"Maybe he thought knowing might hurt more than not knowing," she offers. Maybe she died a horrible death. Maybe she didn't want Jon. "Or maybe it hurt him too much."

Maybe he loved Jon's mother. Maybe he didn't. Claire wishes she would have asked.

"You said you'd imagined she might be something like me, your mother. Then let's. If she was anything like me, she would have loved you very, very much. And she would have wanted the best for you... even if that meant not being with her. I can't imagine you being brought up better than in Winterfell." With brothers and sisters and a noble father. Lady Stark would hurt, yes, but at least she was there.