Ned Stark's Last Promise to Jon Meant Way More Than You Realized

These two facts were sitting alright with most of the people: after all, most lords had a bunch of bastards they didn't know or care about, and Ned Stark only had one — and he even took him in and raised him together with his other children.

If anything, this entire Jon Snow case even supported Ned's honor in the eyes of many.

However, in reality, Lord Stark would've never cheated and hurt his beloved wife's feelings: Jon Snow was not his son.

And if it was up to him, he would've never lied to everyone, including his wife, about having a bastard: it was up to his honor since without these lies, the child would've been murdered by the new King's order.

Jon Snow was Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen's son, the heir to the Iron Throne and, hence, one of the people Robert Baratheon wanted dead.

To protect him from Robert's wrath, Ned Stark ensured that no one knew this secret — not even Jon himself.

Jon, thinking of himself as Ned's bastard, was always curious about his mother, and when Jon was departing for the Wall, Lord Stark promised to finally tell him about his mother when they would meet the next time.

Unlike many people think, he didn't just say that to cheer Jon up: he was Ned Stark, after all.

The reason for this promise was simple: since Jon was going to join the Night's Watch, he would've been denounced of all the titles and claims associated with his life before the Watch.

This would've made it much safer to finally reveal Jon's true identity to him, and Ned knew it, so he made that promise to the boy.

This shows just how much Ned was actually weighed down by his lies. He wanted to tell Jon the truth but also keep him safe.

Jon joining the Watch would've allowed him to do both. He could either reveal Jon's identity to everyone hoping Robert wouldn't care since Jon would've been out of the throne race anyways or tell Jon to keep quiet about it.

Either way, he would've been free from his burden.

But after seeing Robert's obsession with killing a little girl from across half the world, Ned would've likely chosen the second path: as it turned out, Robert was not taking any chances with the Targaryens even though he didn't care about Maester Aemon.

After that last meeting, Lord Stark never saw his nephew again to tell him the truth and fulfill his promise; it likely weighed him down until the very last breath.

But quite poetically, when Jon finally learned who he was, Ned was nearby: Sam revealed the truth to his friend next to Eddard Stark's statue at his grave.

In the end, Ned was there, even though he couldn't speak for himself.