Jon Snow

**Jon Snow**, AKA **Aegon II Targaryen**, believes himself to be the bastard second son of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell and the half-brother of Sansa, Arya and Brandon Stark, but is in truth their cousin, the trueborn son of the secretly-wed Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Targaryen (nee Stark), placing Jon, unbeknownst to him, above Daenerys Targaryen in the Targaryen line of succession to the Iron Throne. He left Winterfell for the Night's Watch where he defended the Wall from the Wildlings and became Lord Commander. He fought the Army of the Dead alongside Wildlings and was betrayed and murdered by his men for allying with the freefolk, before being raised from the dead by the fire priestess Melisandre. He left the Wall and reclaimed Winterfell from Ramsay Bolton, becoming King in the North. Stranded in the south as the Wall falls, he journeys through Westeros rallying Lords and smallfolk alike to fight the Dead. He sacrifices his life to end the Second Long Night.

## Characterisation

After he is named King in the North, Jon works to convince the Northern lords he now rules over of the immediate threat of the Army of the Dead and to plan for their attack. Using Lord Wyman Manderly's navy, he sails to Dragonstone where, after a pact with Euron Greyjoy and Jaime Lannister, he is able to mine some of the vast stores of dragonglass held in Dragonstone's mountain. Ahead of the imminent coming of Daenerys, Jon wrestles with his sense of honour as he prepares to stand down his men and leave the Lannisters to their fate, clashing heatedly with new adviser Lord Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish, who counsels an even greater betrayal. Calamity ensues, twice, at Dragonstone and then in Shipbreaker Bay, on the way to Storm's End, leaving Jon and his remaining army stuck in the Stormlands with the Dead at the gates, rueing his mistakes and doubting his abilities as a leader. At his lowest ebb, conversations with Tyrion Lannister and, most crucially, the recently bereaved Lord Manderly, help him rediscover a sense of determined purpose, and he uses it to inspire swathes of Stormlands houses to rally to his cause and begin a great march north, his ranks swelled. As that journey begins, he witnesses the carnage wreaked on King's Landing and the Crownlands by the new Queen Daenerys.

## Story

### Season Seven

Winterfell. The winds rise and characters huddle by fires and in meagre shelter. The snow is falling and settling deep. Inside, Jon conducts his first small council, with Sansa, Davos, Lord Royce, Tormund, Lord Manderly, Lord Glover and Lady Mormont. Glover says he has heard that Euron Greyjoy now rules in the Iron Islands and is building a fleet. With Euron’s fearsome, terrible reputation, Glover says he fears for Deepwood Motte, relatively undefended. Manderly, meanwhile, says there are rumours of the death of Walder Frey and chaos at The Twins. Littlefinger enters, clearly uninvited. This draws protest from Manderly and Glover, and visible unhappiness from Sansa. Jon tells him he is not welcome, but Littlefinger insists on his value. To prove it, he informs them that Tommen Baratheon and the Tyrells are dead, and that Cersei has assumed the throne, which quietens the room.

Jon says nothing at first, then tells them none of that matters next to the Army of the Dead. He tells them he has forgiven House Umber and Karstark and that he wants all his bannermen to go north now, to the Wall. Sansa objects to abandoning Winterfell, potentially to the likes of Cersei or the Greyjoys. Jon dismisses this point and ends the meeting, much to Sansa's consternation.

As the council go their separate ways, Sansa asks to speak with Royce alone.

Jon and Davos discuss the quickest way to get to the Wall. Davos suggests that sea is the quickest method, but concedes that they do not have a navy large enough to ferry Jon's Northmen, the Vale Knights and the Wildlings. Jon notes that even then, they'll need enough ships to also carry all the allies they don't have. Littlefinger interrupts and suggests that, hard as he is trying to hide it, Lord Manderly has a sufficient navy. He then states that if Jon needs more allies and more ships, he can help. Jon is unimpressed and goes off on his own way. Littlefinger pursues to make his case, but Jon makes clear that he does not trust him. When Littlefinger points to the help he has afforded Sansa, Jon makes clear that he understands how inconsistent this help was. He then tells Littlefinger that he knows that he was supposed to counsel Ned, and that Ned ended up being murdered.

Littlefinger counters that he did counsel Ned, and still regrets that Ned did not take that counsel. This is what caused the War of the Five Kings. He praises Jon's honesty and honour, but bluntly states that this inheritance from his father could do the same damage if it wins out over reason.

“You said yourself that the war north is more important than anything. Is it more important than that honour, or your father's memory?”

