My Aegon Targaryen/Jon Snow Theory.

[Ygrain]

But... Ashara Dayne had dark hair. I checked it before posting and I checked it now too, and Wiki still says it's dark.

Yes but Darkstar has silver hair and Ned Dayne pale blond, so apparently the looks are in the family (" they have pale skin with hair ranging from dark brown to pale blond and that they often have violet eyes" per the wiki).

Hmm... I don't know. Maybe they could. I still don't really believe that Aegon is Illyrio's son, but you might be right and they might be able to produce a Valyrian looking child. But that child is not Aegon, I think.

I do not know. I certainly don't believe a word of what Varys and Illyrio claim, and Illyrio's sentiment for the boy as well as the fact that he still keeps Aegon's clothes in his house do seem supsicious. Plus, there is this whole issue of Serra possibly being a Blackfyre.

[King of Winters]

But... Ashara Dayne had dark hair. I checked it before posting and I checked it now too, and Wiki still says it's dark.

Edric Dayne had pale blonde hair. So Daynes have that trait with the hair. So any of Ashara's children could have been born with hair like that.

[RhaenysBee]

Yes but Darkstar has silver hair and Ned Dayne pale blond, so apparently the looks are in the family (" they have pale skin with hair ranging from dark brown to pale blond and that they often have violet eyes" per the wiki).

I do not know. I certainly don't believe a word of what Varys and Illyrio claim, and Illyrio's sentiment for the boy as well as the fact that he still keeps Aegon's clothes in his house do seem supsicious. Plus, there is this whole issue of Serra possibly being a Blackfyre.

Yes, I do admit, that I'm not quite familiar with the while Serra a Blackfyre thing, so anything can happen. Only, I really don't like the idea and this strongly bends me towards the not convinced end.

Edric Dayne had pale blonde hair. So Daynes have that trait with the hair. So any of Ashara's children could have been born with hair like that.

Yeah, I know that, but... okay, you'll kill me for this, but even if Daynes have the trait of hair, whoever impregnated Ashara must have had the blond trait in his family too so a blond child could be produced. And I'm not sure Ned Stark had that. Though here comes the mysterious issue of the mysterious Lady Stark aka Nedmom.

Well, whatever, I really don't believe Jon has anything to do with Ashara Dayne, I think Ashara is only an intentional mislead in the whole question.

[A Bastard King]

Does it really matter if Aegon's a fake and Jon's the real deal? When did blood ever determine who sat on the throne anyway?

What Aegon has:

Varys

Jon Connington

Dorne

An army

Stormsend

Targaryen features

What Jon has:

No connections

No army

Questionable parents

Stark features

Which in GRRM's world can only mean Jon is the real deal.

[King of Winters]

Yeah, I know that, but... okay, you'll kill me for this, but even if Daynes have the trait of hair, whoever impregnated Ashara must have had the blond trait in his family too so a blond child could be produced. And I'm not sure Ned Stark had that. Though here comes the mysterious issue of the mysterious Lady Stark aka Nedmom.

Do we know if the Dayne traits are like the Targs, only two Targs can make another with platinum hair and purple eyes, or if it doesn't matter.

It it mentioned who Edric's father is? He has purple eyes and pale blonde, so he has all the Dayne traits but his father might have been someone with dark hair and eyes.

[Ygrain]

Yeah, I know that, but... okay, you'll kill me for this, but even if Daynes have the trait of hair, whoever impregnated Ashara must have had the blond trait in his family too so a blond child could be produced. And I'm not sure Ned Stark had that. Though here comes the mysterious issue of the mysterious Lady Stark aka Nedmom.

It needn't have been Lady Stark but some other ancestor further up the tree, and it could be the very one who bestowed the red-hair gene, allowing Ned to sire four children with the Tully look :P

Well, whatever, I really don't believe Jon has anything to do with Ashara Dayne, I think Ashara is only an intentional mislead in the whole question.

:agree:

[naik2902]

Does it really matter if Aegon's a fake and Jon's the real deal? When did blood ever determine who sat on the throne anyway?

What Aegon has:

Varys

Jon Connington

Dorne

An army

Stormsend

Targaryen features

What Jon has:

No connections

No army

Questionable parents

Stark features

jon has melisandra. wait for stannis to die. she will get confirmation that jon is AA.

[RhaenysBee]

Do we know if the Dayne traits are like the Targs, only two Targs can make another with platinum hair and purple eyes, or if it doesn't matter.

It it mentioned who Edric's father is? He has purple eyes and pale blonde, so he has all the Dayne traits but his father might have been someone with dark hair and eyes.

What we know is that blond is always inferior and thus to get a blond haired child parents both need to have the blond gene in store even if they have a dominant dark hair gene too which suppresses the inferior gene to show in their appearance. So I don't think it matters whether it's Dayne or Targaryen.

It needn't have been Lady Stark but some other ancestor further up the tree, and it could be the very one who bestowed the red-hair gene, allowing Ned to sire four children with the Tully look :P

:agree:

Yeah, you are right about that o.O That Ned needed inferior hair color genes too to produce Tully colored children...

