Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season six, including speculation of future events.
The "Game of Thrones" finale came just shy of explicitly confirming the series' biggest fan theories of all time. "R + L = J" is the super popular theory that states Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.
Rhaegar Targaryen was the son of the Mad King Aerys and older brother to Daenerys. He's never been seen on the show, not even in a flashback. Viewers did finally get a look at Lyanna in the finale. She was Ned Stark's younger sister, betrothed to Robert Baratheon before running away with Rhaegar and bearing his secret lovechild, Jon Snow. At least that's how the (probably true) theory goes.
In the finale, fans were given a glimpse of Lyanna Stark handing off a baby to Ned, begging him to protect it from the wrath of Robert Baratheon. We've written out an extensive look at the extended context given for Jon Snow being the likely son of Rhaegar and Lyanna. But for now, let's look at specific instances from the show that support the theory as well.
Scroll down for a complete list of moments from "Game of Thrones" that prove "R + L = J" is true.
Ned Stark purposefully didn't call Jon his son, but instead said "my blood."
Ned kept Jon's true parentage a secret his entire life, choosing to raise Jon as his own for the boy's own protection. But Ned is an honorable and moral man. He avoided lying outright when he could help it. So when Jon asked Ned about his mother in season one, Ned replied carefully: "You are a Stark. You might not have my name, but you have my blood."
The Stark family blood does indeed run through Jon. It just happens to be Lyanna's blood, not Ned's.
Daenerys had a vision of "Snow" in the Throne Room.
When Daenerys enters the House of Undying in Qarth she experiences a series of prophetic visions. One of these was when she saw snow in the Throne Room of King's Landing. Immediately afterwards she walked through a door and found herself at the Wall. This was heavy foreshadowing of Jon Snow's true family history and ties to the royal Targaryen family.
Oberyn Martell explicitly says that Rhaegar and Lyanna had an affair.
Before running off with Lyanna, Rhaegar Targaryen was married with Elia Martell — the sister of Oberyn Martell. The running story in Westeros was that Rhaegar kidnapped and raped Lyanna, but Oberyn seems to know about a different version of events. "The last time I was in the capital was many years ago," Oberyn told Tyrion. "Another wedding: my sister Elia and Rhaegar Targaryen, the last dragon. My sister loved him. She bore his children … and beautiful, noble Rhaegar Targaryen left her for another woman."
This was the first time in the series that viewers were told anything other than the kidnap and rape narrative. A significant moment for theorists watching.
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