Originally published June 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
Tony Black counts down to Game of Thrones’ season 7 premiere…
The King in the North! What a journey a man who knows so little has undertaken over the last six seasons of Game of Thrones.
The bastard son (or so we thought) of Ned Stark, warden of the North and all round good egg, and a mysterious southern woman known only as Wylla, Jon was given the surname Snow as a reminder he would never truly be a Stark in the eyes of Gods or Men, and certainly not Ned’s staunch matriarch Catelyn. His destiny didn’t lie as a prince of Winterfell but rather the cold North as a member of the Night’s Watch, that bastion of age-old protection known more these days as a place for criminals, thieves and exiles to freeze their tits off for the rest of their days. Jon almost immediately set himself apart by being a noble man and a fierce fighter, gaining the loyalty of men in the Watch while stoking the antipathy of jealous, older Watch men who hated him for his part noble lineage.
Serving at the Wall, the barrier between the realm of men and the savage Wildlings in the frozen North, was Jon’s coming of age, if more figuratively in the TV show than the books (where he is much younger). Heading beyond the Wall in the hopes of discovering the fate of his Watch brother and biological uncle Benjen Stark, Jon finds himself at the mercy of the Wildlings and their lawless ways, falling for the charms of ‘free woman’ Ygritte, a red-haired firecracker who takes Jon’s cherry (though the very idea Kit Harington would be a virgin at that age…) and steals his heart, despite them being essentially star-crossed lovers doomed never to be together. Her death is a price that Jon must find as the Wildlings and the Watch go to war and through it he not only finds a common ground with said savages but also, unexpectedly, finds himself Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.
Despite being the cushiest number in a harsh, unforgiving part of Westeros, Jon nevertheless does not find command an easy role. Having to balance the demands of self-styled King Stannis on the one hand and the hateful plotting of Ser Alliser Thorne on the other, Jon’s only major victory is truly allying himself to the surviving Wildlings beyond the Wall as he faces, in the terrifying Battle of Hardhome, the White Walker known as the Night’s King from afar, truly understanding the threat of the undead menace the realms of men have ignored and considered stories for centuries. It’s not enough to stave off mutiny, however, and Jon’s murder at the hands of his own men at Castle Black, the home of the Watch. For most other men, death would be the end of the story but not for Jon Snow.
After the defeat of Stannis at the Battle of Winterfell against the Bolton army, the Red Priestess Melisandre, listless and looking for the Prince That Was Promised–the prophesied saviour of the world against the White Walkers–comes to believe Jon may be Azor Ahai reborn and using the same magic we earlier saw used to resurrect exiled knight Beric Dondarrion, brings Jon back from the dead. No significant changes in Jon are immediately apparent but Dondarrion–who had been revived numerous times–warned you lose a piece of yourself every time this happens.
Jon wastes no time in giving up the Watch and finally embracing the cause of the deposed Stark’s, joining forces with sister Sansa and Stannis’ former liege, Ser Davos Seaworth, in uniting the houses of the North against Ramsey Bolton, and in the legendary Battle of the Bastards, he takes back Winterfell and in a rousing speech, the Northmen who remember crown him King of the North, united under his flag–along with the Wildlings still alive–as Jon warns of the terrible true enemy lying north, not south.
What Jon doesn’t know, of course, but we the audience are now aware of thanks to his brother Bran Stark’s time travel hijinks with the Three Eyed Raven, is that King Jon has a bigger claim on the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros than anyone imagined. He is secretly the son of Ned’s sister Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, who would have been King had his father Aerys not lost the plot, and had Rhaegar not ‘kidnapped’ Lyanna & therefore kickstarted Robert Baratheon’s rebellion which saw Rhaegar slain on the Trident, Aerys dead and Robert installed as the first non-Targaryen King in centuries. Lyanna died in childbirth and with her dying words asked brother Ned to promise he would keep Jon secret, knowing Robert would kill any Targaryen child with a claim to the Iron Throne. Ned’s gonna Ned, so he took Jon as a bastard child of his own and protected the kingdom-level secret.
The question now is – will Jon discover he is infact not just a Stark, but a Targaryen Prince? Does this truly make him, quite literally, the Prince That Was Promised destined to save the world with a flaming fiery sword?
It seems likely he’ll find out, certainly if Bran makes it over the Wall with his uncle Benjen, alive yet a bit undead himself. The King in the North also has his biological aunt to contend with in the invading Daenerys Targaryen, who many have speculated may end up falling in love with Jon, with both representing the ‘song of ice and fire’ which is George RR Martin’s overarching series name, at least in the books. Quite how Dany might meet Jon though is unclear at this stage, given she’ll presumably be off fighting Cersei Lannister’s forces while Jon will be concentrating on keeping the North united as the White Walker threat intensifies, now Winter has officially come.
What also may keep Jon busy is far closer to home in the name of Sansa, and more specifically Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish. The Machiavelli has been playing Sansa like a fiddle ever since he spirited her out of King’s Landing after King Joffrey’s death, taking her to the Vale, effectively selling her to Ramsey Bolton (and we all know what he did to her), and now there’s every chance he may end up whispering poison in her ear about Jon. After all, he’s not a true Stark heir, is he? Why should he be King as a man, when Sansa is a true Stark and Queens are rising up all over the place? Could Jon face the greater enemy within while he’s looking without?
All we know right now is that Jon will likely be crossing the Wall again at some point, and he now commands the entire North. Will he end up aware of his heritage? Will he become a pawn of prophecy? And will he survive long enough to enjoy, finally, the chance to become the man he loved as a father?
Game of Thrones season seven returns on July 16th.
Tony Black
