Why Sam May Be the Key to Jon Snow Learning About His Parents on Game of Thrones

By Shannon Vestal Robson
HBO
HBO

The next season of Game of Thrones just might be the most important season thus far. Obviously, we're closer to the ultimate reveal of who will end up on the Iron Throne, and we're on the brink of some meetings and revelations that are a long time coming. One: Jon Snow has to find out who his parents are. We're certain that he'll learn the truth about his parentage in one of several ways in season seven, but it's now become clear to us that one person close to Jon will be the one to tell him: Samwell Tarly.

Here's why it will not only be Sam to inform Jon that he has royal blood, but why it will happen this season.

  • Sam has always been the person to push Jon to his potential. Sam and Jon are each other's advocates from the beginning of their friendship, especially while being part of the Night's Watch. It's Sam who's responsible for Jon getting elected as Lord Commander back in season five, after all. These two have always helped each other out, like how it's Jon who allows Sam to go to the Citadel. Which brings me to my next point . . .
HBO
  • We're still with Sam on his journey, which makes him significant. The last we saw Sam, he's entering the Citadel to become a maester, and it's obviously not a goodbye. Sam has gone from being a supporting character to something more significant, and his presence in the penultimate season proves that. But of course, it's what he's doing — and about to do — that makes him key. While Sam will probably be the man who figures out how to defeat the White Walkers, I think he has another, more important job.
  • Sam is already into this kind of thing. It's not just White Walkers Sam will research; I think Sam will learn about and tell Jon that his parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. This is news that will blow Jon's mind — and inform him that he has royal blood and a claim to the Iron Throne. And how will Sam find out those are Jon's parents? The simple fact won't be in any books in the Citadel, we assume, but Ned Stark once learned the scandalous parentage of the Baratheon children by studying historical texts. Imagine what the brilliant Sam can do in a library like the Citadel's. Remember, also, that Sam is fascinated by genealogy. This is his thing.
  • The seeds for Sam playing a key role in Game of Thrones history were sewn in the season six finale. In the most recent finale, eagle-eyed fans noticed that when Sam reaches the Citadel, the chandeliers resemble the gyroscope from the show's opening credits. Vanity Fair mashed up the moments to compare them:
HBO

Coincidence? Probably not.

The other reason it would be beneficial for Sam to be the one that delivers this earth-shattering news to Jon is that Sam is also up on Daenerys Targaryen's plight. Back when Maester Aemon is alive, Sam is his steward, and in season five, Sam is reading Aemon a letter about Daenerys, and Aemon remarks about her being "a Targaryen alone in the world." So Sam could not only inform Jon who his parents are, but tell him about Daenerys and what she's doing, and potentially urge him to make an alliance with her.

Guess we'll have to wait until July to find out.