É Jon. Robb legitimou-o antes de sua morte, o que ele foi legalmente capaz de fazer como Rei no Norte, e assim Jon é o legítimo herdeiro de Ned Stark e o legítimo Senhor de Winterfell e Rei no Norte. Mesmo seus votos da Patrulha da Noite não são mais um obstáculo, já que eles só o ligaram até a morte, e ele agora morreu (presumivelmente para ser ressuscitado de alguma forma).
Em A Storm of Swords , Robb e Catelyn têm a seguinte conversa:
“Mother.” There was a sharpness in Robb’s tone. “You forget. My father had four sons.”
She had not forgotten; she had not wanted to look at it, yet there it was. “A Snow is not a Stark.”
“Jon’s more a Stark than some lordlings from the Vale who have never so much as set eyes on Winterfell.”
“Jon is a brother of the Night’s Watch, sworn to take no wife and hold no lands. Those who take the black serve for life.”
“So do the knights of the Kingsguard. That did not stop the Lannisters from stripping the white cloaks from Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Boros Blount when they had no more use for them. If I send the Watch a hundred men in Jon’s place, I’ll wager they find some way to release him from his vows.”
He is set on this. Catelyn knew how stubborn her son could be. “A bastard cannot inherit.”
“Not unless he’s legitimized by a royal decree,” said Robb. “There is more precedent for that than for releasing a Sworn Brother from his oath.”
Robb então tem um conselho com seus senhores da seguinte forma:
He picked up a sheet of parchment. “One more matter. Lord Balon has left chaos in his wake, we hope. I would not do the same. Yet I have no son as yet, my brothers Bran and Rickon are dead, and my sister is wed to a Lannister. I’ve thought long and hard about who might follow me. I command you now as my true and loyal lords to fix your seals to this document as witnesses to my decision.”
Não está claro o que aconteceu com aquela folha de pergaminho. Robb então enviou Galbart Glover e Maege Mormont para Howland Reed na Greywater Watch, mas as mensagens escritas que eles carregavam eram falsas, no caso de serem capturadas.
É reivindicado em uma resposta no Quora que o < O volume do companheiro World of Ice and Fire, que foi escrito com a aprovação de George RR Martin, confirma que Jon foi legitimado por Robb. Mas não consigo encontrar nenhuma referência no livro.