This 'GoT' Parallel Will Hit You In The Feels

Well, this week's episode of Game of Thrones was eventful, to say the least. Between the deaths (some more brutal and gruesome than others), the resurrections, the dragon taming, and the flashback sequence, there is a lot to process. With so much happening — and all the emotions swirling around as a result — in Game of Thrones' "Home," there's bound to be certain aspects of the episode that most of us overlooked (or were too busy crying to notice). So, here's the one thing in last night's episode of Game of Thrones that you absolutely need to notice, once you've recovered from your Thrones hangover of course.

During one of the lighter portions of the episode (though it may have been overshadowed by the joy inspired by that ending), Bran has a vision of his father, uncle, and aunt, taking a trip down memory lane with the Three-Eyed Raven to when Ned, Benjen, and Lyanna Stark were young kids at Winterfell. Of course, at first glimpse, the scene seems to be a nod to the early days of Game of Thrones when Bran himself was a sweet summer child training with his own siblings at Winterfell. But, as Tumblr user killbilled noticed, the scene between young Ned and young Benjen is also a direct parallel to one between Jon Snow and Olly in the Season 5 premiere.

Like father, like son, right? Well, that's where we need to dig a little bit deeper into these parallel scenes. Game of Thrones established early on the Jon Snow is Ned Stark's bastard son with an unknown woman — seriously, the show made such a point of this "fact" that "You must be Ned Stark's bastard" became a meme. Of course, it's possible that all the focus on Jon Snow being Ned's bastard is meant to throw viewers off the scent of the real story around Jon's birth, which is where the R + L = J fan theory comes in.

First off, for those that haven't heard of it, R + L = J is the theory that Jon is not Ned's son, but rather his nephew, fathered by Lyanna and Rhaegar Targaryen and given to Ned to raise and protect when his real parents were killed in the rebellion that overthrew the Mad King and sat Robert Baratheon on the throne. Neither Game of Thrones nor the author of the books, George R.R. Martin, have confirmed whether the theory is true or not, but many fans believe the story is leading in that direction.

So, is the parallel between Jon and Ned seen in Game of Thrones proof that Jon is Ned's son and the R + L = J theory is incorrect? Or is it, like the pointed abundance of "You must be Ned Stark's bastard" lines, meant to throw fans off the scent of the truth? Personally, I think it's another decoy. If we really want to read into this (and I certainly do), then the parallel line can easily be explained by the fact that Jon was raised by Ned, and likely learned many of the elder Stark's mannerisms/sayings during that time. So, I'd guess this is actually further proof that R + L = J is true — and a nice, emotional stab to the feels for those viewers who managed to notice the parallel between these Game of Thrones scenes.

Images: Helen Sloan/HBO (2); killbilled/Tumblr