Jon is shaken by this. He says that Littlefinger will be included in his council, but only if he fulfils his promise to bring allies and ships. Littlefinger makes his promise, saying he knows just the place to look. (**7.1, Behind the Wall**)

A raven arrives at Winterfell, and Maester Wolkan is called for and reads it. He immediately hurries to the courtyard, where Jon is overseeing the organisation of fresh troops from the minor Northern houses. Wolkan informs him or urgent news. Jon calls a meeting in the Great Hall.

“We're out of time,” he tells the assembled, “but we have an opportunity to save ourselves still.”

Maester Wolkan explains that after Stannis was defeated, no one attempted to seize Dragonstone. It is customary for the victor in a battle to do so but the Boltons were busy and it was too far away. King’s Landing had its own turmoil, while the Lannisters spent months in the Riverlands with the Freys. It is manned by a tiny Baratheon garrison.

“You wanted to march north yesterday, now it’s south,” says Sansa. “How will you ferry an army to Dragonstone when the North has had no Navy since Brandon the Shipwright?”

Jon’s reasons for a Great Hall meet become clear, as he turns to Manderly and tells him he knows he has a fleet at White Harbour, and he is asking to use it. Lord Manderly concedes he does and agrees. Afterwards, Sansa tells him it was a smart move – Manderly could not have risked lying to the King’s face in front of everyone. Jon admits that Littlefinger informed him of the fleet. They discuss Littlefinger, and specifically whether he can be trusted. Sansa says that he can as long as he sees the chance of reward, and not just of lands and titles, but power. She urges Jon to take Petyr with him when he goes.

“You may not trust him, but he loved my mother, and he loves me. He was second only to Varys in King’s Landing when it came to knowing people’s secrets.”

Jon looks dubious of her, but does not have a contrary argument. He seeks out Davos and asks him to “have a look” at the Manderly fleet.

“Do a good job," he says, "and I'll make ye Master of Ships!” (**7.2, Dragonstone**)

Winterfell. A raven arrives and its message received. Soon after, a retainer carries that message to Littlefinger. He reads it quickly and smiles, then approaches Jon, who conducts Kingly business in the Great Hall. They talk. Jon needed allies, and so Littlefinger has beseeched Ser Gilbert Farring, castellan of Storm's End.

“It seems that nobody felt brave enough to have a crack at a siege” of the famous castle, what with the Stormlands virtually out of the war and racked by internal feuds. However, Farring is an honourable and loyal man intent on rebuilding House Baratheon proper. “Cersei is no Baratheon.” He trusts any son of Lord Eddard like he would any brother of King Robert. If Jon promises to return Baratheon losses and join their houses, then Ser Gilbert shall see to it that the Stormlands and the North are militarily aligned. While he's at it, he informs Jon that a Lannister-Greyjoy pact has taken Dragonstone.

“I brought you the Vale of Arryn as an introduction,” Littlefinger says, “and now I've brought you the Stormlands as a gesture. One wonders what we'd be capable of if we really put our mind to it.”

Later, Sansa meets with Lord Royce and Littlefinger, with Brienne also present. Royce tells her that he and Lord Petyr have consulted with the Lord of the Eyrie and have decided that the Knights of the Vale will stay here to defend the castle and Sansa.

“We came north for you, my lady, and we will defend you while the northmen go south.”

Brienne bristles at this but doesn’t say anything. Littlefinger clears his throat.

“Meanwhile, the King in the North has requested my services in his mission south,” He says. He gives Sansa a knowing look and smiles. “I did not dare refuse.”

Sansa remarks that much of Littlefinger's efforts have been directed towards the King, and Littlefinger replies that he knows no better way to serve his lady than to assist their King and her blood.

“Kings seem to sit miserably on their thrones, particularly in your brother's case, but their beloved reap the rewards of their loyalty. That's the essence of inheritance, my lady. I'd rather yours was larger.”

Sansa clearly isn't convinced, however, and tells Littlefinger to be careful in his “southern adventures.” The cliffs at Dragonstone are so very high and the steps so very steep. Royce is amused by this, and Littlefinger is forced to give a self-deprecating chuckle.

He's managed so far, he says, and gotten quite high.

“Yes, Lord Baelish,” she replies. “But it's a long way down.”

In the courtyard, Jon and his retinue, including Lord Manderly, Glover, Lady Mormont, young Ned Umber – and Littlefinger – prepare their horses to lead the small army assembled outside the castle walls. Tormund approaches Jon. His Wildling host are visibly preparing for war themselves.

“Off fighting southern twats again? Haven’t you had enough of it by now?”

They embrace.

