Game of Thrones' New Prequel Changes What We Know About Jon Snow's Mother

Spoilers for "The Mad King", a "Game of Thrones" prequel play!

A Game of Thrones play recently previewed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and as a prequel, the play reveals and confirms some interesting theories about Lyanna Stark. Lore and canon in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe may seem overwhelming, but it's actually pretty straightforward.

If it's in a book written by George R.R. Martin, it's canon. If it's in a book written by George R.R. Martin that takes the form of a historical document, like Fire & Blood or The World of Ice & Fire, it's mostly canon, though the fictional authors can be incorrect or purposefully deceitful.

If it's something that George R.R. Martin has said, in an interview or blog, it's canon until he says otherwise, which he occasionally does. If it's something like Game of Thrones: The Mad King, a play by Duncan Macmillian, which is an adaptation with Martin's blessing though not his involvement, we can consider them not canon as a whole, but filled with canon parts.

In The Mad King, a prequel to Game of Thrones with the first half set during the Tourney at Harrenhal and the second half set during Robert's Rebellion, we learn more about Lyanna Stark. While the entire play may not be canon, the bits we learn about Lyanna and others are, and what we learn about Jon Snow's mother is revelatory.

Lyanna Was A Warg And A Greenseer

Jon Snow is revealed to be a warg in A Song of Ice and Fire via his connection with Ghost, and he's not the only Stark to have the skinchanging power. It's long been suspected that Lyanna may also have had these powers, and in The Mad King, it's revealed that she was indeed a warg.

She tells Rhaegar that she was able to skinchange when she was a little girl but has since lost the ability. She also reveals that she has the greensight, something Jojen Reed would have many years later. It's the Northern version of the Targaryen Dragon Dreamers.

The Stark family was always closely linked with the Old Gods and the spirituality and magic of the North that was present long before the Targaryens ever came to the shores of Westeros. This is one of those reveals that slots in nicely to what we know about Lyanna and Jon and explains her instant attraction to Rhaegar.

Lyanna And Rhaegar Were Definitely In Love, Maybe Too In Love

Like Lyanna, Rhaegar was also a Dreamer. In The Mad King, Lyanna hears Rhaegar singing about the prophetic Song of Ice and Fire, and is immediately entranced by him. This enchantment quickly turns into real love between the pair, and the play takes great pains to show that both Lyanna and Rhaegar were truly in love; it isn't the forces of prophecy pulling them together.

Like in Game of Thrones, Lyanna and Rhaegar eventually run away together, but it's then that their love becomes almost intoxicating. Lyanna's Greensight and Rhaegar's Dragon Dreams become more intense the longer time they spend together, and they begin struggling to tell reality from dreams.

Despite their loosening grip on reality, Lyanna and Rhaegar only fall more in love, and prophecies and politics begin to take a back seat to their relationship, which is what ultimately dooms it. Game of Thrones is filled with tragic characters, but Lyanna Stark may be one of the most tragic we've seen.