All hail King Jon Targaryen, first of his name: Why you should support Jon Snow for the Iron Throne

Yes, you have good reasons to dislike Jon Snow.

He keeps being promoted beyond his ability. He made huge tactical errors that killed hundreds at the Battle of the Bastards and had to be saved by Littlefinger. He didn't see a Night's Watch conspiracy that was right under his nose, and walked out on his brothers after his miraculous resurrection. He's so damn mopey.

But now that Gilly has inadvertently revealed his parents were married at the time of his birth, we know that Jon is something else: the absolute, 100% legitimate heir to the Iron Throne. Just call him his grace Jon of House Targaryen, first of his name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm.

In case you haven't been following closely -- hey, who has time to keep track of the entire history of this twisty fantasy kingdom? -- here's the necessary backstory. The Targaryen family ruled a united Westeros for hundreds of years, having seized the place by conquest with dragons.

Their line was only broken when the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, went on a murderous rampage, sparking the rebellion that put Robert Baratheon on the throne. Cersei is only technically queen because of a long and convoluted line of succession that connects her to the Baratheon family.

But the Targaryens still have a greater claim on the seat of power. Aerys' son Rhaegar died fighting Robert -- and because we thought none of his kids survived, Viserys Targaryen (Dany's nasty older brother) was next in line. When he got the Dothraki "crown" that killed him, Daenerys Targaryen became the heir apparent.

And Jon? We knew at the end of last season that he was the son of Rhaegar, but we thought he was the bastard son of Rhaegar. The famous "R+L=J" theory always had an asterisk next to the R+L. But no longer.

Gilly's discovery was that Rhaegar had annulled his previous marriage to a Dornish princess and wed Lyanna Stark, Jon's mother, in secret.

So "Snow", the name for northern bastards, is not Jon's real last name. It's Targaryen.

And as the son of the former heir to the throne, has a greater claim on the throne than Dany, who was merely Rhaegar's sister.

Everyone clear on that now?

You know nothing, Jaeharys Targaryen

As a side note, it's very likely that his first name is not "Jon" either. When we saw a dying Lyanna handing over the baby to her brother Ned in a flashback at the end of last season, she whispered "his name is ..." and a three-syllable word that began with "J."

Lip-reading fans have settled on the name Jaeharys as the most likely contender. However, even if Jon is eventually legitimized and even crowned as a Targaryen, we can't imagine him taking a name so foreign to his Northern upbringing.

Rather than confuse the question even further, let's just call him Jon for now.

Okay, so Jon has a 100% legit claim to the throne. But that wouldn't count for much if he would likely turn into a murderous mad king like Aerys, a boozy absentee king like Robert, a cruel king like Joffrey or an ineffectual king like Tommen.

Luckily, Jon is none of these things.

Unlike his aunt Daenerys, who tried to impose loyalty by burning lords, Jon is someone who can actually unite the warring kingdoms of Westeros. His only real enemy is Littlefinger, and even that slimy villain technically supported Jon as King in the North.

Having the North and the Vale means Jon already rules half of Westeros, geographically speaking. He also now has the support of Robert Baratheon's last remaining son, Gendry, not to mention wildlings and his adopted brother is the all-powerful Three-eyed Raven.

Oh yeah, and dragons dig him.

In the White Walkers, Jon not only has the perfect unifying issue, he has proof that he can see the greatest threats to the kingdom before they arise. By charging forth like an idiot hero to capture one, he will (presuming he succeeds) have pretty much sealed the deal politically.

This isn't an election, of course; this is a medieval monarchy. But even back in the pre-modern day, countries were hungry for leaders that looked the part and could unite warring houses.

In England, the Wars of the Roses between Lancaster and York -- the two houses that inspired George R.R. Martin to create Lannister and Stark -- ended when Henry Tudor (who had a claim on both sides) literally merged their two sigils into a Tudor rose. In France, a century-long religious war ended when King Henry IV ascended to the throne, uniting Protestant and Catholic subjects.

Jon Snow has the lineage, the friendships and the charisma to be such a transformational figure in Westeros. To Lords fearful of Daenerys and the Dothraki, he offers a compromise. To the common people of the Kingdoms, he seems to understand more what it means to "break the wheel" and usher in some semblance of representational government than a woman who came in dragons blazing.

And the fact that he doesn't want the job only makes him more well-suited for it. Face it, folks, it's time to bend the knee to King Jon Targaryen.