OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING.
Y’all have been warned, okay? Go watch Game of Thrones S6E3.
Alright, we good? Okay, now we can talk freely about the Tower of Joy, not to mention Bran FINALLY having some screen time worth watching.
For those of you not up to speed with the most enduring GoT theory, R+L=J, let us break it down for you real quick (everyone else, feel free to skip ahead).
R+L=J: There’s a theory that’s been running for years that Jon Snow is actually the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Rhaegar, the son of the Mad King, was married to Elia Martell, but ran off with Lyanna, Ned Stark‘s sister. After Robert Baratheon rebelled (which *may* have had a little something to do with the fact that Lyanna was his betrothed) and the Old King was dead, Ned found his sister at the Tower of Joy, where she’d been stashed away by Rhaegar.
Ned defeated the Targaryens defending the tower (kinda – this was the scene we saw last night, and yeah, Ned definitely didn’t win in a fair fight), with the only survivors being himself and Howland Reed.
The books tell us that Ned entered the tower, found Lyanna dying, and promised her something – but that’s it. We SUSPECT that Ned promised to care for her and Rhaegar’s son Jon, but we don’t know for sure, and that’s all because of a little plot-blocking Three Eyed Raven.
And everybody who’s been waiting FIVE BLOODY SEASONS (and for the Winds of Winter) had the exact same reaction last night.
Tower of Joy + Game of Thrones = Blue Balls
— Josh Kurp (@JoshKurp) May 9, 2016
The Tower of Joy was right there….c’mon Game of Thrones….
— Jon Thompson (@JonThompsonDC) May 9, 2016
I don’t like Game of Thrones anymore. Go inside the Tower of Joy and confirm what everyone already knows.
— JA Clark (@JAClark_13) May 9, 2016
I don’t like Game of Thrones anymore. Go inside the Tower of Joy and confirm what everyone already knows.
— JA Clark (@JAClark_13) May 9, 2016
Me at the end of The Tower of Joy tease scene tonight though… #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/uiDWCs7jvK
— Mike Novak (@MNovak88) May 9, 2016
How I felt about them cutting away from the Tower of Joy before Lyanna was shown. #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/FmPot1tDgS
— Jared Rojek (@Jaredbold) May 9, 2016
When #GameofThrones cuts the Tower of Joy flashback off right when everything is about to get real: pic.twitter.com/hMmB3apz3u
— Lacy Baugher (@LacyMB) May 9, 2016
When they stopped the scene at the Tower of Joy #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/yun1VOlvzB
— Lance Parks (@DatDude_LP) May 9, 2016
Ugh. Tune in next week, we guess? (Obviously.)
Well for one, Jon Snow would therefore be a Stark and a Targaryen, making him the literal embodiment of fire and ice.
Second, it would play into the theory that Jon, Daenerys, and Tyrion are the ‘three heads of the dragon‘ (there’s a solid fan theory that Tyrion is actually a Targaryen, not least because his hair is described as a more white blonde of the Targaryens than the golden blonde of the Lannisters).
Third, there is just no bloody way that a series this complex and detailed wouldn’t have some major theories running through it, that George R R Martin could further tease us with if he ever finished his goddamn writing.
