Jon Snow's parents to be revealed in 'Winds of Winter'? 

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One of the longest standing questions in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series and TV show "Game of Thrones" has been: Who are Jon Snow\'s parents? 

While the characters in Westeros believe that Jon is the child of Eddard Stark, there are many theories -- including one all-but-confirmed one -- that argue Jon isn\'t Ned\'s bastard after all.

It\'s a question that has become the biggest unanswered "Game of Thrones" mystery in recent years, and one author George R.R. Martin has constantly hedged. But considering he is currently writing the second-to-last novel in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series, he will have to answer it relatively soon.

Apparently the answer could come sooner than some might expect. During a recent interview with the New York Post, Martin was asked when he plans to say who actually birthed Jon Snow.

"I\'ve not finished \'The Winds of Winter\' yet, so maybe in that book," he says, "but if not then definitely in the next book, [\'A Dream of Spring\']."

There you have it, "Game of Thrones" fans: One more reason you can\'t wait for Martin to release "The Winds of Winter."

Fun fact: "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss told Martin their Jon Snow parents theory to secure themselves the job adapting his book series, but they haven\'t revealed their answer yet. For those of you who are new to this "Game of Thrones" mystery, here are three spoiler-filled possibilities for who the parents of Jon Snow are. Again,

By far the most popular Jon Snow parents theory -- and the "all-but-confirmed one" mentioned above -- is that Jon isn\'t the son of Ned Stark at all. Instead, he\'s actually his nephew. This theory states that Jon is actually the son of Ned\'s sister Lyanna, who in the books died "in a bed of blood" after being allegedly kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys\' older brother who was married to the Red Viper\'s sister Elia Martell.

There is a whole lot of evidence to back up this theory, as well as a lot of common sense. First of all, only Robert Baratheon remembers Rhaegar as a bad guy, while everyone else has a lot of respect for him. Chances are Lyanna fell in love with Rhaegar and ran off with him, had his child and died in a "bed of blood," aka during childbirth. Since that makes Jon half Targaryen, his existence could have made him a target of Robert in his Targaryen-killing fury, which would explain why he had to be raised a Stark.

Second of all, Ned is honorable to a fault, and totally not the type of guy who would cheat on his wife. He remembers Lyanna telling him "promise me" before she died, which likely meant to promise to raise Jon and keep his lineage a secret. Honoring his sister\'s dying wish -- even if it meant pretending he had fathered a bastard to everyone including his wife Catelyn -- seems like a very Ned thing to do.

Third of all, Sean Bean pretty much confirmed this in a recent interview anyway. So for those of you who want Jon to end up on the Iron Throne, having him be half Targaryen certainly gives him a good claim. Also, Targaryens love their incest, making him and Dany a much more feasible \'ship.

The second most popular theory is that Ashara Dayne is the mother of Jon Snow, and that either Ned or his older brother Brandon Stark -- the Stark who was originally supposed to marry Catelyn before his death -- is the father. There is some hearsay evidence to support this, such as her supposedly bedding one of the two Stark brothers at the Tourney at Harrenhal (an event pre-the "Game of Thrones" timeline of a lot of significance), and that she was pregnant when she killed herself later. This is the Jon Snow mother theory both Cersei Lannister and Catelyn Stark seem to believe.

In "Game of Thrones," Wylla is the name of Jon\'s mother that Ned provides to Robert and never mentions again. ( Watch the clip of that scene here.) However, this is the least likely of the three most popular Jon Snow parent theories. In all likelihood, Ned used Wylla as a coverup to protect Jon\'s actual mother, whether she be Lyanna or Ashara. Here\'s hoping everyone only needs to wait until "The Winds of Winter" is released to learn who the mother is for certain.

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