Game of Thrones season 6 episode 3 gave a huge clue towards the true identity of Jon Snow’s parents

R+L=J theory all but confirmed

*GAME OF THRONES S06E03 SPOILERS AHEAD*

Tonight’s Game of Thrones season 6 episode, ‘Oathbreaker’, might have been a little lacking in drama/event, but it did set up for a reveal that is probably going to shape how the whole saga ends.

As promised in the trailer, we got a flashback through Bran about the Tower of Joy, which saw his late father Ned battle Targaryen soldiers to gain entry to the mysterious stronghold.

Frustratingly, although as expected, it didn’t give the whole game away, the flashback being cut short by the Three-Eyed Raven, who, in clichéd storyteller fashion, literally said “That’s enough for one day” just as we were getting to the good stuff.

The flashback was left with Ned having beaten the knights, albeit in dirty fashion, and sprinting into the tower.

A young Ned Stark

The Three-Eyed Raven and Bran overlook the Tower of Joy

It’s now a pretty safe bet that he will find his sister Lyanna Stark inside, given she was teased in the previous episode, and that she will be dying from childbirth, passing an infant Jon Snow - who is in fact Ned’s nephew, not his illegitimate son - to raise as his own. The identity of Jon’s father is a little less set in stone, but it’s thought to be Rhaegar Targaryen - giving Jon a very strong lineage indeed (there’s all you could possibly want to read on that R+L=J theory from the books here).

It’s worth noting what a big deal the episode made of the Tower, even though we didn’t get as far as going inside, with Bran being desperate, as we all were, to find out more. Most likely, the reveal will come around the mid-season mark, cementing Jon as the protagonist as he heads away from the Wall and into battle for the season finale.

This trajectory is no doubt exciting and heroic, but is it all a little too perfect? ‘Jon Azor is half Stark, half Targ, also the chosen one (See: Azor Ahai theory), marries Daenarys and the couple take the Iron Throne, killing a bunch of White Walkers in the process’. It’s all very neat, and given George R. R. Martin’s fondness for abrupt turns and killing off characters, you have to wonder how he’ll blur this story arc, if indeed it is the way he’s going.

As for where Jon is headed now he's left the Watch, we're looking over the options here (fingers crossed for the 'bastardbowl').