So, :D the original point was something like how could Ned have known the child would have his coloring? Or what? I forgot :D To that the answer is still looking at the infant, because if he's got dark baby hair, it's close to impossible that it'll turn light with time. If he had light hair, he could hope it'll darken.

But yeah, I still seriously doubt Ned fathered a bastard on Ashara Dayne.

[Mayura]

Well, there is a simple narrative answer as to why Jon Snow cannot just be the son of Ned Stark and of a random woman: if he were, then there would be no point at all for Ned to lie about who is mom is... What difference does it make to the world of Jon is Wylla's, hence a nobody's son? Nobody would care. And who would care about Ned + Ashara's son? Some people already believe that to be true, so why would he hide it to Jon? There is just no point to make a mystery of Jon's parentage if he is just a nobody.

It is said in the books that baby Aegon had the fair hair of the Targaryen, so we can assume that baby Jon showed darker hair. But anyway, it doesn't even matter, the "Ashara Dayne is the mom" rumor could have saved ned's secret if Jon was to grow up having either violet eyes, fair hair or both...

Furthermore, I really don't see why Ned would take his sister's son and then give it to Varys's team. It makes no sense at all, Ned knows better than to trust the spider.

[Sir Tan Lee]

A mistake on the tense of your verb, I believe, he currently has some stabs on his body and Stark features, what he might have in the future is a complete speculation, while Aegon does have all that was listed.

I'm kidding.

[Prince of the Green]

Furthermore, I really don't see why Ned would take his sister's son and then give it to Varys's team. It makes no sense at all, Ned knows better than to trust the spider.

I've always looked at this as an indicator that Jon is Lyanna's child. I think most of the time the people of the South look to the Free Cities for news and relevant information as opposed to the North.

Lyanna had her beloved brother at her bedside. I can't believe she'd endorse Ned sending her child to Essos, where he wouldn't be taken care of the way Jon was at Winterfell. He might not have had a relatively easy life, what with Catelyn's interference and all, but he was taught by Ned and Luwin and trained at arms by Ser Rodrik.

[WildBlood]

Does it really matter if Aegon's a fake and Jon's the real deal? When did blood ever determine who sat on the throne anyway?

What Aegon has:

Varys

Jon Connington

Dorne

An army

Stormsend

Targaryen features

What Jon has:

No connections

No army

Questionable parents

Stark features

He doesn't officially have Dorne as of yet. Doran is still on the fence.

[HodorForTheIronThrone]

I'm convinced on R+L=J, I like your theory but I don't believe Ned would give his nephew (who he most likely promised to keep safe to Lyanna) to Varys or be unhonourable unless he was going through a period of grief and became slightly unhinged, but there has never been any mention of Ned acting off or not being an honourable man.

[RightfulHeir]

First off, polygamy was never officially illegal for the Targaryens, merely frowned upon. Seriously, even if we don't count Rhaegar, that still leaves: Aegon I, Maegor I, Viserys I, and Aegon III. All of them had multiple wives at a time, several of which were relatives. But nobody cared because both of which are Valyrian customs.

Secondly, it's quite the ballsy move to come at R+L=J. But to do it without any quotes from the text is not theorizing, but simply blind speculation.

What's the purpose of questioning the legitimacy of Rhaegar and Lyanna's child anyway? The presence of the Kingsguard at the Tower of Joy immediately disproves this. Not to mention that Rhaegar and Lyanna left for Dorne from Harrenhal. Northern marriage customs dictate that the betrothed say their vows to/in front of a weirwood tree. The Isle of Faces is just south of Harrenhal and is one of the few places with weirwood trees south of the Neck. Rhaegar and Lyanna would have simply gotten married there, the Isle of Faces is on the way to the Tower of Joy anyway.

You also need to think of this from a literary point of view. Either, "I will make a whole game-changing character arc, that will be given mounds upon mounds of textual evidence and foreshadowing," as opposed to, "I will bring back a character that hasn't turned up until about three quarters of the way through the series, just so I psych out the audience."

Having said that, I do not have a set opinion on Aegon's legitimacy yet-though I lean towards not Rhaegar's. But having this whole other explanation for Aegon's parentage is ridiculous.

[Isobel Harper]

Although well into crackpot territory, there's the possibility that Aegon and Jon were twins. By Aegon, I mean "Young Griff" - the boy we meet in ADwD - who would not be Elia's son but Lyanna's according to the theory.

See also here.

Jon Connington might very well know something about Rhaegar getting Lyanna with child. He refers to Aegon as Rhaegar "firstborn son" when introducing him to the Golden Company.

"No man could have asked for a worthier son," Griff said, "but the lad is not of my blood, and his name is not Griff. My lords, I give you Aegon Targaryen, firstborn son of Rhaegar, Prince of Dragonstone, by Princess Elia of Dorne … soon, with your help, to be Aegon, the Sixth of His Name, King of Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms."