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So about that bombshell casually dropped on ‘Game of Thrones’ . . .

By Jaclyn Reiss Globe Staff,August 14, 2017, 6:36 p.m.

Warning: Spoilers below.

If you were ready to throw something at your TV during last night’s “Game of Thrones” episode, you’re not alone.

The HBO show’s creators teased viewers in its newest episode by having a character stumble upon something that could change the whole balance in the race for the Iron Throne — only for it to be promptly ignored.

In the episode titled “Eastwatch,” former wildling Gilly was flaunting her new reading skills by giving her partner, Sam Tarly, a rundown of everything a former high septon recorded in a journal.

Then, she came across a word she was unfamiliar with — a word that had fans’ ears perking up.

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“What does ‘annulment’ mean?” Gilly asked.

“It’s when a man sets aside his lawful wife,” Sam responded.

Gilly then noted that the book she was reading said the high septon “issued an annulment for a Prince ‘Ragger’ and remarried him to someone else at the same time in a secret ceremony in Dorne. Is that a common thing in the south —”

Sam then cut Gilly off in a huff, frustrated that the maesters had time to record inane statistics, but would not set to the task of defeating the so-called “White Walkers” threatening the north.

However, that one line from Gilly set off a flurry of reaction. The “Prince ‘Ragger’” she was referring to? That would be crown prince Rhaegar Targaryen, who allegedly abducted Lyanna Stark before impregnating her with a child who, last season, was confirmed to be Jon Snow. Rhaegar was eventually killed in “Robert’s Rebellion,” an uprising that resulted in Robert Baratheon usurping the Targaryens from the throne.

But Gilly’s discovery — that Rhaegar set aside his wife, Elia Martell, to presumably marry Lyanna — would mean that Jon Snow is not actually an illegitimate child. Instead, he would be the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, since his father was next in line for the crown. In fact, he would have more of a claim to the throne than Daenerys Targaryen, one of the main protagonists of the show, since Rhaegar was her brother. (Which, if you think about it, makes Dany Jon’s aunt.)

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Even though the whole scene lasted for about a minute and a half, it set off a wave of commentary online afterwards.

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