Kit Harington Knows Nothing, Too

Typically, even on the most tight-lipped of movie/TV sets, a few secrets manage to spill out: never-told background stories, future events to come, the fates of certain characters. Sometimes, the information is leaked out of necessity; J.K. Rowling informed Alan Rickman about Snape's past early on in the Potter series, for instance, so he'd know to incorporate it into his acting. So it's perfectly understandable that on Game of Thrones, Kit Harington asked the show's creators about Jon Snow's true parents, as it might seem that, seeing as he plays the character, that answer would be important to have. Unfortunately for Harington, though, it turns out that even he isn't privy to one of Thrones' largest and longest-held secrets.

According to Vulture, the actor is just as curious as fans are to find out the identity of Jon Snow's mother, and chose to take matters into his own hands by attempting to wheedle the information out of Thrones' showrunners, David Benioff and Dan Weiss (he must've known George R.R. Martin was never going to spill).

"I’ve tried to trick [showrunners] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] into telling me,” Harington said, “but they didn’t fall for it."

The actor's attempt came after learning that Benioff and Weiss had only gotten the rights to Martin's book series after correctly telling the author their thoughts on Jon Snow's heritage. Yet if they refuse to even share that piece of information with the actor who plays Jon Snow, then one can presume there's no chance of the public finding out until Martin decides that it's time.

Still, we commend Harington for trying. The truth about Jon's parents is perhaps Thrones' biggest mystery, although many fans think they've got it all figured out; instead of being Ned Stark's bastard, they argue, Jon Snow is the son of Lynna Stark (Ned's sister) and Rhaeger Targaryen, saved from death before King Robert killed the remaining Targaryens by a promise Ned made to Lyanna and never revealed.

Yet whatever the answer is, Harington prefers to keep it a mystery.

“I genuinely don’t want to know, whoever it is,” he said — a reasonable statement, considering that if Jon still doesn't have an answer, it means that his character is likely not going to die anytime soon.

“I don’t want to predict this, because George could just kill him, but I just think Jon’s got to find out who his mother is," Harington said. "He’s got to. It would be unfair if he didn’t. And he doesn’t think he ever will. But we just need to see him find out. That’s my feeling, anyway.”

And that of every other Game of Thrones fan. Jon Snow is a favorite in both the books and the series, and no matter who his parents turn out to be, it'd be a major disappointment if we didn't find that piece of information out before the very end. For a character whose entire life and struggles revolved around him being a bastard, learning of his true heritage could bring enormous relief, if not necessarily happiness. And for Thrones fans, who've waited years, if not decades, to find out the truth? We're counting on you, George R.R. Martin. Jon Snow may know nothing now, but by series' end, he better have all the answers a potential king could want.

Image: HBO