With the big reveal of Jon Snow’s true parentage and birthright during the Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” watchers finally got some long-awaited answers. However, the particulars of that reveal have book readers scratching their heads. Here’s why.
Warning: this article contains full spoilers for both the Game of Thrones show and books!
When Bran Stark uses his Three-Eyed Raven flashback powers to tell Samwell Tarly about Jon’s secret origin, we witness Ned Stark receiving a newborn baby Jon from a dying Lyanna Stark. She uses her last breath to tell Ned to protect the baby because he will be killed for his real name, Aegon Targaryen. We also see a flashback of Lyanna’s secret wedding to Rhaegar Targaryen (brother to Daenerys Targaryen), meaning Jon is not only the nephew of his new bedmate Daenerys but the true heir to the Iron Throne.
While the big takeaway from that scene was that Jon has a better claim to the throne than Daenerys, for book readers it was a surprise to hear that Jon’s real name is Aegon because there is already another character named Aegon. Both the show and George R.R. Martin’s books state that Aegon Targaryen IV is the second child of Rhaegar and his first wife Elia Martell, who was killed as a baby by Gregor Clegane aka the Mountain. Elia and her daughter Rhaenys, Aegon IV’s sister, were also killed at the same time. You’ll remember Oberyn Martell shouting this accusation at the Mountain during their trial-by-combat.
While the show has moved forward without veering from this history, the current state of Targaryen affairs aren’t as clear in books. In the fifth book, A Dance With Dragons, a character named Young Griff is introduced who, we later learn, is none other than Aegon Targaryen IV, alive and well. The way Varys tells it to Tyrion, Aegon IV was swapped out with a peasant baby and secreted away to be raised under a fake name until he could take the throne that is his by birthright.
Young Griff (along with his protector Jon Connington) was introduced in the books as one of the other travelers on the boat that took Tyrion to the Free Cities. When he wasn’t present during that scene in the show, it sent a message to book readers that Young Griff wasn’t “important” to the main plot. We know that showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff are working off of Martin’s plot in order to finish the show -- the books aren’t done being written yet -- so if they’re not including a character as seemingly vital as Young Griff, then that calls into question everything we know about him. Young Griff plans on marrying Daenerys and ruling the Seven Kingdoms alongside her, but if he’s not in the show, then we’re assuming one of two things: either a) Young Griff is killed before he can bring his plan to fruition, making him a dead end not worth spending precious show time on, or b) he is an impostor trying to dupe Daenerys and the rest of the world into thinking he’s a Targaryen, making him an elaborate twist that is nonetheless not worth spending precious show time on.
There is one fan theory that is holding out hope for Young Griff to still show up. In the books, recruiting the mercenary army called the Golden Company is part of his plan to conquer Westeros, and they have been name-dropped a few times this season, so perhaps if they do finally make their on-screen debut in Season 8, Aegon IV will be the one at the head of the army. This is more of a last ditch fan-effort to find a way to include Young Griff in the show; it most likely won’t happen given that it would be insanely problematic to introduce such a game-changing character with only six episodes left to go.
This leaves us to wonder if important attributes of Young Griff from the book were absorbed into Jon’s show character. In the show, Jon seems to be on the path to marrying Daenerys, which is exactly what Young Griff plans to do. Could the showrunners have also given Jon the same Targaryen name as Young Griff in order to consolidate the two characters? After all, it seems strange for Lyanna to name her newborn son Aegon when her husband already has a child by that name.
That said, if you run through the events that lead up to Jon’s birth, there’s just enough room to fit a theory that explains why she’d do such a thing.
First, Robert Baratheon kills Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident. Then the Lannisters march on King’s Landing and Jaime Lannister kills the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen. Under orders from the Lannisters, the Mountain kills baby Aegon IV by bashing his head against a wall. After the Battle of the Trident, Ned Stark rides to the Tower of Joy with a band of soldiers, they defeat the Kingsguard, and he ascends the tower to find a dying Lyanna who tells him to take care of Aegon Targaryen V. Robert is crowned the new king. And Ned returns home to Winterfell with Aegon V, who he claims as his bastard under the fake name Jon Snow.
All of these events took place one after another, but it is feasible that enough time passed for Lyanna to learn of the death of Aegon IV and decide to name her new baby Aegon V, perhaps in order to carry on that family name.
Even if Young Griff never shows up on the show, that still leaves the unanswered question of why Lyanna would feel compelled to name her baby after Rhaegar’s other son. While the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones might resolve that, we’ll have to wait until Martin (hopefully) makes this reveal in his future books to learn whether “Aegon” is actually Jon’s name in A Song of Ice and Fire, as well.
Make sure to check out our review of "The Dragon and the Wolf."
Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
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