Jon Snow Family Tree: Jon Snow (Kit Harington) discovers in season 8 what the rest of us have known since the Game of Thrones season 6 finale, “The Winds of Winter”: Jon is a Targaryen. Not only that, but he is the legitimate successor to the Iron Throne, complete with a fancy new name – Aegon Targaryen, the Sixth of His Name.
In “Winterfell,” the opening episode of the freshly released Thrones series 8, Jon’s best buddy Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) unravels all of this game-changing familial history. The plot’s premise is that Jon isn’t the illegitimate son of Ned Stark (Sean Bean), as he has always assumed.
Instead, Ned’s sister Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi) and Targaryen prince Rhaegar Targaryen are Jon’s parents (Wilf Scolding). Before Game of Thrones, Rhaegar, a married man, was in line for the Iron Throne when he met Lyanna, fell in love with her, and fled.
In season 8, Jon has many questions regarding his origins and place in the Targaryen family. Oh, and how he relates to his lover, Daenerys Targaryen? (Emilia Clarke). Continue reading to find out the answers, including the historical significance of Jon’s (Aegon’s? AeJon’s?) name.
Who is Aegon Targaryen?
Westeros was a large continent ruled by several warring groups commanded by various kings a little more than 300 years before the events of Thrones season 8. Then Jon’s actual namesake, Aegon Targaryen, decided to bring each of those fiefdoms under his control.
The Targaryens were newcomers to Westeros at the time, having fled their native home, the great holdfast of Valyria, 12 years before the Doom. Valeria was a technologically and culturally advanced society ruthlessly destroyed by an unknown, flaming source, as seen in season 5’s “Kill The Boy.”
Aegon launched his conquest with the support of his two sister-wives, Queens Rhaenys and Visenya, about 100 years after the Targaryens’ move to Westeros’ Dragonstone. After years of violence, the Targaryens seized control of Westeros and established dynastic authority over the Seven Kingdoms, with Aegon seated atop the Iron Throne at King’s Landing. The throne is famously fashioned of Aegon’s slaughtered opponents’ swords.
It’s worth noting that the Targaryens were not Valyrian royalty. They were merely nobility and one of several dragon rider clans. They were the last people in the known world to own dragons only after the Doom.
Who is Daenerys Targaryen’s Father?
David Rintoul as Aerys Targaryen, commonly known as The Mad King. Aerys was the seventeenth king of the Targaryen dynasty, as George R.R. Martin’s Fire And Blood, a “historical” Westerosi work in the Song Of Ice And Fire series, affirms.
Aerys was an increasingly unstable king who brutally assassinated Ned Stark’s father, Rickard (Wayne Foskett), and brother Brandon. While Brandon was strangled, Rickard was burnt alive in the Red Keep’s royal room. Aerys accused Rickard and Brandon of treason before they died for demanding the death of the king’s son, Rhaegar Targaryen. Rhaegar was suspected of kidnapping and raping Ned’s only sister, Lyanna Stark.
The kidnapping of Lyanna, combined with the horrific Stark murders, sparked Robert’s Rebellion, which resulted in the installation of Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) as King. Lyanna was Robert’s fiancée, and he was madly in love with her.
So How Are Dany & “Jon Snow” Related?
Dany, Aerys Targaryen’s only daughter, was born on Dragonstone as a newborn during the events of Robert’s Rebellion. Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd), Danys’ older brother, was a toddler at the time. The late Rhaella Targaryen, Aerys’ sister and wife died while giving birth to Daenerys.
This means Jon’s aunt is Dany, and his uncle is Viserys. Given Jon and Dany’s sexual relationship, they can take comfort because they come from a long series of intra-family liaisons. The first Aegon had two wives, both of whom were his sisters. Dany’s parents were siblings and, thus, Jon’s grandparents. There are too many Targaryen-Targaryen partnerships to count between these two royal weddings.
What Happened To Jon’s Father, Rhaegar Targaryen?
During Robert’s Rebellion, hundreds of miles north of King’s Landing, Rhaegar was killed by Robert Baratheon during the Battle of Trident. The death of Rhaegar, the royal family’s most valued member and expert fighter, effectively destroyed the Targaryen cause.
However, Ayers remained on the Iron Throne. When Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a soldier of the Kingsguard, stabbed Ayers to death and opened the castle to his father, Lord Tywin Lannister, the Targaryen dynasty was ultimately ended (Charles Dance).
Does Jon Snow Have Any Other Relatives?
In Season 8, Jon and Daenerys are the only remaining members of House Targaryen. Jon’s half-brother and sister, born of Rhaegar’s original annulled marriage with Elia Martell, were all brutally slain at King’s Landing during Tywin’s conquest of the capital by Lannister bannerman Gregor Cleagane (Hafór Julius Björnsson). Rhaegar’s first two offspring were named Rhaenys and Aegon, implying that the prince had two Aegon sons.
Aemon explains that he is a Targaryen prince whose father was the little-known King Maekar. After Maekar’s death, Aemon was given the throne but declined to owe to his duties as a master. As a result, the Iron Throne passed to his brother Aegon V, Maekar’s fourth son. Aerys is the son of Aegon V.
Is Jon Still A Stark?
He is, of course. Because Lyanna is his mother and Rhaegar is his real father, Ned is officially his uncle rather than his father. Jon’s first cousins are the live Stark siblings, Sansa (Sophie Turner), Arya (Maisie Williams), and Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) Stark. Keep yourself updated with all the latest news from our website Newswatchlist.com and get all the recent updates.
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