- Before David Benioff and D.B. Weiss could get George R.R. Martin’s approval to create Game of Thrones they had to answer Martin’s question about Jon Snow’s origins.
- The popular theory that Jon Snow’s real parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark aka R+L=J has been circulating among fans before. Game of Thrones revealed it.
- The show, however, failed to provide meaningful consequences to Jon Snow’s true origins, making it ultimately pointless and disappointing for fans.
Jon Snow controversyKit Harington) fatherhood was raging long before that George R.R. Martin”A Song of Ice and Fire was adapted into a TV series. While the books were not as popular as the series, they enjoyed a small but dedicated niche of fans who analyzed and discussed every little detail of the story in detail. …And one of the most discussed and controversial conversations revolved around the origin of Jon Snow. After all, Jon Snow was a curious case. As the story goes, he was born to Ned Stark (Sean Bean) illicit relationship with a random woman named Willa during Robert’s Rebellion. If it had been any other person, there would have been no further discussion, but Ned Stark is considered the most noble man in all of the Seven Kingdoms. This story was difficult for both the characters in the series and the fans to get over. So fans got to work, focusing their attention on a mystery whose solution would later prove crucial to the adaptation of the books into a TV series.
George R.R. Martin interviews potential showrunners
There was a time when it seemed that learning the identities of Jon Snow’s parents could reveal the secrets hidden in the world of Ice and Fire. And perhaps there was some truth in this vague feeling. Back in 2006, the writers David Benioff And DB Weiss has set up a meeting with George R.R. Martin, hoping to adapt his books into an HBO show. From the very beginning it was an extremely difficult and ambitious project. At the time, Weiss and Benioff only had a few screenplays and novels under their belts, and had very little directing/producing experience. And adapt Game of Thronesthey had to convince Martin to sell the rights, convince HBO to produce it and pick up the pilot.
They had a long journey ahead of them, but before they could do anything, they had to meet Martin in a meeting that lasted 5 long hours. And during this time, Martin really delved into Weiss and Benioff’s knowledge and passion for A Song of Ice and Fire. In particular, however, there was one question he wanted them both to answer, and if they answered correctly, Martin would happily agree to do the show. The question was: “Who is Jon Snow’s mother?” Weiss and Benioff had discussed this topic before and came to an interesting conclusion, and when they told Martin their answer, he said nothing but smiled knowingly. It’s hard to predict what the outcome of the meeting would have been if they had gotten the question wrong, but Weiss claims that Martin was impressed by their obsession with books, and that getting the answer right helped Martin get on the show.
What is the “R + L = J” theory?
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Of course, Benioff and Weiss weren’t the first to crack the code. A Song of Ice and Fire had an extremely devoted fandom, and given how riddled the books are with prophecies and misdirections, fans began positing detailed theories back in the ’90s. But the most popular and most accurate theory was R + L = J, which means Jon Snow’s (J) parents are actually Rygar Targaryen (right) and Lyanna Stark (left). In 1997, a netizen named Rodrick Su compiled a list of points from the book that seemed incomplete and posted it on a netizen group. And the fourth item on his list was: “It is absolutely true that Jon Snow is a descendant of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Ned is probably keeping this a secret because Robert Baratheon is obsessed with destroying all Targaryens, especially all descendants of Rhaegar.
The same theory was put forward by many different people, and gradually it became so popular and lively that when the show finally revealed John’s origins, the fandom was already ready. In the series this is Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright), who learns of Jon Snow’s heritage for the first time by using his Greenweed powers to travel back in time and witness the battle at the Tower of Joy where Lyanna (Esling Franciosi) gave birth to John. Later Samwell Tarly (John Bradley West) looks through the archives of the citadel and discovers documents documenting the marriage of Lyanna and Rhaegar, which prove that Jon Snow was never a bastard, but was the true heir to the Iron Throne through the Targaryen line. And now, in 2019 Game of Thrones’ The penultimate episode firmly stated that the fans were right all along. But it wasn’t the feeling of victory that he had made the right guess that gripped the fandom, but rather a strong anticipation of what this new information could mean for the show.
The show made Jon Snow’s fatherhood meaningless
Being half Targaryen and half Stark, Jon Snow perfectly embodied the title of the books: Song of Ice and Fire. The discovery of such an important fact, which had been debated for decades, required the utmost seriousness, but the tragedy is that he hastily ignores this valuable information and does almost nothing with it. There were no moments of introspection, no shifts in loyalties, and no meaningful consequences stemming from the great revelation. Jon never even hinted that he wanted to compete with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), using his heritage without taking the throne. He ended up back at the wall with the wildlings, taking with him the empty promises of his legacy. The story and his storyline could have ended the same way if Jon was truly Ned Stark’s bastard.
The show was in such a hurry to end itself that it completely disappointed the anticipation that had been building for decades. It’s true that the last season Game of Thrones received an unprecedented amount of hate from fans, and while some have very harsh opinions of the show’s creators, it’s things like this that really put the fan fury over the show’s final season into perspective. Investing yourself emotionally and intellectually into a story for so long only to get a clunky, sloppy ending devoid of any catharsis would drive anyone crazy.
Source: Collider
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