Despite being the biggest Game of Thrones secret for quite a while, several people who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen. Game of Thrones season 7 confirmed Jon is the trueborn son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, who secretly married shortly before Rhaegar was killed by Robert and Lyanna died during childbirth. Jon was raised as the bastard son of Ned Stark, as Ned knew Jon would likely be killed by Robert if his true parentage was revealed. While he found out in season 8 himself, other characters knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen even before he did.

Both a Stark and a Targaryen, the reveal of Jon Snow's parents also meant that he was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, which got in the way of his loyalty to (and romance with) Queen Daenerys Targaryen. Jon’s parentage was Westeros’ best-kept secret for over 25 years, but once it spread to Jon himself, it quickly became common knowledge among Westeros’ nobility. However, while HBO’s Game of Thrones answered the question of Jon’s parentage, the A Song of Ice and Fire books have yet to do so.

Ned Stark

Ned Raised His Sister's Orphan Boy To Protect Him

In both Game of Thrones and the books, Ned Stark is the only character confirmed who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen. In Game of Thrones season 6, the Three-Eyed Raven takes Bran back in time to when Lyanna died after giving birth to a baby, with Lyanna simply saying “promise me, Ned” before giving him the child. The revelation proves that Ned was always just Jon's uncle who had to live with the secret of knowing Lyanna and Rhaegar had a child together.

Understanding that Robert would kill Jon, a.k.a. Aegon Targaryen, if he found out the truth, Ned also lied to his best friend for the remainder of their lives, with most of Westeros believing that Jon was the son of Ned and a woman he met on the road at war. Although making Jon his bastard son put a public stain on Ned Stark’s honor as he seemingly cheated on Catelyn, Game of Thrones reveals that Ned had kept his honor all along, as he was maintaining a promise he made to his dying sister.

The flashback revealing Jon's birth happens in season 6, episode 10, "The Winds of Winter".

While Game of Thrones’ books still hint that Ned could truly be Jon’s father, the only certainty about Ned is that he’s the one person who is confirmed to know Jon’s parentage.

Howland Reed

Howland Was With Ned When Lyanna Died

The flashbacks of young Ned Stark at the Tower of Joy in Game of Thrones suggest that he wasn’t the only character who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen, as his friend Howland Reed, the father of Jojen and Meera, was there with him when Lyanna died. Since Ned would have to explain why he left the tower with a baby in his arms and his sister deceased, it’s clear Howland at least knew that Jon was never truly the son of Ned Stark.

Even if Ned hadn’t directly told Howland that Jon’s father was Rhaegar Targaryen, anyone in the realm could have guessed as much. The story of how Jon Snow was conceived went that Rhaegar Targaryen had kidnapped Lyanna, raped her, then killed her, so finding Lyanna with a baby would have to mean he was Rhaegar’s. While Howland wasn’t in the tower with Ned in Game of Thrones, he was the one who finally pulled Ned away from Lyanna’s dead body in the books.

Author George R.R. Martin revealed that Howland Reed won’t be a POV character in the A Song of Ice and Fire books because he knows too much, hinting he does also know the identity of Jon’s parents in the novels.

Bran Stark

Bran Uses His Vision Powers To Learn The Truth About Jon

Although Bran Stark isn't someone who knew Jon Snow was a Targaryen in the books, he was the first character to confirm his parents as Lyanna and Rhaegar in Game of Thrones. The end of Game of Thrones season 6 sees Bran have a vision with the Three-Eyed Raven. It was then that Bran discovered Jon Snow was truly Lyanna Stark’s son, with the details of Jon Snow's father coming about in season 7.

The reveal about Lyanna and Rhaegar's wedding happens in season 7, episode 7, "The Dragon and the Wolf."

Bran had already come to understand that Jon was the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar, but believed that he was still a bastard until Sam helped fill in the information on their secret marriage. Game of Thrones’ season 7 finale then saw Bran enter a vision in which he watched the marriage of Lyanna Stark to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, confirming that Jon, really Aegon Targaryen, was their trueborn son and rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

Samwell Tarly

Sam Helped Bran Realize Jon Was The True Heir

The last person to find out about Jon Snow's parents before Jon Snow himself was his best friend, Samwell Tarly. Sam learned about Jon Snow's real parents from Bran Stark. When Bran and Samwell meet at the end of Game of Thrones season 7, Bran explains that Jon needs to know the truth about himself, with the new Three-Eyed Raven trusting the soon-to-be Grand Maester with such information.

