I've been thinking about ASOIAF again. I'm reading the series for the second time this year. 2004-2011 was the real high water mark for activity on the Chrons, but after 2011 the discussion began to really switch over to the HBO series. I did not discuss the show much and I'd like to remind everyone that this thread (and all others in this forum) are specifically for the books. There is
a dedicated forum for the show.
SPOILER ALERT for Jon, his parents, his past and his future.
In a thread regarding GRRM's use of juxtaposition, I mused how Eddard's story was paralleled by Robb and Jon. Robb's story is eerily similar to Eddard's in circumstances. Jon's is a bit similar in circumstances, but even more so in character and appearance. And I read, in ASOS, how Tywin told Tyrion that he used the Westerlings to break Robb's alliance with the Freys. He said something like, "Jeyne is just like her mother and Robb is just like his father." As Lord Paramount of the Westerlands for thirty-five years and Hand of the King for over twenty years, he knows how to move people and happenings to his advantage. He's not Varys, but he's a major information broker. Jeyne seduced Robb and was able to arrange a familial/political alliance far far above her social status. We also know that her mother, Sybell Spicer, was a spice trader's daughter who also married far above her social stauts. So we are to conclude that by using sex, Jeyne is her mother's daughter.
But Tywin also compares Robb to Eddard. Already in a legally binding oath to marry a Frey, Robb took Jeyne Westerling's virginity. Feeling guilty about the stain upon Jeyne's honor, Robb bit the bullet and married her. He chose to accept the dishonor as the oathbreaker rather than dishonor Jeyne. And Tywin said he knew this would be the result. Is he a prophet? Is he a wizard? No, no. He claimed Robb is Eddard's son. So just like he knew secret information about Sybell Spicer Westerling, he must know secret information about Eddard Stark.
We know that Eddard was still paying the emotional and marital consequences of keeping his promises until he died. I've been wracking my brain on ways for Eddard to have married another woman duing the rebellion. I've tried to figure out how Eddard could have become a polygamist with Ashara or Wylla or someone else during the campaign. But if he had a woman in camp, wouldn't Robert have seen her? Robert said that he never saw Jon's mother. It has to Ashara or Wylla because they are the only two women linked to him either romantically or as Jon's mother.
We learn of Eddard's romance with Ashara Dayne from Meera and it's confirmed by Edric Dayne and BFS. This was at the tourney of Harrenhal, which we learn from Meera, Jaime and BFS.
And then I remembered the story Lord Borrell of Sisterton told Davos in ADWD. Eddard Stark took a fishing boat from the Vale to White Harbor days after Jon Arryn defied Aerys II. He was blown ashore of the Sisters by a storm. His guide was a fisherman's daughter. The two were secretly sent on to White Harbor where the girl gave birth to Eddard's *******.
Arya plays the lying game in the House of Black and White. And I think there is much truth to the Eddard and Ashara romance, Wylla nursing Jon, and Eddard passing through Sisterton with a woman... but there are lies (or incorrect information) as well.
Eddard told Robert that Jon's mother was Wylla. Edric told Arya that Jon's mother was Wylla. Edric knew this because he knew Wylla as his own wetnurse. If this is true, why did Eddard take Jon? He could have just left her with a sack of gold. Why did Eddard never tell Jon about Wylla? Jon has issues of self-esteem and identity (which Eddard is acutely aware) stemming from a complete lack of knowledge of his mother. Why did Eddard not just tell Catelyn that he got lonely on campaign? He could have told her this after Arya was born and they had a solid relationship. Eddard did pass through White Harbor with an unnamed girl... the Manderlys use W names... Wyman, Wendel, Wylis, Wynafryd, and Wylla. Yes, there's actually a Wylla Manderly. She's the little girl (Lord Wyman's grand daughter) who opposes the Frey alliance, in ADWD. There is also a House Wyl in Dorne. They are located in fairly close proximity to both the Tower of Joy (Lyanna's bed of blood) and Starfall (Ashara Dayne's home). Wylla could easily be name for girls born in the lands of House Wyl. I do not think Wylla is Jon's mother, but I'll state why below.
Ashara was romantically involved with Eddard according to both Meera Reed and Edric Dayne. The story of the Knight of the Laughing Tree is a favorite of Meera and Jojen. They are confused why Bran is not familiar with it. Edric, Ashara's twelve year old nephew and squire to Beric Dondarrion, expounds by saying Ashara and Eddard were deeply in love with each other. This offends Arya which leads Edric to explain who he is and that he can confirm this by knowing about Jon and Jon's mother. Arya and the Brotherhood all call him Ned and it can be inferred that Edric Dayne was actually named for Eddard Stark as there other Ed names, but no other Neds but these two.
So three women are romantically linked to Eddard from a year before to a year after his marriage to Catelyn. I don't have a strict chronology for the events from Harrenhal to Stannis' capture of Dragonstone. It may be as short as a year and a half to four years. And yet a few things must happen on a fairly tight time table. Robb and Jon are close in age, so Eddard needs to impregnate two women in a six month span. And as soon as Catelyn was able to travel after birthing Robb she took him to Winterfell... only to find Jon and a wet nurse already there.
After the tournament at Harrenhal, we know a rough chronology but not the time involved. Aerys II, Elia, and Ashara return to KL. Brandon's engagement to Catelyn is formally announced. Baelish challenges Brandon and is severely wounded. Lyanna and Rhaegar both disappear. Brandon, Elbert Arryn (Jon's nephew and heir) and Lord Rickard are arrested and executed. Aerys II demands Jon Arryn deliver Eddard and Robert Baratheon. Jon rebels. Eddard travels to the North. Robert travels to Storm's End. Robert deals with loyalist Storm Lords at Summerhall. Aerys II makes Jon Connington the Hand. Robert is defeated at Ashford. Mace Tyrells besieges Storm's End. Eddard raises the North and joins up with Jon Arryn who has finally dealt with his own loyalists. House Tully joins the rebellion. Jon Arryn marries Lysa Tully and Eddard Stark marries Catelyn Tully and the same day the Blackfish, Brynden Tully, renounces Hoster Tully and joins Jon Arryn. Catelyn conceives Robb. Jon Connington chases Robert to Stoney Sept and is defeated in the Battle of the Bells by Eddard Stark. Jon Connington is exiled by Aerys II. Chelsted named as new Hand. Jonothor Darry and BFS rally Connington's forces and return to KL. Gerold Hightower, LC of the KG, is sent to find Rhaegar. Rhaella and Viserys go to Dragonstone. Rhaegar emerges. Dorne sends ten thousand spears to KL. Rhaegar is slain at the Trident. Tywin sacks KL, Jaime slays Aerys II and Chelsted, and Eddard arrives at KL. Davos smuggles onions to Storm's End just before Eddard relieves the siege. Mace bends the knee. Eddard goes to the Tower of Joy. Lyanna, Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, Hightower, and five of Eddard's companions die. Eddard travels to Starfall and gives Dawn to the Daynes. Ashara commits suicide. Jon and a wetnurse arrive at Winterfell. Catelyn, Robb, and Maester Luwin arrive at Winterfell. Eddard arrives at Winterfell.
I know that's a lot and mostly irrelevant to Jon's origins, but we need a bit of knowledge of time and distances involved.
If Wylla is Jon's mother... If Wylla is connected to Dorne and Eddard did not go to Dorne until five or six months after Robb is conceived, then how did Jon and a wetnurse get from Starfall to Winterfell ahead of Catelyn? I don't think the logistics make sense. That would mean Wylla needs to be a woman met much earlier during the campaign. But if that was the case, why did Robert never see her? And if he did meet her in the Riverlands, why did she move to and remain in Dorne? I don't like Wylla the Dornishwoman nor Wylla the Riverwoman as Jon's mother.
What about Wylla as Manderly? If Jon's mother was a Northwoman, don't you think Catelyn, Jon, and Arya would have heard this rumor? By sheer proximity, Eddard could never have kept a lid on this.
The only Wylla that makes any sense for me would be a Valewoman. A Royce or a Waynwood. House Waynwood has five unnamed and unassociated daughters from this generation. If Wylla Waynwood was Jon's mother, he'd be Harry the Heir's cousin. Eddard lived in the Vale and knew many many people. And we know he traveled with a female companion (whom the Sistermen was romantically involved with Eddard) to White Harbor. I like this idea. Eddard had not yet married Catelyn and it's within six months or so of Robb's conception. I'm not saying this noblewoman from the Vale stayed in Dorne as a wetnurse under the name of Wylla. I don't know what happened to this Wylla Waynwood after Jon's birth.
If Ashara is Jon's mother... Just as with Wylla of Dorne, we need to overcome distance and time. I think there must have been close to or more than a year between the tournament and Robb's conception. So this means Eddard cannot have impregnated Ashara at Harrenhal. But if Ashara went to KL and Eddard to the Eyrie... how do we connect them? If we could get Eddard to KL or Ashara to the Eyrie or at least both of them to Gulltown or Maidenpool, then we'd have something.
In Eddard's chapters he remembers KL at the sack, he does not remember traveling to KL to secretly meet up with Ashara, but I guess it could be possible. It might be more possible that Ashara (the girl with the laughing eyes... might have had a touch of the wolf's blood in her... just another term for an adventurous spirit) made a surprise detour to the Vale on her journey from KL to Starfall. She was a lady in waiting to Princess Elia, so I assume she left Harrenhal for KL... but she was not at KL for the sack. She was at Starfall ahead of Eddard.
The way that Catelyn connects Ashara and Jon in her very second chapter, Meera's story, Edric's comments, and BFS' memory are all compelling to me, but I can't put Ashara in Eddard's arms within six months of Robb's conception. Eddard was traveling through a warzone and getting married.
And it just hit me this very moment! Jon climbed a mountain and had to fight to claim Ygritte. Robb stormed walls of the Crag to get Jeyne. So Eddard must have climbed and fought to claim his woman too. What if Ashara was trapped at Storm's End by the Redwyne fleet on her journey from KL? Eddard threatened to fight Mace and took her from the castle. Or what if Ashara was at the Tower of Joy with her brother? Ashara served in KL as a lady in waiting, so why not Lyanna too? If R+L did happen, then mayhaps Ashara went with them. This means Eddard fought and slew Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent and Gerold Hightower to get Ashara. But again here we have the time problem of Ashara getting pregnant six months or more after Catelyn and still getting to Winterfell ahead of her.... it might work, but it's real close at best.
Okay... so mayhaps it did not hit me....
I just do not believe R+L=J. I did from 2003 to 2005, but after AFFC was released I needed a new equation. Sometime in 2006 I began to look at A+L=J. Personally, I like Aerys and Lyanna as Jon's parents as the best current option. Yet, now the similarities between Eddard, Robb, and Jon make me really wonder. Everyone who knew Eddard thinks Jon is his spitting image. I think Jon is Eddard's son... I just can't prove it.