<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD!\u00A0 Last night&amp;#039;s\u00A0Game of Thrones\u00A0episode &amp;quot;Oathbreaker&amp;quot;\u00A0gave us a taste of a major Jon Snow fan theory\u2014but\u00A0through Bran Stark&amp;#039;s storyline. Stark has been time-traveling with the Three-Eyed Raven back to moments in his father&amp;#039;s youth. In the latest episode, he finds a grown Ned Stark just after the war of Robert&amp;#039;s Rebellion traveling\u00A0with six men to the Tower of Joy, which is integral to one major theory about\u00A0Jon Snow&amp;#039;s true lineage.\u00A0Let&amp;#039;s break it down:\u00A0 The Theory The theory at hand here is R+L=J, which purports that Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark are Jon Snow&amp;#039;s true parents, but Rhaegar died in the war and Lyanna, who died right after\u00A0childbirth, asked\u00A0Ned raise Jon as her\u00A0dying wish. You might already be familiar with the theory, considering how widely circulated it is.\u00A0 The Backstory As the story goes, Prince Rhaegar (Daenerys&amp;#039;s oldest\u00A0brother) and Lyanna\u00A0eloped\u00A0(though some say\u00A0he kidnapped and raped her) even though Lyanna was already promised to Robert Baratheon (Cersei&amp;#039;s deceased husband) and Rhaegar was already married to Elia Martell (Doran and Oberyn&amp;#039;s sister). Robert&amp;#039;s Rebellion was\u00A0Baratheon&amp;#039;s\u00A0retaliation against House Targaryen, whose patriarch Aerys (&amp;quot;The Mad King&amp;quot;) sat\u00A0on the Iron Throne at the time. Rhaegar fought in the war that ensued, but left Lyanna in the Tower of Joy, located in Dorne, protected by three of his Kingsguard,\u00A0including the great swordsman\u00A0Ser Arthur Dayne.\u00A0But why would the prince\u00A0do so much to protect his lover? Why\u00A0would Dayne, a great fighter, be forced\u00A0to stay at the tower rather than fight in the war\u00A0itself?\u00A0The theory\u00A0suggests\u00A0Lyanna was pregnant with\u00A0Rhaegar&amp;#039;s son,\u00A0Jon, and he needed to be protected from enemies since he would be one of Rhaegar&amp;#039;s heirs (in fact\u00A0his only heir, after Baratheon&amp;#039;s army murdered Rhaegar&amp;#039;s wife and legitimate children).  Above, a battle breaks out between Ned Stark and the Targaryen Kingsguard at The Tower of Joy in\u00A0&amp;quot;Oathbreaker.&amp;quot; Back to Bran Bran&amp;#039;s vision picks up\u00A0when the war is over and Ned arrives at\u00A0the tower with his squad,\u00A0which includes Howland Reed, the father of Bran&amp;#039;s travel buddies\u00A0Meera and Jojen.\u00A0Dayne challenges them to a\u00A0bloody battle\u00A0that leaves only\u00A0Ned and Reed as survivors. (Reed stabbed Dayne in the back to save Ned&amp;#039;s life.) In the scene, a blood-curdling scream emerges from the tower\u2014presumably from Lyanna\u2014and Ned chases it. That&amp;#039;s were Bran&amp;#039;s vision ends.\u00A0 Though Ned\u00A0never talked about Lyanna, as Bran and Sansa have mentioned\u00A0in prior episodes, those who read the books\u00A0got\u00A0hints\u00A0of\u00A0Ned&amp;#039;s last meeting with her through vague flashbacks in the days leading up to his beheading.\u00A0But in the show, the writers decided\u00A0to save those memories and use\u00A0Bran&amp;#039;s visions as a substitute for Ned&amp;#039;s\u00A0subconscious. What Happens Next We know from the books that Ned finds Lyanna in a pool of blood.\u00A0She cryptically\u00A0implores,\u00A0&amp;quot;Promise me,\u00A0Ned,&amp;quot; then\u00A0dies of unknown\u00A0causes. However, R+L=J suggests that she had just given birth to Jon and hands him to Ned as she lay dying, making him promise to raise\u00A0Jon as his own.\u00A0 What It Means If R+L=J is true, that makes Jon a true Stark (just not Ned&amp;#039;s son), a\u00A0Targaryen\u00A0and\u00A0an heir to the throne. It actually even gives fuel to Melisandre&amp;#039;s theory that Jon could be Azor Ahai, the Prince That Was Promised (the one\u00A0Stannis failed to be). Let&amp;#039;s also recall that Jon is no longer a member of the Night&amp;#039;s Watch, since he stormed out of Castle Black saying his &amp;quot;watch is ended&amp;quot; after hanging his traitors. Previously, a major flaw in\u00A0the theory\u00A0was that Jon, as a member of the Night&amp;#039;s Watch, swore an oath to\u00A0&amp;quot;wear no crowns\u00A0and win no glory.&amp;quot; Traditionally, men are tied to the Watch\u00A0for life and only death can sever the oath. But Jon\u00A0did technically die, so that might just\u00A0be his supernatural loophole. Plus, if his relationship with Ygritte taught us anything, it&amp;#039;s that Jon is not very good at following the rules. Regardless, now that he&amp;#039;s free, Jon\u00A0can take up whatever crowns and glory\u00A0he can get. If Bran&amp;#039;s visions pick up again\u00A0at the Tower of Joy, no matter the outcome, we are in for a major reveal. The press release for the May 22 episode, &amp;quot;The Door,&amp;quot;\u00A0already offers a hint: &amp;quot;Bran learns a great deal.&amp;quot;\u00A0 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a15554/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-tower-of-joy/>