Warning: This post contains spoilers for season seven of Game of Thrones.
A lot went down on Sunday night’s Game of Thrones season seven finale. But one of the most important moments was the confirmation of what many fans have known for years: Jon Snow, everyone’s favorite of the north, is actually the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. And, in perhaps an even more critical move for the plot, he’s a legitimate son: the ill-fated lovers wed in a secret ceremony before his birth.
That particular nugget of juicy information was uncovered by none other than Gilly, back in episode five, while she was practicing her reading out loud to Sam in Oldtown. Sam, impatient with the other maesters’ disinterest in taking the threat of the Night King seriously, seemed to dismiss Gilly’s subtle revelation. But in Sunday’s episode, his tête-à-tête with Bran Stark at Winterfell brings up the subject of Jon’s true parentage. Then Sam reveals, without mentioning Gilly’s sleuthing, that he has discovered the marriage took place.
Naturally, the internet is all behind stealth research hero Gilly. There is a bit of a divide, however, between those who think Sam did not properly credit his assistant ancient texts sleuth — and those who are cheered by the thought that Sam was listening to her all along.
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com