One of the most fascinating aspects ofGame of Thrones' story relates to everything that happensbeforethe series started. That deep, layered connectivity is one of the things that made the book series so rich, and something the show has not always done a great job of including. For instance, the seeds of Jon Snow’s resurrection were planted in a long and rich magical mythology that the show never really touched upon, and is still hesitant to engage with (see: the direwolves, and Melisandre not using magic in the war against Ramsay Bolton). Further, its approach to the history of Westeros has been scattershot, and something that would make for agreat prequel series.
Game of Thronesis set up to potentially come full circle, though, with a Targaryen attempting to re-take the Iron Throne that their family had occupied for thousands of years. When Robert Baratheon led the revolt against King’s Landing and Rhaegar Targaryen for kidnapping and killing his bride-to-be Lyanna Stark (in what was known as Robert’s Rebellion), it set off a violent chain of events, culminating with the slaughter of the remaining Targaryens, including when Jaime Lannister killed Mad King Aerys. The graph below picks up around that time, and details some of the chaos that led to where things are now.
All of this to say thatJon Snow’s parents really matter– and though the Season 6 finale “Winds of Winter” seem to pretty clearly confirm that Jon’s parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, making him potentially the literal Song of Ice and Fire – a new infograph published on HBO’s “Making Game of Thrones” makes it overt. See the complications below!
The site also sums up the basics of the Rhaegar and Lyanna relationship, but there’s a lot to be mined there. The infographic is also pretty amazingly confusing, and throws in some characters like Brandon Stark (Ned’s older brother), Arthur Dayne, granddaddy Rickard Stark, and John Arryn — book fans may know them well, but the show would probably not be remiss to do an entireGame of Thronesprequel episode before the new season as a refresher.
Frankly, I had no idea this Making Game of Thrones blog existed until today, but it’s actually full of some pretty interesting stuff, like episode storyboards, and most importantly aninterview with scene-stealer Lady Mormont(a.k.a.Bella Ramsey).
For more of our recentGame of Thronescoverage, check out these links below:
