Game of Thrones: Did Rhaegar Targaryen actually fall in love with Lyanna Stark?
In the season 6, the biggest fan theory of all times R+L = J was finally confirmed as Bran completed his vision of Tower of Joy and now knows that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Aisling Franciosi, the actress who played Lyanna Stark, clarified that she did speak a sentence in young Ned’s ear and it was about protecting Jon Snow.
There is a section of fan community who believed that Lyanna was coerced into an affair by him and that it was part of some conspiratorial design. But most believe that they actually fell in love, and Rhaegar Targaryen protected her in Tower of Joy as she was betrothed to Robert Baratheon. If season 6 was about revealing the mother of Jon Snow, season 7 flashbacks will definitely feature the father of Jon Snow. The most preferred scene would be Tourney at Harrenhal arranged by Prince Rhaegar in which he was declared the champion of the joust after defeating four knights of the Kingsguard including Ser Barristan Selmy, he chose Lyanna Stark as the new Queen of love and beauty, placing the crown of blue winter roses to her lap. Was this the love at first sight? It’s less likely as young Lyanna was similar to Arya Stark, she consciously ran away with Rhaegar as she didn’t want to settle with an old man like Robert Baratheon. So, did they know each other for years and the love culminated at Harrenhal? Well….we will find out…
In the Winterfell, Lady Lyanna Mormont led the campaign to make Jon Snow/ White wolf as “King in the North”. The question on everyone’s mind is if he can be King in the North, can he also be King of Westeros? Let’s keep R+L = J aside for a moment, technically speaking a Bastard cannot inherit his father’s property, but if he is born of royal blood, the rules are different. If there is no other heir in the line of succession of the King except the Bastard, then it’s possible to anoint him, for instance, Gendry Baratheon (an illegitimate child of King Robert) could have become King as Tommen was actually a son of Cersei and Jaime Lannister.
The biggest question now is – How will Jon Snow come to know about his parental lineage? How will he react to it?