'Game of Thrones' Season 8: Jon's Targaryen Reveal Will 'Cause Real Problems' With Dany
Spoilers ahead from the "Game of Thrones" Season 7 finale.
Jon Snow has a new name: Aegon Targaryen. He doesn't look like an Aegon, so maybe let's just go with Jon Targaryen. But what will Daenerys Targaryen call him in "Game of Thrones" Season 8, when she inevitably finds out the truth? Nephew Jonnie?
"Game of Thrones" Season 7 introduced Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, and ended with the two getting nekkid in bed. In an awkward move, as we watched them gettin' it on, we heard Bran Stark and Samwell Tarly discussing the truth about Jon's past -- and relation to Dany. He's not Jon Snow. Or Jon Sand. He's not even Jon Targaryen. Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark got married and had a baby boy, and in her dying breath, Lyanna told Ned Stark her son's name would be Aegon Targaryen.
There's already another Aegon Targaryen, one of the two children The Mountain killed under Lannister orders -- one of poor ill-fated Elia Martell's kids with Rhaegar -- and it's not clear if we'll ever get answers on how or why it was so easy for Rhaegar to ditch Elia and his other kids for Lyanna. How can he really be a hero and still do that?
Anyway, that was not the takeaway of the moment. The moment was about bringing together "The Dragon and the Wolf" of the Season 7 finale episode title -- showing Rhaegar and Lyanna on screen for the first time, even as Dany and Jon had sex for the first time, and possibly conceived their own baby dragon/wolf.
Lyanna and Rhaegar Targaryen, the greatest love story of all time pic.twitter.com/canqGKeAMU
— j. (@livelovebread) August 28, 2017
Dany: I can't have children.
Jon: Hold my beer. #GoTS7finale ???? pic.twitter.com/t9Z3U2KcjP— ® (@rifMarie) August 28, 2017
HBO showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss addressed the potential clash ahead, when Dany realizes Jon is her nephew and has a better claim to the Iron Throne.
Here's Weiss's take on that reveal scene, from HBO's "Inside the Episode" video:
"I would say the challenge with this sequence was finding a way to present information that at least a good portion of the audience already had in a way that was dramatic and exciting, and also had a new element to it. Part of the answer as to how to go about doing that was in the montage, inter-cut nature of it. It was about making it clear that this was almost like an information bomb that Jon was heading towards. The only way to really emphasize that was to tie those two worlds together cinematically, and to have Bran actually narrating these facts over the footage of Jon and Dany. Just as we're seeing these two people come together, we're hearing the information that will inevitably if not tear them apart, then at least cause real problems in their relationship. And she's his aunt."
Here's more from Benioff:
"It complicates everything on a political level, and on a personal level, and it just makes everything that could have been so neat and kind of perfect for Jon and Dany, and it really muddies the waters."
And now you can watch Emilia Clarke (Dany) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) react to the scene, and predict what it means for their characters in Season 8:What do you think will bother Dany more -- the idea that Jon is her nephew, or that he has a better claim to the Iron Throne?
As we've mentioned before, "claims" are kind of old-fashioned these days, and not just because The Great War makes all that obsolete. Jon was named King in the North despite the Northerners not knowing his background, because the people picked him. Would Jon even want to sit on the Iron Throne? Probably not under normal circumstances. He's not the political type, that's Dany's thing. But maybe yes if it means sitting next to Dany and ruling by her side. That way Sansa Stark can stay The Lady of Winterfell.
Go inside "The Dragon and the Wolf" for more behind the scenes details:HBO also just announced "The Game Revealed," a new post-season behind-the-scenes series available exclusively on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
"The seven-part series features exclusive interviews with cast and crew that provide new info and insights on how some of the biggest moments from the latest season of the HBO series came together. The first episode of THE GAME REVEALED is now available, and fans can also watch it for free on Facebook and YouTube. The remaining six episodes will be available exclusively to HBO subscribers, with new episodes rolling out on a weekly basis on subsequent Mondays."
Here's Episode 1:"Game of Thrones" Season 8 starts filming in October for premiere in either 2018 or 2019.
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