Game of Thrones Theorycrafting: The Twins That Were Promised?

CAUTION: THIS POST CONTAINS SPECULATION ABOUT GAME OF THRONES AND A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, SOME OF WHICH MAY EVEN TURN OUT TO BE TRUE

Over at The Huffington Post, the TV editor has dug up an oldie but a goody of a conspiracy theory regarding Jon Snow’s parentage, and it’s not the obvious one you’re probably thinking of. This particular theory has been making the rounds for the last few months, ever since Littlefinger paused awkwardly when Sansa prattled on in “Sons of the Harpy” about Lyanna Stark being kidnapped and raped by Rhaegar Targaryen. It’s a theory I’ve heard once or twice before but never put all that much stock in—until now.

With the Tower of Joy on the docket for Season 6, it looks like the mystery of Jon’s parentage, which the books drop quite a few circular hints about, is finally going to be solved by the show. The irony that the show is going to make the Big Reveal first should not be lost on anybody—after all, the show removed most of those circular hints, since a lot of them came in prophetic visions or otherwise weren’t designed to make good television. But then again, television isn’t exactly a subtle medium, so skipping the hints in favor of a flashback is probably for the best.

But what will we find out when we reach the Tower of Joy? Most of us assume that we already know: we’ll find Lyanna Stark at the top of the tower, mid-childbirth, or perhaps just after it, dying from the usual complications that modern medicine has only sort-of solved. Her brother Ned is at her side, and he sees the only son she will ever have lying on the bed, squalling. Lyanna begs him to take the child—the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, and therefore a natural target for the vengeful Robert Baratheon—and to keep him safe at all costs.

And now, the twist: what if there was a girl baby too?

Yes, I know. We’ve seen that cliche before: the twins who were separated at birth to keep them safe from a vengeful figure. (Star Wars Did It!) According to this theory, the boy went with Ned back to Winterfell where Ned raised him as his bastard son Jon Snow, much to the rage and disgust of his wife. The girl went home with the man who fought beside Ned at the Tower of Joy: Howland Reed.

Meera Reed: slayer of frogs, companion to Bran, and possible Sekret Targaryen.

Now, there are SO many “Howland Reed” theories out there that it’s not even funny. George R.R. Martin has done everything in his power to convince us that Jojen and his greenseeing power is what drove the Reed siblings to find Bran (and to be fair, when one looks into the Old Gods and the Greenseers, this is a perfectly logical explanation), but everyone wants there to be more to the story. They want the Reed kids to know the truth about Jon Snow. They want Howland to actually be the High Sparrow in disguise, they want Jojen and Meera to be Ashara Dayne‘s kids. Mostly, they want to know why Howland Reed himself hasn’t shown up yet, since he was at the Tower of Joy with Ned and is the only living person who can vouch for Jon Snow’s lineage.

Revealing that Meera and Jon are twins separated at birth would definitely qualify as adding “more to the story.” Does the theory hold up? Well, look at Ellie Kendrick, who plays Meera Reed. It’s hard not to see the very deliberate resemblance to someone else on the show.

And her age is right—in the books, Meera is listed as having been born in 283 AC, just like Jon Snow. Now, Jon has been aged up a bit for the TV show, but Meera’s age is indeterminate. All that’s known is that she’s older and more self-sufficient than her dreamy brother Jojen.

Then there’s the convenient fact that Jojen is now dead. True, he died a little earlier on the show than he might in the books, but his death frees Meera from any sort of family loyalty to him, either by adoption or blood. Meera is one of those hundreds of loose ends that are currently littering the Game of Thrones landscape. Is there a reason she’s still alive? Especially now that’s she basically trapped far North of the Wall with only Hodor, Bran and a old man in a tree for company? (I actually feel very sorry for her in the books at this point, since currently she seems doomed to bunker down in survival mode while tending to Bran, who is able to warg thousands of miles away while she does all the work of keeping their little band alive.)

What if, when the Tower of Joy flashback happens (I assume via a vision Bran has while exploring his budding greenseer skills), we learn Meera is in fact another Sekret Targaryen? Will that be the impetus for her to head back south? Will she have her own adventure story to take up?

After all—and I think this may be the best argument for this theory—let’s not forget that, although it hasn’t been mentioned on the show, Daenerys had a vision of Rhaegar looking her dead in the eyes and saying “The Dragon has three heads.”

There are three dragons to ride. Dan has chosen hers now—she rides Drogon, the deep black and red beast, the largest of the three. Many of us have assumed that one of the reasons Jon Snow cannot die is that he needs to take up the reigns of either Rhaegal or Viserion. But the question that continues to confound is this: Who is the Third Rider? Tyrion has been put forward based on the theory that the Mad King once raped Johanna, which would make Tyrion another Sekret Targaryen. Also, the books describe Tyrion as having extremely blonde hair and one eye so dark it could be purple, and then there’s Tywin’s insistence in his final moments that the “twisted” dwarf is no son of his. But the show has not included these clues. If Tyrion was really a Sekret Targaryen, he would need a shock of blonde white hair and a purple eye or two. Instead Peter Dinklage looks to be of a set with his incestuous siblings, which has lead me, who once believed that theory, to discard it.

But considering Ellie Kendrick’s physical resemblance to Kit Harington, Meera’s age, the fact that she’s a loose end that wants tying up, and the needs for a third rider, perhaps this is a theory we should all look at again.

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