12 Times Game of Thrones Sneakily Foreshadowed the Future

There are plenty of stories analyzing how much Jon's real parentage is hinted at in Game of Thrones, but perhaps one of the earliest is in the show's second episode, when Robert and Ned are enjoying a meal on their way to King's Landing and discussing the good old days.

Robert starts asking Ned about the "mother of his bastard" who did the seemingly impossible and got someone as noble as Ned Stark to forget his marriage vows. Ned is pretty cagey about it, which we assume at the time is due to guilt since Ned seems like a pretty solid family guy. He won't even talk about what the woman looked like. Then the conversation turns to Daenerys's marriage to Drogo, which leads back to discussing Rhaegar and Lyanna. Robert says he'd kill every last Targaryen to protect his rule (and get revenge). This statement makes the usually calm and collected Ned get surprisingly angry. Sure, it seems extreme to kill Daenerys at this point, but there's no real reason for Ned to want to protect Targaryens . . .

Unless there is. Fast-forward six seasons and ta-da! There had been a Targaryen living right under Ned's roof, a Targaryen whom he promised his sister he'd protect. Aw, Ned.