Board Thread:TV Show Discussion/@comment-1399600-20160629121258/@comment-5308269-20161026025810

Irritator wrote: Also we don't know whether he is legitimate or not, there is no confirmation. So, is he rightful? And also, would people believe him if he says he is son of Rhaegar and Lyanna ?If Ned Stark revealed it , it would be believed, as Ned was an honourable man and not a man to father bastards. Also he is widely respected for his honesty. Why would he lie about that? But he is dead, so only Bran and Howland Reed know about it. If they reveal it, would the great and small lords of the realm believe it? Thats doubtful. As far as the North is concerned, Bran and Howland Reed don't need to tell the minor lords of the North anything, as doing so might cause an insurrection against Jon as King. They need to relate this information personally to Jon.

Any claim to the Iron Throne that Jon has would not be in the interests of the Northern lords, who don't even want to be in the Seven Kingdoms anymore. If any of them got wind of Jon's true birth, it will sow discord among the Northern houses who will then resent Jon as a false pretender in the North.

Convincing all the other great and small houses in the south, however, will not be as important as convincing Daenerys herself. And the worst case scenario of this would be if a paranoid Daenerys decides that Jon is a threat to her claim to the Iron Throne. Best case would be if Danerys takes him as a husband (as icky as that incestous pairing is) to preserve House Targaryen's future, and Jon can relinquish his Kingship in the North to Bran, while he rules with Daenerys in King's Landing.