Stark
jon snow
As we’ve seen R+L=J confirmed, I’ve seen a lot more comments on Jon’s place in the Stark family, and whether it’s to support Jon as King of Westeros, support specific ships, or to criticize his role as KITN, it’s all become rather uncomfortable – some of the most uncomfortable comments being that Cat was “right” to suspect Jon, that his sisters will see him as a romantic interest when they realize that he’s their cousin, or the Jon Targaryen posts that declare he’s only a Targaryen.
Whether it’s to support or criticize Jon, the main arguments I’ve seen have been “he’s not really a Stark, he’s Rhaegar & Lyanna’s son.” However, this ignores two very important things:
- Lyanna was a Stark. The 8 Starks that we know and love are not the only Starks in existence. Lyanna was born a Stark and she died a Stark, and like Ned told Jon, “you may not have my name, but my blood runs through your veins.” Jon being descended from a Targaryen does not change the fact that he is also a Stark.
- Jon has been raised by Starks. I don’t care that Ned is biologically Jon’s uncle. He adopted Jon. He raised Jon. He loved Jon, and while Rhaegar is Jon’s biological father, Ned is also Jon’s father. Ned will always be Jon’s father. Ned didn’t think “ah yes, there is my nephew”, he looked at Jon and saw his son. Jon has always wanted to be a Stark, to be a complete part of the family, and his siblings saw him as just their brother. Even the ones who may have seen a difference wanted him to be legally a part of the family. Robb legitimatized Jon in the end, made sure his brother could be a Stark like he wanted.
So many arguments suggest that Jon is going to reject the Starks, or fall in love with his sisters, or plot against his family to steal their birthrights. I’ve seen comments saying that Jon is stealing from Sansa, that Cat was correct in mistrusting them – as if Jon wants to rule, or is intentionally scheming against his sister. Other comments talk about how once Jon realizes he’s a Targaryen, he’ll immediately want to be with Sansa or Arya. Whatever the comment, they all seem to completely disregard Jon’s character – his desire to fit in, his sadness about being a bastard, his love for his family – and assume one basic thing: since Jon is not biologically Ned Stark’s son, the sibling bond between him and the other Starks will be gone.
It not only assumes that as an adopted family member, Jon isn’t a “real” Stark, but also takes all the emotion out of the Starks – as if they didn’t spend 5 books, 6 seasons thinking of one another, hoping to see one another again, as if they didn’t spend their entire lives with each other. Bran shouted that Jon was his brother, Arya has stated how she’s felt most connected to him, Sansa has accepted him as her brother. And yet, somehow, Jon being their cousin means those emotions will go out the window to fit whatever plot point fans want to criticize or support.
And even if he’s not legally a Stark? Sansa said it best – he’s a Stark to her. The Stark siblings love Jon, and no matter what he legally is – bastard, cousin, Targaryen – he’s always going to be a Stark, he’s always going to be their brother. Because Jon is Jon. Their brother, their family. Whatever his label is at the time is going to change absolutely nothing, and the ideas floating around that the Starks will no longer see Jon as their brother because he’s not biologically their brother is so incredibly insulting.
