Perhaps the most significant reveal in all of Thrones was met with the equivalent of a wave of the hand.
In “Eastwatch,” Sam continued his menial work at the Citadel, copying texts by hand while sitting across the table from Gilly, who was passing the time by reading records written by Maynard, the High Septon.
Gilly asks Sam a pair of irrelevant trivia questions related to the records before inquiring about a more pertinent matter. “What is an annulment?” she asks.
“It’s when a man sets aside his lawful wife,” Sam replies.
“Maynard says here that he issued an annulment for Prince Raggar,” she says, stumbling over the pronunciation of Crown Prince Rhaegar’s name. “And remarried him to someone else at the same time at a secret ceremony in Dorne. Is that a common thing in the South?”
At this point, not realizing the gravity of the revelation, Sam interrupts, complaining that he is being burdened with menial tasks instead of being given permission to find a way to defeat the Night King. At this point, Sam decides to steal relevant literature from the Citadel and abandon his training in hopes of defeating the army of the dead.
Gilly’s discovery, of course, strongly suggests that Lyanna Stark wasn’t kidnapped, but rather, ran away with Rhaegar Targaryen to begin a love affair. And the marriage between the two means that Jon Snow is not a bastard, but a trueborn Targaryen, and now, the person with a rightful claim to the Iron Throne.
So when will this information surface? And if it does, what will that mean for the new and tender Stark-Targaryen alliance? The team discussed the implications of Jon’s newfound legitimacy on this week’s episode of Talk the Thrones.
Disclosure: HBO is an initial investor in The Ringer.
