Det är Jon. Robb legitimerade honom före hans död, som han juridiskt kunde göra som kung i norr, och så är Jon Nedstarks legitima arvtagare och rättfärdiga Lord of Winterfell och kung i norr. Även hans Nattvaktlöften är inte längre ett hinder, eftersom de bara binder honom till döden, och han har nu dött (förmodligen uppstått på något sätt).
I A Storm of Swords har Robb och Catelyn följande konversation:
“Mother.” There was a sharpness in Robb’s tone. “You forget. My father had four sons.”
She had not forgotten; she had not wanted to look at it, yet there it was. “A Snow is not a Stark.”
“Jon’s more a Stark than some lordlings from the Vale who have never so much as set eyes on Winterfell.”
“Jon is a brother of the Night’s Watch, sworn to take no wife and hold no lands. Those who take the black serve for life.”
“So do the knights of the Kingsguard. That did not stop the Lannisters from stripping the white cloaks from Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Boros Blount when they had no more use for them. If I send the Watch a hundred men in Jon’s place, I’ll wager they find some way to release him from his vows.”
He is set on this. Catelyn knew how stubborn her son could be. “A bastard cannot inherit.”
“Not unless he’s legitimized by a royal decree,” said Robb. “There is more precedent for that than for releasing a Sworn Brother from his oath.”
Robb har sedan ett råd med sina herrar enligt följande:
He picked up a sheet of parchment. “One more matter. Lord Balon has left chaos in his wake, we hope. I would not do the same. Yet I have no son as yet, my brothers Bran and Rickon are dead, and my sister is wed to a Lannister. I’ve thought long and hard about who might follow me. I command you now as my true and loyal lords to fix your seals to this document as witnesses to my decision.”
Det är inte klart vad som har hänt med det parchmentarket. Robb skickade sedan Galbart Glover och Maege Mormont till Howland Reed at Greywater Watch, men de skrivna meddelandena de hade var falska, om de fångades.
Det hävdas att ett svar på Quora att < em> World of Ice och Fire följeslagare, som skrevs med godkännande av George RR Martin, bekräftar att Jon var legitimerad av Robb. Men jag kan inte hitta någon sådan referens i boken.