He spilled! Or did he? Legions of Game of Thrones fans were in a tizzy after the June 26 season 6 finale, which finally confirmed Jon Snow’s parentage — one of the biggest mysteries of the TV and book series. But it seems former star Sean Bean may have let the cat out of the bag last year.
In a recently resurfaced Reddit AMA, the actor, who played Ned Stark (RIP!), appears to have offered fans a bit of a spoiler when one asked him, “Why did you not teach Jon Snow anything?”
“HAHAHAHAH Because he’s not mine!” the actor, 57, replied. “Little bastard!”
(Though one could argue that technically, Bean most certainly did not sire the new King of the North.)
As fans of the hit HBO show and bestselling novels by George R. R. Martin are well aware, Ned — before he lost his head thanks to lunatic boy king Joffrey Baratheon — was raising Jon as his bastard son.
Readers of Martin’s books have long speculated that Know Nothing Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is actually the son of Ned’s sister, Lyanna, and prince Rhaegar Targaryen, which the show confirmed in the season finale and with an intricate infographic days later.
Why all the secrecy over his parentage? Lyanna, who was betrothed to Ned’s BFF Robert Baratheon before Rhaegar kidnapped her, made her brother swear while she was on her deathbed that he would keep her illegitimate son safe from her fiancé. And with so-called dragon’s blood confirmed to be running through Jon’s veins, this means he could potentially challenge his aunt Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) for the coveted Iron Throne.
But fans will have to wait a year for the already confirmed-to-be-shorter season 7 to see how this complicated relationship could play out.