However, Sam had already unintentionally discovered the full truth about Jon’s parentage when at the Citadel with Gilly. Gilly had read in High Septon Maynard’s diary that he had annulled Rhaegar’s marriage with Elia Martell, and had later secretly married Rhaegar to another woman in Dorne. When Samwell Tarly hears from Bran that Rhaegar and Lyanna are Jon’s parents, he realizes that the secret woman Rhaegar married was Lyanna Stark, making Jon not just their legitimate son, but also a Targaryen heir.

Wylla

She Was Possibly A We Nurse Who Helped Feed Jon As A Baby

Game of Thrones season 1 features a quick mention of Wylla when Robert and Ned eat a meal together, with the two reminiscing about their time during the rebellion. Robert asks about the mother of Ned’s bastard, whom Ned confirms as “Wylla.” Ned never again mentions Wylla and dies before he can tell Jon the truth about his mother. While Wylla isn’t the true mother of Jon, it’s still possible that she is in the books.

George R.R. Martin’s books describe Wylla as a wet nurse who had served House Dayne for many years, though it’s unclear how she met Ned. However, the character Edric “Ned” Dayne tells Arya Stark that he and her brother Jon Snow are “milk brothers,” as they were both nursed by Wylla as babies. Dayne was born several years after Jon Snow and Ned left, so he doesn’t know the true circumstances of their time at Starfall, but believes that Wylla is Jon’s mother.​​​​​​​

Ned speaks of Wylla in season 1, episode 2, "The Kingsroad."

It’s also been suggested that even if Wylla isn’t Jon's mother in the books, she at least knows some of the truth behind his parentage. Martin's books confirm that Ned went to Starfall following Lyanna’s death because he had to return House Dayne’s ancestral sword after killing Ser Arthur Dayne, with it being likely that Wylla was simply the wet nurse for Jon during their stay there.

Wylla has also been speculated to have been the wet nurse present while Lyanna gave birth to Jon Snow on Dorne, which would have made her privy to the information about Jon Snow’s Targaryen identity.

Ashara Dayne

Ned Stark's Former Love Interest May Have Helped Care For Jon

Though George R.R. Martin's books never put forth the rumor of Lyanna being Jon's real mother, it is an openly discussed rumor that Ashara Dayne is the real mother. Ashara was presumed to be a love interest of Ned before Robert’s Rebellion. Catelyn even heard the rumors around the realm and believed that the mother of Jon Snow was Ashara, but Ned never confirmed it. Ned did visit Ashara on his way back to Winterfell following Robert's Rebellion which is where many people assume she revealed the child they had together.

Ashara killed herself shortly after Ned left and the truth about what she knew about Jon died with her.

However, other rumors suggest that Ned came to see Ashara with Jon already in his arms. It could be that Ashara, moved by her past love for Ned, helped him care for the newborn, including allowing the wet nurse Wylla to feed the child. Ashara killed herself shortly after Ned left and the truth about what she knew about Jon died with her.

Did Jon's Targaryen Lineage Matter In Game Of Thrones?

Jon Didn't Do Anything With The Information

Looking back at the final seasons of Game of Thrones, there is still the question of how important Jon's parentage is. When the truth came out, it felt like a game-changing revelation that set incredibly high stakes for the rest of the series with the idea that he was a prophesied hero and that the Iron Throne would come down to a battle between the two remaining Targaryens, Jon and Daenerys. However, the reality was that the truth of Jon's lineage barely factored into Game of Thrones' ending.

From the moment Jon found out that he was the true heir to the Iron Throne, he suddenly took a much less active role in the series. The final season was filled with Jon watching other people do important things while he continuously insisted he didn't want the throne. Even in killing Daenerys, the fact that he was effectively making himself the last living Targaryen was never even mentioned, nor is the fact that the heir to the Iron Throne decided to live out his life Beyond the Wall.

It is not hard to see Jon ending up in a similar place in the novels, but it is also easy to see George R.R. Martin finding a bittersweet poetic justice in it. Perhaps Jon being a Targaryen was never meant to lead to him taking the Iron Throne, but it should have meant something for the character. He was a bastard with no real name for his whole life and now he was Aegon Targaryen.

Yet all the show managed to do with all this information is to let him form a bond with Daenerys's dragons and fly them in two short sequences.