“There’s nothing I can say to convince you to join me?” Jon asks.

“This is as far south as I ever want to go,” Tormund says. “It’s too fucking warm down here. We'll keep the Gift safe for you, until you come to the rescue again.”

“I will,” says Jon. “And we’ll bring you blades of dragonglass.”

Sansa and Brienne watch the exchange.

“The Wildlings love him. The northmen love him,” remarks Brienne.

“And they’d all be dead if it weren’t for me,” says Sansa.

“You think it’s folly to go South?” Brienne says.

“It doesn’t matter what I think. Come,” says Sansa.

She meets Jon in the courtyard and they embrace.

“Look after the place while I’m gone,” he says, and glances at Ghost, sniffing warily around the horses in the courtyard and whining softly, while the horses whinny and stamp, agitated, in turn. “And look after him. Not that he needs it.”

“Direwolves are like Starks,” says Sansa. “They don’t do well in the South. You’re right not to take him. Did you know… Father killed my Lady. He had to: King Robert made him, on the Kingsroad. Cersei and Joffrey made it so, all because of some childish nonsense between Arya and Joff. Nymeria bit him to defend her, then disappeared.”

“I never knew,” says Jon.

“Why would you?” says Sansa. “It was childish nonsense, a thousand years ago. Before the war, before Father died, before Robb, all of it.”

Jon calls Ghost over, and crouches to stroke him. “When was the last time you petted a direwolf?” he asks. “A thousand years ago? Come here.”

Sansa crouches uncertainly, looking at Ghost. She takes her glove off and stretches out her hand to him. She slowly reaches his fur and puts her fingers through it. Then she hugs him close. Her eyes fill with tears – happiness and pain, joy and grief. She closes her eyes against his fur. Jon smiles.

We cut to outside Winterfell, Jon leading his army south. (**7.3, The Marches**)

Jon arrives at White Harbour and inspects the fleet with Davos and Lord Manderly. Davos is in his element here, demonstrating a knowledge of the ships that puts even Lord Manderly to shame. He notes that they are fine for speed and probably combat, but that the holds must be reinforced to carry the number of troops needed to take Dragonstone. He knows the castle very well, having lived there for many years with his son, Matthos. Jon asks what happened to Matthos, and Davos tells him about the Battle of Blackwater Bay, the wildfire and his son's death there. They talk about reports that wildfire destroyed the Sept of Baelor, where Jon's father died. However, neither men consider justice served. Davos says he loved Stannis, but he had to watch as the man was consumed by the duty to become King. “It cost everything. His name, his followers, his own daughter. Then his own life in the end.” He notes that it was never greed or ambition that drove him, but merely the belief that he had to be king. Duty. Pursuing the supposed 'greater good' led to awful things, especially when he was driven by divinity. “He was told he was Azor Ahai, the Prince that was Promised. That's immunity from the laws of man if I've ever heard of it. There's no justice from people who have destiny on their side.” Lord Manderly states that one of his sons, Wylis, was killed in the Riverlands by Southrons led by the Mountain. The other, Wendel, died at the Red Wedding. Jon delivered justice for one of them by wiping out House Bolton, and Littlefinger suggests that Walder Frey has now been assassinated. “There's always some justice,” he says, “but not all of it. For the rest you need to make your own plans.” Jon asks if that's why Manderly constructed a fleet in secret, to find justice. Manderly answers that he built his fleet that the Starks might rule the North again. He kept it secret because he doesn't trust those in their midst. They are interrupted by a Vale page, who wishes to report on Lord Baelish's behalf that important news has reached them.

Jon and his commanders come together at Lord Manderly's keep, where Lord Baelish shares the big news. Daenerys Targaryen sails for Westeros with a large Greyjoy fleet and three dragons. She has allied herself with the Martells and the Tyrells, giving her Dorne and the Reach. The bulk of her army is made up of Dothraki blood riders and Unsullied shock troops. It is a larger force than that of Aegon the Conqueror, and it will be arriving on land in a matter of weeks. Luckily it's sheer size means that it cannot simply disembark in one long go. Davos attests to this. But spies and scouts have already been deployed. The direction appears to be due west, towards the Blackwater. Jon remarks that now three sides will be trying to get a hold of Dragonstone. The good news, however, is that they have with them somebody who knows the castle better than anyone else living. Davos is modest, but makes it clear that he isn't a military commander. His expertise is in getting inside without a fight, as he did to feed Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion. Robbet Glover suggests that fighting wouldn't be in their best interests. “There's no use getting dragonglass if there's nobody left to wield it.” Jon agrees, but gives Littlefinger a glance before saying he wants to marshal his full strength before finalising a plan.

