The compelling evidence that Game of Thrones' Daenerys and Jon are really brother and sister.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8.

If you’re one of those people who thinks incestual relationships in fantasy shows are not romantic, then I suggest you leave your negative attitude at the door because we are here to talk about the facts.

At the conclusion of Game of Thrones season seven, we were presented with the idea that Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) were more than just lust-filled rulers who find boats particular arousing, but rather that they both belong to the slightly problematic House Targaryen.

It was revealed that Jon was not Ned Stark’s bastard son after all, but the secret son of Daenerys’ oldest brother Rhaegar Targaryen and Ned’s late sister, Lyanna Stark.

While everyone seems to have accepted this information without question and has moved on with their lives, I cannot help but think there might be a little more to this story then what we’ve been told so far.

Clare Stephens and Holly Wainwright debrief on the latest episode of Game of Thrones on the Mamamia Recaps podcast. Post continues after audio…

Maybe it’s all the hype around the trailer for the upcoming movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that has spiked this, but an old interview with Game of Thrones star Alfie Allen, who played the dearly departed Theon Greyjoy, has resurfaced where he uses an interesting choice of words that could point towards the couple actually being siblings.

Speaking to Vulture in an interview, Allen said that when he first met A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin, he asked him point-blank who Jon Snow’s real parents were and was given the correct answer.

“He told me. I can’t say who, but I can tell you that it involves a bit of a Luke Skywalker situation. It will all come to fruition eventually. The whole thing with all the fight over proper succession is partly inspired by the War of the Roses in the late 1400s, and back then, to ensure pedigree, the monarchies were kind of inbred.

“It’s definitely f**ked up, but it definitely happened back then, so that’s why there’s incest with the Targaryen line.”

For a touch of context, in the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia discover that they are in fact brother and sister (well, twins, just for the sake of accuracy).

This points toward the idea that there may be one more twist yet to come in this Game of Thrones relationship.

There is also a clue hidden within the novels that has led readers to believe that Daenerys and Jon are actually brother and sister.

Fans of the book series, on which the show is based, have noticed that Daenerys talks about remembering a particular lemon tree where she grew up in Braavos. The catch here, of course, is that in the world of Game of Thrones, lemon trees don't grow in Braavos, they only grow in Dorne.

It's possible that Daenerys is just misremembering her past, which to be fair was very traumatic, but it's also a telling sign that from a young age she was lied to about her home and true parentage.

It could have been because, much like Jon Snow, she was taken into hiding as a child, to protect the fact that she is the daughter of Rhaegar, and not The Mad King Aerys. After all, it's possible that the Mother of Dragon was kept safe in Dorne because that was the home of her real mother, Rhaegar's first wife, Elia Martell.

If this lemon tree theory is true, it means that Rhaegar is both Daenerys and Jon's father.

The linchpin in this theory is actually the actions of the late and great Ned Stark (Sean Bean), who obviously knew a whole lot more about the parentage of Jon (and perhaps Daenerys) than he ever let on. If you cast your mind back to season one, you'll remember that is was Ned who put a stop to King Robert going after Daenerys or ordering her death.

Now, Ned Stark was a good man but he did not believe in life over death or showing mercy when it came to protecting the kingdom. Remember in episode one when he lopped off a member of The Nights Watch's head for deserting his post in fear? He didn't give it a second thought.

It's likely that Ned knew all about the familiar link between Jon and Daenerys and that's why he was against the idea of going after her. Not because he was protecting a faceless girl across the sea.

Finally, Daenerys has said more than once that she always grew up thinking she would marry her brother, as it is the Targaryen way. As she and Jon are now romantically linked, and everyone from Varys to Tyrion believes they should rule side by side, maybe their union in the final episode of the show will see this belief of Daenery's finally come true.

Catch up on all our Game of Thrones recaps, right here:

• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 1: Finally. Jon Snow knows something.
• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 2: We need to talk about THAT Arya Stark scene.
• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 3: The episode that broke the world.

For more on this topic:

• How Game of Thrones has been quietly gaslighting us all for years.
• Here's how dramatically the Game of Thrones characters have changed since the first episode.
• There's a feature-length Game of Thrones documentary coming to fuel our addiction.
• If you’re a genuine fan of Game of Thrones, you should take annual leave on the 20th of May.
• Game of Thrones Season 8: The 7 convincing fan theories you need to know.

For more stories like this, you can follow Mamamia Entertainment Editor Laura Brodnik on Facebook.  You can also visit our newsletter page and sign up to “TV and Movies”  for a backstage pass to the best movies, TV shows and celebrity interviews (see one of her newsletters here).