Turns out that rascal George R.R. Martin has known about Jon Snow's parents this whole time, and he's been subtly telling fans for more than a decade—except nobody noticed.

Because at this point Game of Thrones fans have nothing better to do than scroll through 14-year-old forums while waiting for the now-delayed Seventh Season or the perpetually-delayed Winds of Winter, one Redditor found something interesting in a 2002 Q&A with Martin.

As we found out in the finale of Season Six, Ned Stark is not Jon Snow's father. His parents are actually Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen (HBO didn't directly reveal the latter in the show, but rather through a graphic on its website). While this hadn't been revealed to fans back in 2002 (three years before the third book was released and nearly a decade before the show), one fan hadan unsuspectingly perfect question for Martin:

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"Since all of their mothers died, who gave Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister their names?"

Martin's response:

"Mothers can name a child before birth, or during, or after, even while they are dying. Dany was most like named by her mother, Tyrion by his father, Jon by Ned."

Nice one, Martin. If you didn't catch that, another Redditor has an explanation:

"If anyone doesn't get it, 'Dany was most likely named by her mother, Tyrion by his Father, Jon by Ned.' Rather than saying Tyrion and Jon by their fathers, Ned was named as if he wasn't the father. Slightly subtle."

Maybe we should start paying more attention to what Martin says?

From: Esquire UK