HBO
On Game of Thrones, Jon Snow and Daenerys are now romantically involved. It’s a little awkward since they’re related. But just how does all of that work again? Just how are they related? Read on for details and see a family tree.
Jon Snow’s Family & Family Tree
Counter to what Jon Snow was told all his life, Jon is not, in fact, Ned Stark’s son, but rather the child of Lyanna Stark (Ned’s sister). Lyanna Stark gave birth to a baby boy while in the Tower of Joy, under Rhaegar Targaryen’s protection. For the longest time, the “official” story was that Rhaegar had kidnapped Lyanna because he was obsessed with her and raped her. But Lyanna and Rhaegar were actually in love and Lyanna left willingly.
Rhaegar took Lyanna to the Tower of Joy, where she gave birth to Jon. After Ned found her dying in the Tower, she gave Jon to Ned and he swore to protect his nephew. She told him that Rob would kill the baby if he knew. (Another hint of Jon’s parentage is that the King’s Guard was protecting Lyanna and her baby, and the guards only protect royalty.)
By the time Game of Thrones begins, Rhaegar is long dead. He was Daenerys’ and Viserys’ older brother, the oldest son of the Mad King Aerys. That makes Jon part Targaryen and part Stark. Jon has a claim to the Iron Throne, as a direct grandson of the Mad King Aerys. (He only has a true claim if Lyanna secretly married Rhaegar. Otherwise, he’s a bastard child of Rhaegar.)
This also means that Daenerys is Jon Snow’s aunt.
Here’s Jon Snow’s family tree, as shared on Reddit:
As disturbing as the aunt-nephew thing is, it’s not that strange for the Targaryen side of the family in the Game of Thrones universe. Targaryens tend to prefer marrying other Targaryens so they can preserve the bloodline. (Obviously this changed when Dany was married to Drogo, but that was for a completely different reason.)
Until the Season 7 finale, Rhaegar Targaryen was a mysterious character on the series. The story commonly known in Westeros was that Rhaegar was always infatuated with Lyanna Stark and ultimately kidnapped and raped her. However, fans had long theorized that there was actually a mutual attraction between the two and she may have left willingly. It turns out they were right.
As it turns out, Rhaegar had his marriage to Elia annulled and secretly married Lyanna Stark, making Jon Snow a legitimate son and a legitimate heir to the Iron Throne. This isn’t a completely happy story, however. It also means that Rhaegar turned his own children into bastards. Rhaegar was killed in Robert’s Rebellion by Robert Baratheon, Lyanna’s betrothed.
Here’s a comprehensive family tree shared on Reddit of almost all the characters:
The History of Aegon Targaryen & Jon Snow’s Family
Jon Snow’s real name is Aegon Targaryen. Here’s a history of other Aegon Targaryens. You can learn even more about them in the Game of Thrones Wikia.
Aegon the Conqueror was the first Targaryen to come from Essos to Westeros. He was the one who built the Iron Throne and conquered Westeros with his three dragons. In fact, he made the table map we see in Dragonstone. He was the one who “invented the wheel,” as Tyrion said, and know Dany wants to break the wheel.
Prince Aegon was Aegon the Conqueror’s grandson. He did not sit on the Iron Throne.
Aegon II Targaryen was King of the Iron Throne and usurped the throne from his half-sister during the Dance of Dragons civil war. Joffrey liked to share that Aegon II ordered his dragon to eat his sister so he could take over the throne. He was eventually killed by his own men, after his mind started to slip from milk of the poppy that he had to take for severe injuries.
Aegon III Targaryen also sat on the Iron Throne. His mother was the sister that Aegon II fed to a dragon, and he saw it happen.
Aegon IV Targaryen also sat on the Iron Throne. He was sometimes called “The Unworthy” and one of the worst Targaryen kings. He legitimized his bastard son when he died, thus legitimizing the Blackfyre branch of the Targaryens. In the books, he was known as a corrupt and gluttonous leader.
Aegon Blackfyre – He was the grandson of Aegon IV and the oldest son of Daemon Blackfyre, whom Aegon IV legitimized.
Aegon V Targaryen also sat on the Iron Throne and was known as “Egg.” Aegon was a main character in GRRM’s Dunk and Egg novellas. He was the 15th Targaryen to rule the Seven Kingdoms. His son was the Mad King Aerys, and he was Dany’s grandfather. He was the youngest child, so he wasn’t expected to take the throne. But Maester Aemon refused because of his maester vows and his older brother Aerion died, so the crown became his. For a while, Aegon was the squire of Ser Duncan the Tall, who is related to Brienne. Aegon and Ser Duncan died when Aegon tried to hatch new dragon eggs using fire and magic. Instead, the entire palace was burned down.
Rhaegar had another son named Aegon. Here’s the weird part. Rhaegar apparently really loved the name Aegon, because he didn’t just name his son, Jon Snow, Aegon. He also named his other son with Elia Martell “Aegon” too. Wouldn’t that be just a little confusing? Sadly, that Aegon (and Jon’s half brother) is dead. Elia, Oberyn Martell’s sister, was raped and killed by the Mountain raped. The Mountain also killed Jon’s half-siblings Aegon and Rhaenys.
Now we know that Rhaegar had three children and both of his sons were named Aegon Targaryen.