How did you figure out R+L=J?

[Maya Stone]

I watched the first 3 seasons of the show before starting the books, and while I was still at the beginning of reading aGoT (before I even reached the ToJ dream and all the hints) someone tweeted about it so I googled the theory and was blown away. I was really excited and shocked and I immediately found all the clues later on while reading, but as I read further on I still believed that Jon could be Ned's son (or maybe I just really want it to be true) so yeah I'm still caught up between the two, but I believe in the theory. And yes it's still a theory until proven a fact by GRRM

[Ser Leftwich]

Suspected it in my first read of AGoT (in 2003), but was not sure. "The blue flower growing from a chick in a wall of ice," from ACoK was what pushed it over the edge.

Also, this exchange between Brienne and Jaime, really solidified it for me, it is an unfiltered bold statement about Robert's character with the rose colored glasses of history and from a person who knew the real Robert,

“Robert did all he did for love.” Water ran down Brienne’s legs and pooled beneath her feet.

“Robert did all he did for pride, a cunt, and a pretty face.” - ASoS p. 505

[Kingmonkey]

I started with the suspicion that Ned wasn't Jon's real father very early on in the book, within a few chapters. Not a clue in the text so much as a suspicion of author's intent. The whole thing about there being a mystery of Jon's mother just made me think "Ok, so we're being distracted from the real mystery of Jon's dad."

From there to R+L=J I can't be very specific about. The idea that Ned wasn't Jon's dad was bubbling away at the back of my mind throughout reading and I tend to subconsciously try out endless "what's the author up to" thoughts in my head as I read. I think it was the Jon looks like Arya / Arya looks like Lyanna thing that made me suspect Lyanna, then it was just a matter of looking for the father.

[SnowHeart]

Embarrassingly, I was sop desperate to find out what happened to Ned, Arya, and Syrio at this stage of the book that I speed-read about half of it and missed any important information until Ned lost his head.

[eac]

Reading AGOT I really suspected that Ned wasn't Jon's father. But I wound up stumbling on the R+L=J theory online before entirely figuring it out myself.

[JNR]

It seemed terribly obvious in the first book. Since it was a fantasy series, I expected there to be a hidden prince. So I looked for a teen male character who was very unhappy socially and whose parentage seemed mysterious. Jon was the clear best choice.

About two seconds after reading Robert's account of what happened to Lyanna, I rolled my eyes and said "And that's how he's the hidden prince" and was disappointed in GRRM.

Reading Ned's mind in subsequent chapters did nothing to dissuade me from this position.

Fortunately, I kept reading and kept thinking and as I did, my opinion of GRRM improved quite a bit.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Because it kept coming up. Anything that happened that long ago that is currently still causing problems, stress, anger and resentment and deep thought and regret has to have something more than the obvious going on.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

Frankly, I didn't see a mystery in the first place. Tyrion's theory, that Jon's mother was some woman, made perfect sense and was specific enough for me. I never really wondered about it on my own.

[dbunting]

Figured it out when I read it on here! I saw season 1 and 2, then read the books 3-5. After the first two episodes I knew something was up with Jons parents, was pretty sure Ned wasn't the father, but didn't connect Lyanna and Rheagar because the foreshadowing is lighter in the show. After reading Dance I came on here and saw the link and was like, ok, yep, that makes sense of what I felt.

[The Amethyst Empress]

I watched the first 3 season of the show before I read the books and I was always curious about Jon's mother.

So after I finished the show I googled "who is Jon Snow's mother" and saw all the theories...R+L=J made the most sense even without reading the books!

Then I read the books

[The Patternmaker]

I read all the books after the first season of the show. Ned's dream about the ToJ made me suspect that Rhaegar and Lyanna were Jon's parents. I mentioned my suspicions to my wife, and she said that she had come to the same conclusion as well. Afterwards, I looked it up on the boards and found more evidence to support the theory.

[OrangeStallion]

I came to the fandom last year around this time. I think it was before I started ADwD. I just kinda thought about it for a moment. Then I was really excited about my theory after i finished the books, came on to share it with the world, and bam, 100 threads lol

[sanzor]

I first saw the first 2 seasons and then i started reading the books.I knew heads start that Jon was special .After reading all the books (coz i didnt read anything online b4 i finished all 5 books)i knew Jon was somewhat special ,i believed he was Ned's son or i felt it makes sense ,but his mother was someone special very special.

After i discovered the forum and i read the theory i was bought instantly..rock solid.

[Sword of the Morgan]

I had a sense that Jon was not Ned's son, but I did not put it together. I only ready AGOT once before coming to these boards, which is when I first read about it. I think it's a good theory, but I don't think it's set in stone.

[TheonGreyjoy]

I was intrigued about it, after I was finished with the first book, so I googled it, and found 1000 of pages with info about it

[Blackfish Tully]

There was a scene where Ned was talking to Jon and told him "you are my blood" Before I had kids I would not have thought twice about that but having kids that kinda of struck me as a little weird . In talking to my kids I would always say "you are my son" or "you are my daughter" never "you are my blood" that's for brothers , nephews, cousins etc..

Even after that it took my a while to puzzle it out and one day it just hit me out of the blue that Jon was his sister's son.

I missed nearly every other mystery in the book , Frey Pie completely shocked me when I read it on the forum.

[Han Snow]

I was walking down the street minding my own business when suddenly a flying squirrel landed in front of me and started yelling;

Rhaegar + Lyanna = Jon! Naturally I took off my walking helmet and threw it at the annoying critter so it flew away, but alas it was too late and I was spoiled. Otherwise, it was a pleasantly warm autumn morning and surprisingly enough, because there was a nip in the air when I shaved my legs in the backyard a few hours earlier. Anyways, three years later I started reading the ASOIAF saga and it finally all made sense. Of course now it's on every bumper sticker so I kindly warn people not look at those damn things if they don't want to be spoiled about who are Jon's true parents, and to be on their guard when they see a flying, talking squirrel cause it will surely spoil sh*t for them!

[Watcher_inthe_Woods]

I made a point of reading the books before starting to watch the series but I honestly can't remember what I thought beyond deciding that Jon was definitely not Ned's and was probably Lyanna's boy. Coming to these forums and reading the discussions helped to pinpoint things to look for in my rereads.

[Faydra]

I did not even have the chance to do so, which is something that I regret. Maybe I would have been able to figure it out by the end of ADwD, but I found out about it before starting to read the books (what's funnier is that I didn't know who these people - Rhaegar, Lyanna - are when I saw the post on the internet squirrel mentioned by Han Snow).

[A spoon of knife and fork]

I feel like an idiot, but while i figured out that Lyanna and Rhaegar ran off together willingly, and I even believed Lyanna died in childbirth, still I never figured out that jon was not Neds but Lyannas.

So I came to the internets and was like... Oh. Duh. Of course.