The Jon/Dany Incest Thing…

[Lyannabanna]

Is NOT a Big Thing, and it should NOT be a problem forJon and Dany nor for anyone else. I think the Westerosi Old and New Gods' condemnation of incest applies only to immediate family members (brother/sister [Cercei/Jaime, Targaryens], father/daughter [Craster], etc.).

After all, Sansa Stark and Robin Arryn, first cousins whose mothers (Catelyn and Lysa Tully) were sisters, were betrothed as a routine political alliance between House Stark and House Arryn, presumably from their births as the eldest male and female children of these key houses.

HBO scenes between Lysa, Robin and Sansa took this engagement for granted. This fact is borne out when Robin said something to Sansa like, "When we are married and bad guys bother us, we will just make them fly out the Moon Door." Sansa did not challenge this assumption in her scenes with Lysa nor with Robin—their betrothal was accepted by all concerned as a matter of course.

The dual-generation genetic connection between Dany (aunt) and Jon (nephew) should concern northern lords even less than that between first cousins.

Now that we know that Jon and his Stark half-sisters are incest-immune first cousins, will he marry Sansa or Arya? Nah… His destiny is tied to his aunt Dany, almost certainly immune from incest challenge.

[Meg22]

Nephew/aunt is a closer relationship than first cousins. I'm afraid I don't see your point.

[Lyannabanna]

Nephew/aunt is a closer relationship than first cousins. I'm afraid I don't see your point.

I didn't know that aunt/nephew is genetically closer than first cousin. If so, thanks for the info!

My point is that I think people of that time defined incest only among immediate family members. So I still think that Jon/Dany would not be considered incest by non-Targs.

[Combat Boots]

He is banging his aunt its incest

[Singedbylife]

You share 25 % DNA with your aunt and 12.5 %with your first cousins. (in a perfect world). A brother and a sister share 50 %.

[Stormborn]

Nephew/aunt is a closer relationship than first cousins. I'm afraid I don't see your point.

I didn't know that aunt/nephew is genetically closer than first cousin. If so, thanks for the info!

My point is that I think people of that time defined incest only among immediate family members. So I still think that Jon/Dany would not be considered incest by non-Targs.

Incest includes aunts and uncles. Uncle is the more common scenario IRL. I assume the convention applies in Westeros unless GRRM set different parameters.

[Lyannabanna]

I'm getting quite an interesting crash-course education on post-Mendelian genetics (1860s)—thanks to all for the knowledgeable feedback!

Even so, I stand by my original proposition that in medieval Planetos, even Maesters probably limited the definition of incest to copulation within the Immediate Family Unit: between parents and children (Craster) or between siblings (Cercei/Jaime, Targaryen custom).

And perhaps just as I so ignorantly imagined, they regarded copulation between aunts/uncles and nieces/nephews (different generations) as relatively okay. We must wait for S8 find out, huh?