You know nothing, Aegon Targaryen. It doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily, does it? However, we need to discuss the reveal of Jon Snow’s “true” name in last night’s Game of Thrones Season 7 finale. Pretty much everyone saw Jon’s true parentage coming (sorry, Bran), but the reveal of the name his birth mother Lyanna Stark gave him was a relative surprise.

What does the Aegon Targaryen moniker tell us about Jon Snow’s future in the final season of Game of Thrones and beyond?

The Aegon Targaryens Who Have Come Before 

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Before we can talk about the future, we should talk about the past. There have been two prior Aegon Targaryens who are important to this conversation. The first, Aegon the Conqueror, was the first king of the Targaryen dynasty and the dude who “unified” the Seven Kingdoms under his rule. Many subsequent Targaryens have been named after this all-important first Targaryen king.

The other Aegon Targaryen relevant to this conversation was the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell. He was murdered by The Mountain alongside his sister and his mother. This was just before Jon was born, which makes Lyanna giving him the same name as his half-brother a little less weird, I guess?

The name Aegon Targaryen is a heavy burden to bear. Lyanna seemed to think Jon was destined for great things, but it may have been a blessing that Jon didn’t have to grow up with that weight on his shoulders. (Though the name Jon Snow came with its own burdens …)

Perhaps Lyanna believed in The Prince[ss] That Was Promised destiny as much as her husband Rhaegar did. In the books/TV show, Dany sees her brother in vision. In it, Rhaegar is talking to his wife Elia about the future of their son, Aegon. In it, he tells Elia that he is “the prince that was promised” and says that his will be “a song of ice and fire.” He also mentions that “the dragon has three heads,” and that “there must be one more [child].” As we now know, that third child is Jon and his name is Aegon.

The Young Griff Complication 

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The A Song of Ice and Fire books have a character who has seemingly been cut from the TV adaptation: Young Griff. Young Griff is a character who claims he is the true Aegon Targaryen (not the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, but the murdered son of Rhaegar and Elia). In the books, Varys claims that he swapped out Rhaegar for a peasant child prior to The Mountain’s head-bashing parade. It’s basically the Anastasia subplot of the books, but with fewer music boxes.

Given that Young Griff has not been in the TV show, most book fans assume his plotline is a fake-out in the books. If this is the case, it makes sense that the show would leave him out. Jon’s claim to the throne threaten’s Dany’s claim to the throne, which means Young Griff’s claim to the throne would be a bit redundant narratively. Also, given what we know about Varys’ motivations, it’s not hard to imagine him coming up with a pretender to rule the throne in his quest to stabilize the kingdom for the common folk.

Will Jon Go for the Iron Throne?

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The big question of the reveal of Jon’s name and parentage is what will he choose to do with this information? Follow-up question: Is he cool with incest? Because he just slept with his aunt. If so, that would make the question of who the rightful heir to the Iron Throne is a bit less complicated. Dany and Jon could get married and co-rule, with their probable kid next in line of succession.

On the other hand, Jon has never wanted to rule. Like the father who raised him, Jon is more interested in doing what’s right than seeking power. Although, sometimes, doing what’s right means seeking power (or at least holding onto it), something that we’ve seen Jon do in his tenure as King in the North. Will he have a similar attitude towards this claim to the Iron Throne?

It’s interesting that this reveal comes in an episode that sees Jon telling Theon that he can be both a Stark and a Greyjoy and that Ned Stark lives on through him. Even though Ned was neither of their biological fathers, he has made more of an effect on them then either of the men who made them. For a show about a world that relies so heavily on blood lineage, this is a pretty bold conclusion for Jon to draw. With this declaration, Jon rejects this game of thrones in some way. When the stakes are higher, when he learns his claim to the throne, will he do the same? Will he be Jon Snow, will he be Aegon Targaryen, or will he somehow be both?

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