Did you catch the dragon wings and the wolf in the snow? L+R= J.



After what seemed like a millennia or three, Game of Thrones returned with a very solid, albeit mostly uneventful, season premiere. We got to see the real Melisandre in a rather stunning scene, poor Doran Martell learned the penalty for being an intelligent, measured man, Arya’s still blind and training, Margaery’s still being held by the High Sparrow, Cersei lost another one, Brienne can finally fulfill her duty, and Davos, Dolorous Edd, Ghost and friends are hole up with the corpse of a certain, lustrous-haired Lord Commander at Castle Black.

But there was an intriguing, easily overlooked, clue in here regarding the parentage of Mr.Snow.

We pick up right where we left off—looking down at Caesar’d, Lord Commander Snow, his blood now dried, and his body looking a bit colder and more dead than the last time we saw it. Ser Davos, having just only recently arrived at Castle Black at the bequest of his now fallen king, Stannis Baratheon, gazes out over the training yard and spots his young friend napping in an odd location. Davos is clearly saddened by Jon’s death, but he’s not surprised by it in the least. It seems the Onion Knight was holding out hope that Jon would make it though, that his radical and compasstionate ruling style would not lead to his demise, but, in his heart he knew it was a long shot. As Dolorous Edd and co. pick up Jon’s body to move it inside, there is very intriguing little clue left on the ground where the slain Lord Commander fell. He left behind a bloodstain that looked quite a bit like dragon wings. And this was not an accident; nothing is an accident on this show and it definitely lends more credence to the L+R=J theory, which at this point is as close to confirmed as it could possibly get.

For reference here’s a young Drogon a’ flapping:

And for comparison:

Superimposed:

It seems as though Davos thought the shape to be a bit curious as well:

UPDATE: At the behest of a commenter, we looked a bit deeper and noticed something else.

This sure looks like the face of a wolf buried in the dragon-shaped blood stain?

A dire wolf and a dragon.

L+R=J

Now, if you’ve never heard of the Rhaegar + Lyanna = Jon theory and would prefer to remain in the shallow end, stop reading here.

For those who don’t know the theory and would like to, here’s a quick rundown:

Robert Baratheon was betrothed to Ned Stark’s sister Lyanna, a woman who was allegedly, but almost certainly not, kidnapped by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. This made Robert Baratheon quite angry and sparked the eponymously titled: Robert’s Rebellion. It was easy to see how Robert, and much of the north thought Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna, his father -the Mad King Aerys II, who was still in power at the time- was a sick puppy who loved burning people alive -including Ned Stark’s father. By all accounts, however, his son Rhaegar was nothing like his twisted, sociopath father. Rhaegar was a lower of music and poetry, and many said he was not fit for the world he lived in. Throughout the books and the show we hear numerous accounts Lyanna’s so-called abduction, with each perspective shedding new light on the shadowy details surrounding her disappearance and the events that followed.

So Robert Robert Baratheon, a man not known for tact or diplomacy took up arms against the throne and smashed Rhaegar Targaryen to bits at the Battle of the Trident. While this was happening, Jaime Lannister was murdering the king he was sworn to protect before he could burn down the entire city, and Ned Stark, Howland Reed and a handful of other northereners were facing off against Arthur Dayne and co. at the Tower of Joy -where Lyanna was being held. Ned Stark and Howland Reed were the only two to survive the confrontation. So the story goes, the two reach Lyanna at the top and she’s dying, having just gave birth to a son. She makes Ned promise her something here, it’s alluded to numerous times in the books and on the show. This promise was, if the theory holds, for Ned to protect her son from Robert, to pass him off on his own to avoid the inevitable death that awaited him as a Targaryen heir. So Ned heeded his sister’s wishes and took in this boy, this Stark/Targaryen hybrid, and passed him off as a bastard to save his life. So, the point is Jon Snow is part Targaryen, which means he has dragon blood.

And this is not the first time the show has thrown little clues at us regarding Snow’s parentage. Remember this moment?

A Targaryen alone in the world; it’s a terrible thing.

by Jesse Mechanic

*All images courtesy of HBO.