Ned knew the gravity of the words he'd just shared. He can't imagine this could be easy for Jon, but - he also feels that the truth, no matter how heavy or difficult, is better than living in fantasy. It is better to know than not to, in Ned's mind.

"Now listen here," Ned begins, voice assuming a familiar sternness, one oft used by fathers and mothers alike. It isn't scolding or chiding or condescending, but it's firm. "I had no hand in creating you, that's true, but that makes you no less my son. D'you understand? It is not through blood alone that families are connected, forever tied to one another - just as your blood linkage to Rhaeagar makes you no more his than anyone else. We've no control over who creates us, their lineage, their past sins. But we can make conscious decisions in how we live our lives - whether we allow ourselves to be marred and drowned in sorrow and shadow, or weinstead decide to take up our own sword, create our own life, and forge our own path."