Warning: Elements from the book series about the history of Westeros not overtly mentioned in the show are discussed below.

In addition to being a hot piece of Westeros gossip, the identities of Jon Snow’s parents on Game of Thrones is of vital importance to this story. (Or, at least, it better be — otherwise, what the seven hells are we all doing watching this show?) "Winds of Winter" seemed to confirm the famous, book-based R+L=J theory — i.e. Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark — but what does it mean not just for the quest for the Iron Throne, but for the story at large? We viewers/readers know that Westeros has much bigger fish to fry than who gets to sit on that uncomfortable chair.

As vividly experienced in "Hardhome," ice zombies are coming, and they don’t care which house you’re allied with or which oaths you may or may not have broken. Jon Snow is one of the only show/book protagonists who not only knows of this larger threat, but who takes it very seriously (as he should). I doubt this is a coincidence. In fact, I think Jon was born for this particular fight. Given his own concern with this larger, oncoming war between the White Walkers, his presumed heritage doesn’t just give him a solid claim to the Iron Throne, it may truly solidify him as the main character of this whole, crazy book/TV story franchise. Jon Snow is the song of ice and fire.

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Image via HBO

What does that mean? Well, for those who haven’t read the books (or, you know, have, but don’t spend hours coming up with elaborate theories about them), while in the House of the Undying, Daenerys sees a vision of her brother, Rhaegar, saying: “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” At the time, Dany thought Rhaegar was talking about his son Aegon, but where’s the fun in that? A long-held Internet theory wonders if Rhaegar isn’t talking about Aegon, but rather Jon Snow. If Jon is the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, as R+L=J asserts, then he is the product of ice (Lyanna, a Stark of the frozen North) and fire (Rhaegar, a Targaryen, the dragon-wielding house of fire and blood). On the show, when Dany is in the House of the Undying she ends up at the Wall in the snow during her vision, so perhaps that's a more cryptic allusion to the same thing? (Or just the Long Night that is coming?)

Though Game of Thrones tends to focus more on its historical than its fantasy elements, the magic inherent in A Song of Ice and Fire is becoming increasingly important. It has always been there, of course, in the direwolves and the warging and the blondes coming out of funeral pyres like phoenixes out of the flames, but, in Season 6, this magic is taking on increasing relevance. From Bran’s weirwood flashback adventures to Jon Snow’s miraculous resurrection, Game of Thrones isn’t just messing around with swords and bears anymore. It’s wights and dragons time now. If you’re Jon Snow, you don’t want to bring a (non-dragonglass) knife to a wight fight. And, if you’re the world of men, you don’t want a regular, non-prophesied dude to lead you into an epic battle for all humanity. That’s just good strategy (look what happened to Stannis).

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Image via HBO

The Houses of Stark and Targaryen aren’t just two of the most politically powerful in the Seven Kingdoms, they also happen to be the only two houses associated with magic. While the Stark kids have the ability to warg into their direwolves (and Bran is basically a time-travelling magician at this point), the Targaryens have the ability to speak to and ride dragons. The luckiest of their number are also immune to the effects of fire. If Jon were able to harness the magical abilities of both houses (not to mention buddy up to a few dragons), then he might be the only hope against the White Walkers and their army of wights. He is the Prince That Was Promised. He is Azor Ahai reborn! (Melisandre seems to believe it now, too.) He will be the one to unite the kingdoms of men against the White Walkers.

Of course, Game of Thrones has never been the kind of show to tell a traditional story, and it’s hard to get any more cliché than a trope about The Chosen One -- even though the show hasn't yet built up Jon's mythology so that viewers who haven't read the books are aware of the mythology potentially fueling his resurrection. So perhaps Game of Thrones isn’t going to go the Jon Snow = A Song of Ice and Fire direction. But, given everything we (and Jon Snow) have been through thus far on Game of Thrones, I think we deserve something little triumphant. And he is now, after all, the King in the North.

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Image via HBO
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Image via HBO