How House Of The Dragon Is Making Jon Snow's Targaryen Lineage Matter

Aegon's Dream Reveals The Iron Throne Was Not A Targaryen's Greatest Purpose

House of the Dragon explores Jon's Targaryen lineage in greater depth, and the introduction of the A Song of Ice and Fire prophecy only emphasizes how important his family history is despite its lack of impact on the line of succession. In House of the Dragon, King Viserys gives his heir Rhaenyra Targaryan a familiar artifact: the Catspaw dagger. The Catspaw dagger is, of course, the very same weapon used in the attempted assassination of Bran Stark in Game of Thrones season 1.

The Valyran steel weapon came with a story from Viserys, one of Aegon's dreams, which turns out to be the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, along with the Prince that was Promised. This means that the Targaryens would've known about the coming White Walker threat — Aegon's very reason for conquering Westeros and uniting the country to prepare for the invasion. The end of Aegon's dream/the prophecy states that it is the Targaryens who will save Westeros from the White Walkers, and Aegon's dream does come true in the end in many ways.

Jon Snow was an integral player in the survival of the Westerosi populace.

Though Arya was the one to defeat the Night King in battle, Jon Snow was an integral player in the survival of the Westerosi populace. Between the dragon he rode that took out swarms of White Walkers and all the time he spent beyond the Wall, Jon played a significant role when it came to taking down the Night King. In the end, the eventual occupant of the Iron Throne would come down to either Jon or Dany – both technically Targaryens.

Though a Targaryen didn't end up on the Iron Throne due to Dany becoming the Mad Queen and Jon being shipped back to the Wall (and the Throne being melted), Game of Thrones proves that these were the two Targaryens that Aegon spoke of in his dream, only solidifying the importance of Jon's Targaryen heritage even though it didn't matter as far as Westerosi politics were concerned. The prophecy was never about ruling — it was about safeguarding the people of Westeros against a real and imminent danger, a warning that unfortunately became misconstrued.

There Are Still Many Book Theories on Snow's Parentage

Fans Have Other Options About Jon's Parentage

Readers of George R.R. Martin’s books have long been speculating about the truth behind Jon Snow’s parentage. It was these ionate fans who first brought up the theory that Jon was the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. However, while that was the most popular of the theories, and while it has been confirmed by the series, that did not stop some other compelling ideas from coming up over the years.

Though the books explicitly present it as a possibility, fans have amassed a lot of compelling points as to why Ashara could be Jon's mother. It's known that Ned and Ashara met at a tourney at Harrenhal and it's rumored that they began to see each other in secret over the years. This was before Ned was betrothed to Catelyn Tully, so it avoids questions about whether Ned would abandon his honor like that. It would also make sense that she presents him with the infant Jon which explains where he came from in Ned's march back to Winterfell.

Ned had killed Ashara’s brother, Arthur Dayne, at the Tower of Joy and was returning his ancestral sword to Ashara. Shortly after this meeting, Ashara killed herself and Ned returned to Winterfell with his bastard son. It is speculated that Ashara was overcome with grief about the man she loved having killed her brother and gave Ned the son he didn’t know he had before killing herself.

Another that is tied to Ashara is that Jon is her son with Ned’s brother, Brandon Stark. This would mean that Brandon was unfaithful to Catelyn who was meant to be his wife initially. Instead of having his late brother’s reputation as an honorable man tarnished, Ned claimed Jon as his own bastard son. All of these theories have compelling evidence to back them up and are presented in the books as real possibilities. However, that could simply be Martin delivering some convincing red herrings to ensure the reveal about Lyanna and Rhaegar is more shocking.

Is Jon Related To The Greens Or The Blacks From House Of The Dragon?

Fans got to know more about the Greens and Blacks in House of the Dragon. Jon Snow has lineage from that show, but his relations are not necessarily from the Greens or the Blacks. He is from the Targaryen line, and his seventh great-grandmother is Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen​​​​​​​ from the HBO series. King Jaehaerys I Targaryen is the tenth great-grandfather of Jon Snow. This means that, with so many branches, Jon has a lot of relatives when it comes to the characters in the new series.

The Greens and Blacks are mostly family , but the colors are based on political leanings. This separation caused a massive Civil War, which devastated the Houses. As for Jon, he is a descendant of the Blacks because every male Green descendant died. To put it more clearly, no one won because of the devastation it caused, but the Blacks were the last to have lineage in the succession.

House of the Dragon takes place 172 years before Princess Daenerys Targaryen' was born.​​​​​​​ Daemon and Rhaenyra are Jon Snow's seventh great-grandparents, and it is through her and Daemon's son, Viserys, that the bloodline continues. This is then complicated thanks to intermarriage in the House Targaryen, but it ties in the prequel series to the Game of Thrones story, although there are plenty of relatives, but Jon Snow was one of the descendants of this House.