Game Of Thrones: Who Are Jon Snow's Parents?

Game of Thrones is a series that contains many mysteries and invites theorizing from its fans. One of the biggest mysteries of all is the identity of Jon Snow's mother. That secret seems to have died with Ned Stark, but new developments may have put answers within reach. Those answers may be coming sooner than most viewers expect, and the mystery may prove to be twice as mysterious as many believe.

Possible SPOILERS For Game of Thrones Season 6 follow.

As far as anyone in the Seven Kingdoms knows, Jon Snow is the bastard son of Ned Stark, born during Robert's Rebellion to Ned and a woman whom Ned refused to publicly identify. Ned married Catelyn Stark just before marching off to war. Catelyn, who was pregnant with Robb Stark when Ned left, was shocked to find Ned had brought another infant son with him when he returned.

Jon's mother has the topic of rumor and speculation both in the world of Game of Thrones and amongst its fans. One rumor had it that a highborn woman name Ashara Dayne was Jon's mother, a rumor that Cersei Lannister believes to be true. Catelyn even confronted Ned about the rumor, but he refused to answer her. There are stories of Ned and Ashara falling in love during a tournament at Harrenhal, before Ned was betrothed to Catelyn, as remembered by Barristan Selmy and some of Ashara's relatives. Ashara ultimately committed suicide shortly after Robert's Rebellion ended. No one knows for sure what drove her to it - she lost her brother in the war, and som say she had given birth to a stillborn child - but many in Westeros believe her it was due to a broken heart.

Other rumors suggest Jon's mother was lowborn. One lord claims his mother was a fisherman's daughter, one whose boat Ned travelled to the North in secret during the war. Ned himself told Robert that the mother was a woman named Wylla, who was a wet nurse in the employ of House Dayne. Edric Dayne, who was nursed by Wylla, even claims that he and Jon are "milk brothers."

But a much more popular fan theory suggest that not only are none of these women Jon's mother, but that Ned Stark is not actually Jon's father. The key to proving this theory true is the Tower of Joy, and that's a place we are likely going to visit in Season 6 of Game of Thrones.

No seriously, we're talking about some huge SPOILERS here. You've been warned.

The Tower of Joy was a secluded tower located in the Red Mountains of Dorne. It was there that Ned Stark found his sister, Lyanna, at the end of Robert's Rebellion. Stark came to the Tower with six companions: Howland Reed (father of Jojen and Meera Reed), Lord Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, and Ser Mark Ryswell. When they arrived, they found the castle defended by three members of the Kingsguard: Lord Commander Gerold Hightower, Ser Arthur Dayne (Ashara's brother), and Ser Oswell Whent.

Ned and Howland were the only survivors of the battle. They went inside the Tower to find Lyanna dying. With her final words, she had her brother swear a promise to her. Afterwards, Ned had the tower pulled down and used the stones to build eight cairns, one for each of the fallen combatants.

The key here is Ned's promise, the details of which haven't yet been revealed. Within the world of the Seven Kingdoms, following the execution of Ned Stark, the only person alive who knows what Ned promised is Howland Reed, and he's become a recluse who rarely leaves his floating island castle.

But in the real world, fans have speculated. A lot. The most prominent theory? That Lyanna made Ned promise to protect her son, whom we now know as Jon Snow.

This fan theory – commonly referred to in code as "R + L = J" for "Rhaegar + Lyanna = Jon" – posits that Eddard Stark doesn't have a bastard son, but that he only made that claim to protect his nephew, who is all that remains of his beloved sister. If this fan theory turns out to be true then it will have huge ramifications on the world of Game of Thrones. Not only would Jon be legitimized, but he would also be a Targaryen, blood of the dragon, nephew of Daenerys, candidate to be one of the three vaguely prophesized "heads of the dragon," and possibly the heir to the Iron Throne.

If true, it may also explain when Edric believes Jon nursed with Wylla. After the raid on the Tower of Joy, Ned journeyed to Starfall, the seat of House Dayne, to return Arthur Dayne's sword to Ashara. It would make sense then that he had the infant Jon with him, and perhaps asked for a wet nurse, since Jon had no mother to provide for him. If Ashara was so in love with Ned as the stories say, then hearing the story that Ned broke his wedding vows and had a bastard son with someone else may actually have been the motivation for Ashara's suicide, especially if the stillborn baby she is rumored to have birthed was Ned's.

So why the need for secrecy? Robert's Rebellion began when Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna, who was betrothed to Robert Baratheon (although other fan theories question if this is an example of history being written by the victors, and if this "kidnapping" was actually an eloping). Robert, a passionate man with a thunderous temper, was so infuriated that he led an open revolt against the Iron Throne, with the help of allies Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, and the might of their respective Houses.

But Robert and Eddard had a fierce disagreement about how the war was ended. The two friends rode together to sack King's Landing. The sack was successful largely thanks to the Lannisters switching sides. Jaime killed King Aerys, while Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane and his men went to Maegor's Holdfast, where Rhaegar's wife, Elia Martell, and children were. The mountain brutally murdered the infant heir, Aegon, in front of Elia, then raped and murdered her while his men brutally murdered her daughter, Rhaenys.

The bodies of Elia, Aegon, and Rhaenys were presented by the Lannisters to Robert as a show of fealty towards their new king. Robert was pleased, but Ned was disgusted by the murder of children and found the whole thing to be barbaric and unnecessary. He argued with Robert about it, which is why Robert did not join Ned when he left to finish the war.

Fans believe that, when presented with Jon, Ned Stark saw Lyanna in him. By the same token, he feared that Robert would only see Rhaegar and demand the child murdered, like the rest of the Targaryens. So it was that Eddard Stark, considered one of the most honorable men in Westeros, sacrificed his honor to make sure that King Robert would never learn that Jon had so much of a drop of Targaryen blood running through his veins.

When Jon and Ned last spoke – as Ned rode off to King's Landing and Jon to the Wall to join the Night's Watch – Ned promised that the next time he and Jon spoke Ned would tell Jon about his mother. Fans believe that Ned planned to tell Jon the truth about his Targaryen heritage after Jon said his oath and officially took the black, believing that once Jon had forsaken name, title, and lands he would no longer be a threat to Robert's rule. That conversation never happened though. Ned died in King's Landing, leaving Howland Reed as the only person who knows the truth.

But there are other ways, which brings us to Game of Thrones Season 6. Bran Stark has been training with the Three-Eyed Crow. We know, from various sources and interviews, that Bran's sight allows him to see the past, present, and future of Westeros, and that this ability will play a major role in Season 6 of Game of Thrones.

When this information began to circulate, fans immediately began speculating that Bran would revisit the Tower of Joy. Rumors from the set seemed to suggested this was indeed the case, and the trailer for the new season all but confirmed it, as it included scenes of a man resembling a young Ned Stark leading a group of companions against men dressed in Kingsguard armor that prominently featured the Targaryen sigil. So if we are going to see the raid on the Tower of Joy, could we finally solve the mystery of Jon Snow's parentage for good?

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.