The Mother of Dragons and the (former) King in the North are expected to hook up in the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf.” As if the title of the episode couldn’t be any more heavy handed, the longing looks and tender touches Dany and Jon have been exchanging for the past couple of episodes really sealed the deal. But, Thrones fans know that Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow are actually related. What’s a little incest between friends/family, you might ask?
Reddit user amacaroon did the incest math so the rest of us wouldn’t have to, and it turns out they’re super related, as all Targaryens are.
Dany’s father and mother, Aerys and Rhaella, were full siblings. So were her grandparents, Jaehaerys and Shaera. You have to go all the way to her great-grandparents, Aegon V (Egg) and Betha Blackwood to find a couple that wasn’t closely related.* Genetically, this makes Dany half Blackwood, a fourth Dayne, and a fourth Targaryen.
So because of all this incest Rhaegar and Daenerys weren’t just siblings. They were super-siblings. Normal siblings share 50% of their DNA. Rhaegar and Daenerys shared 88%. That’s approaching identical twin level of incest.
So, since R+L=J, that means Daenerys might bone her (practically) identical twin’s son. But that’s not all they are thanks to that aforementioned Targaryen inter-family fun.
“Dany and Jon still are aunt and nephew,” amacaroon writes. “But they are also first cousins once removed. And second cousins once removed… and first cousins once removed. Again.”
If amacaroon did the math correctly, then that means Dany and Jon share anywhere between 44 and 47.45 percent of their DNA. So while actual twins Cersei and Jaime Lannister share 56.3 percent of the same DNA and remain the most incestuous couple currently on the show, Dany and Jon might not be far behind.
The Game of Thrones Season 7 finale premieres this Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. Eastern.
