
the Wall.

See you next week!

Disclosure: HBO is an initial investor in

The Ringer.
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