How Jon and Dany's Relationship in 'Game of Thrones' Might Be Even Ickier Than You Thought

published 14 September 2017

You're probably just about over the super-icky Game of Thrones reveal that Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are nephew and aunt, but I've got some bad news for you – it could potentially be waaaay worse.

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That's because both the books and the show have laid groundwork for Dany and Jon to be even more closely related. Brace yourself for grossness.

In the books, Dany doesn't have the childhood she thinks she does. Book fans have noticed that Dany remembers a lemon tree where she grew up in Braavos, but lemon trees don't grow in Braavos, they grow in Dorne.

So, why would she misremember her childhood? One explanation is that she's been lied to. Why?

Well, because Dany was taken into hiding (potentially from Dorne) at a very young age, and was forced to travel in secret. Why was she taken into hiding? For the exact same reason as Jon–she's the daughter of Rhaegar, not Aerys.

Yep, it's possible that Jon and Dany are brother and sister. EWWWW.

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But the theory doesn't start and end with a Dornish lemon tree, there's loads more evidence—including one element that directly links it to what they're doing on the show.

In a post-season two interview with Vulture, Alfie Allen said the following: "You know, I asked [George] about who Jon Snow's real parents were, and he told me. I can't say who, but I can tell you that it involves a bit of a Luke Skywalker situation."

Of course he probably just meant that Jon's parentage, like Luke's, was not what he'd been told. But let's indulge the theory because it's fun to do it: Luke Skywalker wasn't the only kid to be taken and hidden away from the Empire–Leia, his sister, was too. They were never told about it, and ended up kissing as a result.

Luke and Leia didn't have the same foster parents. They were separated, much like Jon and Dany. If this theory is correct, Jon went to the Stark side of the bloodline, Dany to the Targaryen side.

Unlike Luke and Leia, Jon and Dany are not twins–in the book they were born nine months apart, which, coincidentally, was the exact period of time Ned went missing following the Tower of Joy incident.

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Remember that Dornish lemon tree? There's something else significant in Dorne: the Tower of Joy. Come on. A tiny part of you is cautiously nodding inside.

And what about Ned? Remember how protective he was of Dany in season one? He basically constantly argued with King Robert against sending an assassin to kill her, but for what reason? We could understand it if he was protecting Jon, but Dany? Fans have concluded that his passion came from a familial connection–he couldn't stand to see Jon's sister killed.

And there's one more piece of evidence connecting Jon and Dany–the Azor Ahai prophecy. Both Dany and Jon have been openly linked to it on the show, with Melisandre finding it difficult to decide which of them is the prince who was promised. Could she be finding it tricky because they're so closely related?

It's not as if brothers and sisters haven't been incest-y on the show before, but this feels creepier somehow.

Still, if the theory is true, this sense of history repeating itself is VERY George RR Martin, and ties to what he's said about the books and series having a bittersweet conclusion.

It would be a typically ironic ending if Jon and Dany ended up on the Iron Throne ruling together as lovers and siblings, with the subtle suggestion that their offspring could be the next Joffrey.