Congratulations are in order for Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas – the Game of Thrones actress and pop star welcomed their first child together over the weekend.
The news was announced yesterday that the married couple are now the proud parents of a baby girl, who they have named Willa.
But as some eagle-eyed Game of Thrones fans have noticed that baby Jonas’ name is connected to HBO’s high-fantasy epic, which Sophie starred in as Sansa Stark.
So, we’d thought we’d break down the exact connection between Willa and Game of Thrones – as well as why some people may be missing out on the bigger connection.
Who was Willa in Game of Thrones?
Willa was actually a character in Game of Thrones – although you would be forgiven for not recogising her.
Introduced in the fifth season of the show, Willa was a Wildling child who was stranded at the outpost of Hardhome, before it was ransacked by the White Walkers and the Night King.
Although the character had no screen-time with Sophie’s Sansa, she was saved from a particularly icy fate by Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
A different Willa would then turn up in Thrones’ final season, during the episode The Last of the Starks, where she’s employed as a servant in Winterfell. Here, she was played by Alice Nokes.
But, personally, we think that the biggest connection to Westeros is not through these two background characters, but another figure called Wylla.
Go on then, who was Wylla?
However, another character named Wylla has a direct connection to the Stark family.
Fans from the very first season of Thrones will no doubt recognise the name, as it ties into one of the fantasy epic’s biggest mysteries.
Namely – who was Jon Snow’s mother?
Before the eventual reveal that Jon was in fact a Targaryen foundling, adopted by Ned Stark (Sean Bean) at the orders of his sister, Jon’s mother Lyanna (Aisling Franciosi), that Ned raised the boy as his own at Winterfell.
The cover story repeated to everyone including Jon was that he was Ned’s bastard son, conceived after an affair with a woman while he was at war. The name of this woman? Wylla.
Wylla, of course, would turn out to be an entirely fictional construction, to enable Jon’s true identity to be kept secret and to keep him from harm.
So, in the grand schemes of things, we think that Wylla herself, whilst not real, is probably the strongest link we have to Game of Thrones from Sophie and Joe.
Don’t agree with us? Maybe it’s time for another binge watch…
Game of Thrones is available to purchase via Sky Boxsets.
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