Across the Seven Kingdoms, the message arrives from the Night’s Watch. Lord Yronwood in Sunspear reacts to it with incredulity. Olenna Tyrell at Highgarden takes in the message and sits down heavily before shaking her head. Aeron Damphair at Pyke reads it then stares out to the land of the North. Robin Arryn at the Eeyrie. Jaime reads it at Dragonstone and is puzzled, but then passes it on to Euron who laughs. Cersei in King’s Landing reads the message and her lip curls. Sam sneaks a look at it over a maester’s shoulder in Oldtown and his eyes widen in panic. She tosses the letter away as she stands alone in the throne room.

Over this, we hear Jon's voice.“The dead are at the gates. Hundreds of thousands. Realm in the greatest peril. Send all aid you can muster.” White Harbour. Jon stands looking at this note, Davos and Manderly and Glover beside him. He thought he had more time, to which Glover remarks that it's the dead who have all the time in the world to decide when they shall walk again. Manderly says he can have the Northern army at Eastwatch within two days, but Jon rejects the offer. They have no chance on their own, and they have no chance even if all the kingdoms south answer the call, which they won't. Nobody has a chance without the dragonglass and every Valyrian steel sword known to man, or what it is that forges those swords. They must continue to Dragonstone and collect its weapons. Then they must make peace with the Dragon Queen. (**7.4, Castle Black**)

Jon and his fleet sail into Dragonstone and raise the white flag. A parley occurs on the sands, Jon's retinue of Davos, Littlefinger, Glover and Manderly joining him. On the other side are Euron and his brother VICTARION, and Jaime and his captains Ser ADDAM MARBRAND and Ser HARYS SWIFT. The initial reception is frosty to say the least. Jaime and Jon in particular give each other quite the stare. However, the silence is punctuated by Euron, who says the posturing silence is getting on his nerves. “I assume this rabble don't want to sleep on the bottom of the narrow sea tonight.” Jon explains that he has heard of the Targaryen queen’s coming, and her dragons, and army of Dothraki and eunuchs. The last Targaryen monarch murdered his grandfather and uncle, he reminds them, and he has no intention of ceding the North to them. While there is back and forth and clear conflicts between the men – the Northmen despise Euron; the Greyjoys despise the Starks; everybody despises Jaime – there is consensus. Davos notes that he has seen stranger alliances in his time, and that regardless of the threat they fear the most – be it a Targaryen restoration or the army of the dead – it'd be a waste not to seize the potential for unity before them. “We all want it, do we not?” he asks, “Then why would we keep quibbling til the tide drowns us.” The Lannisters, Starks and Greyjoys come to an uneasy truce. Jaime grants Jon and his men the freedom to mine and grounds outside the castle to camp. As they break off uneasily, Jaime and Littlefinger share a long look that Jon spots.

At Illyrio’s mansion in Pentos, Varys meets the magister, greeting him as an old friend. In the background a hooded man can be seen leaving. “I was surprised to hear of your coming,” says Illyrio. “Word was you were sailing with the dragon queen.” “I sail ahead on her behalf,” he says. “You seek allies in Westeros beyond the Queen of Thorns, who they say is half-mad with grief, and those ugly rapers and reavers who serve Yara Greyjoy,” the magister says. “And the Martells,” says Varys, but Illyrio just looks at him. “Oh no. What happened?” Illyrio explains, telling him about the Marches. “Oberyn’s paramour and daughter sail north with Lady Olenna, but they will soon see that the Lannisters hold Dragonstone, and the Yronwoods have sacked and claimed Sunspear. They have nowhere to go.” Varys takes all this in. Illyrio becomes shifty. “I have something else to show you.”

