[MagicHef]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Spoiler!

So support for the theory that Jon is the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna (at least those that I remember):

1. First, Ned Stark himself. He gave in and had an affair? Really? Ramrod backbone Ned? Cheated on his wife?

2. Ned would never say who the woman/mother was, nor what happened to her. If Jon was a bastard that would shame Ned, why not just leave him with the mother?

3. Lyanna died "awash in blood on a bed". Something like that. err...why? No mention of who killed her, or why anyone would want to kill her, so more likely it was in the process of giving birth.

4. Ned and his allied had to fight through members of the King's Guard to get to her. Why would King's Guard be there? Rhaegar was off dead or dying at the Trident. Mad Aerys was in King's Landing. Well, what if potential new royalty was being born? Unclear if the claim to the throne would have been good, of course, since arguably Jon was still a bastard.

5. Bottom line is there is ONE GUY who definitely knows everything about Lyanna's death. Howland Reed, the father of Jojen and Maera (the two people who accompanied Bran north with Hodor. Howland was Ned's very good friend, and only Ned and Howland survived the fight to get in and see Lyanna.

Bottom line -- book readers think "R+L=J", that Ned never cheated on his spouse, and that there need to be three Targaryen riders for Dany's dragons. Dany is one, Jon is another, and the third is someone in the books, but not (yet) in the TV show, and not likely to be in the TV show, so some confusion around that.

A lot of people think that third one you mention is a fake.