For those who have been closely following the final season of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones, the news of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen’s budding romance isn’t much of a surprise. Although speculated to be nephew and aunt (going by the R+L=J theory), it’s hard to deny the chemistry the two have shared lately, especially in the recent episode — ‘Beyond The Wall’.
Read: GoT S7E6 recap – The Dead 1, The Living 0
According to director Alan Taylor, it’s hard to see their romance not happening.
“When we were shooting season 1 and no one had seen the show yet, we were in Malta. Back then, there was not a lot of secrecy because nobody was paying attention, and George R.R. Martin came to visit and he was being quite open about his plans. He said something: That it really is all about Dany and Jon. I was surprised because at the time, you know, I thought, well Robb Stark’s going to be king next, probably. And who knows where this story’s going? But it was absolutely clear to him that within this sprawling scale the whole story was coming down to this partnership,” he tells The New York Times.
The R+L=J theory talks about how Rhaegar Targaryen (R), Daenerys’ elder brother, married Lyanna Stark (L), Ned Stark’s sister, and gave birth to Jon Snow (J). While it hasn’t been explicitly said in the show, it has been hinted several times, thereby making their romance an incestuous one.
However, the director tells NYT that the incest part shouldn’t be a real problem. “Oh, you know, it’s worked for Cersei and Jaime. Nothing went wrong there.”
Taylor also discusses a glaring issue that several fans have pointed out — the rushed timelines. Earlier, it took a character almost a season to head to their destination. In the seventh season, however, the characters seem to be getting to their destination in a matter of minutes.
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“It is true there are time issues, and I’m not exactly sure how many kilometres there are between Eastwatch and Dragonstone. But it was a bit dreary to hear somebody who said, “I cannot enjoy this episode because, you know, that speed of that raven… ” There’s was a lot of wonderful stuff going on here and if it really gets that much in your way, that’s not good to hear. But that said, Gendry’s a really great runner. [Laughs.] Ravens go super fast. And who’s to say how much time passes on that island, since it’s always sort of an eternal twilight north of the Wall? With those three ideas in mind, I think we can lay the timing concerns to rest.”
The finale’s preview was released by HBO recently, revealing that Snow and Daenerys finally meet King’s Landing’s queen — Cersei Lannister. Ships are readied, the armies are gathered, and Jon Snow says, “There’s only one war that matters. And it is here.”
He says this while talking to Cersei, given what happened in the previous episode, Snow is likely referring to the battle between the people and the Night King’s army of the undead.
Podrick arrives, so does Theon Greyjoy, and a hooded Sansa Stark walks despondently in the snow.
Watch the preview here:
Game of Thrones Season 7 airs in India on Star World and Star World HD every Tuesday at 11 PM. The episode can be watched on Hotstar on Monday, at 7:30 AM.
Feature Image: Screenshot/Esquire