‘Game of Thrones’ Is Officially Jon Snow’s Story
After an overwhelming series of evidence, it’s clear that the King in the North is something more than that now. But what happens next?
As if we didn’t already know after his dramatic resurrection in Season 5, this week’s episode essentially confirmed it: Jon Snow is the hero of Game of Thrones. More than Tyrion or Sansa or Arya or even Daenerys, this is Jon’s story.
For a show that has so frequently and skillfully operated in an area of moral ambiguity, Jon stands out as the closest thing to a pure, morally good character we’ve had since Ned Stark. Like Ned, he’s bound by honor and a sense of duty. He puts himself in harm’s way to do what’s right. And, as Tormund says in this week’s episode, Jon is especially like Ned in that he frequently talks himself into “stupid fucking ideas.”
Sure, that last bit got Ned killed, but Ned also didn’t have Targaryen blood running through his veins, was never the King in the North, and never looked the Night King in the eyes. Jon may not be Ned’s son (we know that after the Tower of Joy scenes from last season), but he has all the makings of a classic fantasy hero — the same characteristics that made Ned’s death such a jarring head-fake in the first season. The only difference is that Jon isn’t likely to die (again), and he’s our best prospect yet as the prince that was promised. The story has hinted at this for a while, and this episode took several major steps toward advancing that theory.
Let’s start with Jon’s encounter with Drogon. As the dragon continues his menacing approach toward Jon, the King in the North removes his glove, his eyes seemingly near tears, and touches Drogon’s snout. It’s been established that Targaryens have a connection with dragons, and though Jason Concepcion pointed out last week that Targaryens aren’t necessarily the only dragon riders the Seven Kingdoms have seen, they don’t call it the “blood of the dragon” for nothing. This connection felt special. In the history of the show, the only other person besides Dany to have a bonding moment with one of her dragons like this is Tyrion, and there’s a good chance that he’s a secret Targaryen child himself (we can save that theory for another day). But Tyrion’s interaction with Rhaegal and Viserion in Meereen’s catacombs happened with only Varys observing from afar, while Dany is directly atop Drogon for this scene. Look at her face:
She’s never seen something like this before. Did she mean to drop in on top of Drogon to intimidate Jon? Whatever reaction she expected, it obviously wasn’t this. The implications are fascinating: Could Jon, Dany’s nephew, become a dragonrider alongside Dany? She has three dragons — she’ll presumably need to recruit someone to mount them in battle with her before her army can truly match the Night King. This is the first time the show has actively hinted at the possibility of Jon having a connection to these creatures. Besides, do you think HBO invested all the CGI into this scene … just because?
Several scenes later, we return to Oldtown, where Gilly’s years-long quest to learn to read finally pays off in a huge way — though not for her or Sam. As she flips through an old journal of High Septon Maynard, she discovers what is, unbeknownst to her, one of the most important passages written on any piece of parchment in the Seven Kingdoms: “He issued an annulment for a Prince Rhaegar and remarried him to someone else at the same time in a secret ceremony in Dorne,” she says. “These maesters!” Sam interrupts, and the moment is gone.
“Someone else” could be up to interpretation, but given that we know from last season that Lyanna Stark died giving birth to Jon in the Tower of Joy, in Dorne, the conclusion is obvious: Lyanna and Rhaegar were married. The tale told around Westeros is that Rhaegar kidnapped and raped Lyanna. But if that isn’t true, if she ran off with him willingly because she loved him, and the two were married, the implication is huge. Rhaegar was next in line to the throne before Robert’s Rebellion, and because Jon appears to be his lawful, eldest living son, and not a bastard, that makes him Jon Targaryen, the rightful King of Westeros.
There are still some holes to fill here. Why did the High Septon even allow an annulment when divorce in Westeros “isn’t common,” per George R.R. Martin? Rhaegar’s first wife, Elia Martell, already produced him a male heir, so it’s hard to see how the Faith of the Seven would rubberstamp a divorce like that, even for a prince. But regardless of the exact thorny details, Gilly’s discovery seems like the confirmation of a long-held theory: that Jon, not Dany, is the heir to the Iron Throne.
But even if Jon knew that right now, it’s doubtful he’d make a big deal out of it. He’s already shown that he’s happy to sweep his resurrection under the rug, and he has bigger things on his mind in the North. When Jon assembles his superteam at Eastwatch and convinces them to join him in a surely doomed plan to bring a wight back to King’s Landing, it’s more than just a hastily arranged way to get our heroes back to fighting the White Walkers. Melisandre and other denizens of Westeros have been hoping for the return of the prince that was promised and/or Azor Ahai and/or the last hero for years (whether these are different names for the same person or three individuals is fuzzy; bear with me here). Jon’s arrival in Eastwatch could turn into a key piece of evidence that he is the answer to that prophecy. It could even confirm it.
In A Game of Thrones, Old Nan tells Bran about the Long Night, a tale about the last time the White Walkers descended on Westeros. She says that to save the continent, the last hero “set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions. … One by one his friends died, and his horse, and finally even his dog.” Jon didn’t appear to bring a horse with him, and Ghost is still in Winterfell (though the Hound could fill the dog role), but of Gendry, Davos, Tormund, Sandor, Beric, Thoros of Myr, and Jorah, which character is indispensable to the show at this point? If Jon is the only one to return alive, it’ll be a clear cog in the theory that he’s the last hero reborn. Other than the fact that, well, he’s literally been reborn.
And there’s one more part to Old Nan’s story: “His sword froze so hard the blade snapped when he tried to use it.” If Longclaw doesn’t make it back with Jon, consider that the smoking gun.
Nothing is #confirmed just yet, but I’ve seen enough: Jon isn’t just the King in the North. He isn’t just the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms. He isn’t just the prince that was promised, the last hero, or Azor Ahai. He is the Song of Ice and Fire. Not only does he have Stark and Targaryen heritage, but he was forged into a man in the cold of Castle Black and reborn by the Lord of Light’s heat. He’s killed a White Walker and touched a dragon. Game of Thrones has dropped hints like this before, and fans have speculated about Jon as the show’s hero for years (they’ve done that for everyone). But Jon’s encounter with Drogon, Gilly’s discovery, and the journey beyond the Wall are overwhelming evidence: This was the episode where the show officially tipped its hand. The prince that was promised has been promised.
Disclosure: HBO is an initial investor in The Ringer.
