There is one secret both Game of Thrones book readers and show fans alike have been waiting years to be revealed: who is Jon Snow's mother? The answer to the question that spawned a thousand theories may finally be answered on Sunday, May 8. As Vanity Fair pointed out, ironically enough that happens to be Mother's Day, and the preview for Season 6, Episode 3 "Oathbreaker" includes scenes of Bran witnessing what can only be the siege on The Tower of Joy. Get excited people, because this might be huge.
For those in the know, just mentioning The Tower of Joy can send shivers down their spine. The scene is shrouded in legend. The Tower is where Ned's sister Lyanna Stark was held during Robert's Rebellion, but little is known about why she was there. Some speculate that Lyanna was taken by Dany's brother Rhaegar Targaryen and held against her will, while others believe Lyanna ran away with Rhaegar because the two were in love. Either way, Ned led a siege on the tower to get his sister back, but only two people survived that battle: Ned and Howland Reed (father of Meera and Jojen).
According to the books, Ned found Lyanna lying on a bed covered in blood and with her dying breath she said, "Promise me." Promise what you ask? Supporters of the R + L = J theory believe she asked her brother to raise her son, Jon, as his own, protecting him from his Targaryen identity. If the theory proves to be true then that would make Jon Dany's nephew, and a Targaryen and Stark by birth, in other words, a son of ice and fire.
See, this is why no one believed Jon would actually stay dead — unless everyone is way, way off base, he is the personification of the title of the entire series (A Song of Ice and Fire). There is no doubt the scene previewed in the "Oathbreaker" promo, shown above, is the infamous Tower of Joy scene. You have Ned's group of five men versus three Targaryen men, including Ser Arthur Dayne, facing off in front of a tower. It would be a pretty major fake-out to have these images be from any other battle.
Here is the catch, though, viewers will only get to see as much of the battle as the Three-Eyed Raven allows Bran to see. In the second episode of Season 6, Bran was allowed to see his father, Lyanna, Benjen, and a young Hodor briefly, but the Three-Eyed Raven did not let Bran stay at Winterfell for long. There is no guarantee that that he will let Bran not only witness the battle, but also follow Ned to the top of the tower to hear Lyanna's final words.
Game Of Thrones is definitely going to show the battle, that much is promised in the trailer. However, it has not promised to show what happens after the battle just yet. It be the best Mother's Day gift ever to finally have a definitive answer to whether or not Jon is Lyanna's son, but Game of Thrones also likes to keep fans guessing. Keep your fingers crossed that now that Jon has been resurrected, the series will finally answer the second most pressing Jon Snow question of our time.
Images: Helen Sloan/HBO; stormbornvalkyrie/Tumblr