They go deeper into Illyrio's mansion. He explains that all those years ago, when he provided sanctuary to Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen all those years ago, there was no time to decide what to do with the children’s meagre possessions before they rode off with Drogo’s khalasar. “The beggar king, they called him. What little they had, I never thought to look through it, when I had so much. I left it to gather dust in a darkened room somewhere.” When he heard of Dany’s coming west, he chanced across the possessions and thought to look through them. They arrived at Illyrio's library. He discovered something in Viserys’ old effects: the diary of Rhaegar Targaryen, written in High Valyrian. Viserys could never read, nor speak, High Valyrian well, unlike Dany who was more studious as a child. Therefore, Viserys never understood its value. The diary claims Rhaegar wedded Lyanna Stark rather than raped her – that he loved her, and sought to keep her safe with child in Dorne, protected by the Kingsguard, including Ser Arthur Dayne. When Varys doubts its authenticity, Illyrio simply shows him the diary by candlelight. “It’s Rhaegar hand: you can see it as well as I,” says Illyrio. Varys intuits what Illyrio already suspects: Eddard Stark killed Dayne the day he found his sister dead in the Broken Tower. The boy Eddard Stark home after Robert’s Rebellion was no bastard. “That boy now rules in the North, they say, with a direwolf the size of a horse,” says Illyrio. “They say he was resurrected from the dead.” “And now you think he should rule?” asks Varys. “He’s Rhaegar’s trueborn son – we have proof!” Illyrio says. “Lord Eddard was made Protector of the Realm at the stroke of a pen, but it did him no favours,” says Varys dismissively, “but by the accounts I heard before sailing east, this Jon Snow lacks his father’s honour. He deserted the Night’s Watch and marched on Winterfell with wildlings, where this King-Beyond-The-Wall tore the Warden of the North apart with his own hounds. If he is truly a Targaryen, he is the wrong sort.” “You may find out soon enough,” says Illyrio. “Rumour has it he too sails for Dragonstone – with your old friend Petyr Baelish advising him.”

Dragonstone. The three forces have set up their camps and fortifications quite well. As well as the battlements being manned and supplied, a series of palisades and obstructions have been built around the walkways and staircases. We see Ironborn scattering small spikes on to the beaches and Northmen digging traps in the grass and dirt around the rock. Jaime inspects the lines. He walks down to the main jetty at the edge of the water and looks up at an incredibly imposing defence of an already brutally strong castle. He looks pleased, but as he begins to go back he spots a Northern boat down by the bottom of a cliff along the side of the island. A quick glance confirms the Northern navy is on the other side. He double-takes and frowns. Jaime heads back up and along the way encounters Euron, who is standing on a rock above looking out to the south. Euron asks Jaime if he knows how many men he's killed, and Jaime says he doesn't count. Euron counters that he should at least know how many leagues. He then admonishes Jaime for being so serious. Jaime ignores him and continues on. He approaches the Northern forces. The men eye him darkly, spitefully. Some muttering and curses. He keeps his chin up and makes eye contact but is hardly bullish. He makes his way through until he reaches Jon at the command tent. He's spotted, and Jon dismisses his chiefs. Glover makes a point of staring down Jaime before he does, and gets close before asking “were you expecting a hand, kinslayer?” Many of the Northmen laugh. Jon does not. He invites Jaime into his tent.

Jon apologises for the conduct of his men. Jaime says it's alright, that he understands their resentment. He looks to continue, but cuts himself short. “They have every right to hate me,” he says instead, “and so do you. If you're anything like your father, and I suspect you are, I seriously doubt we'll ever be friends. It's a miracle we're allies.” Jon shrugs at this and simply says that it's necessity. Jaime interrogates this. “You came all the way here to this spot, when it was teeming with two of your worst enemies, and a third still to come. There's brave and there's foolish, and then there's this.” Jon bristles and turns on him. “We've met before, you know,” he says. “I was a boy then. And aye, I'm sure you think I'm a boy still. I was off to join the Night's Watch and you just had to belittle that, to make me feel like a fool for doing that duty. I didn't want honour, I didn't want glory. But still, I'm foolish. Aye. I was foolish doing what you'd never do in places you'd never go, so you can fight over your precious realm and learn nothing from it.” He motions towards Jaime's hand. “I was foolish when they chose me as Lord Commander and I was foolish when they named me King in the North and I was foolish when they followed me here, with turncloaks and kingslayers to bed with. Maybe they wouldn't hate you so much if you were a little more foolish.” He sits down and breathes deeply. Jaime stands with his head inclined. “I should have held my tongue,” Jon says. “It was honest,” Jaime replies, “and not entirely inaccurate. But you're still in a very dangerous place and the North has no mines. You might not know this, but the Westerlands have quite bountiful gold mines. I have many men with me who have experienced those mines, some of them even had command roles in those pits. You can have them, advisers to improve your works. I doubt you'll want to be here as long as it looks you'll be.” Jon is startled by this. “You're giving me eyes to watch me,” he says. “Yes,” Jaime replies, “but then I don't know you. I did admire your father, in a way. He was honest too, he told me to my face how little he thought of me. He had every reason, even if he was wrong as often as he was right. We can work together. Our interests are shared and the common goal is a good one. But tell me, Snow. The risk you took coming here for this dragonglass. That's real, isn't it? There is no trick?” “I don't do tricks,” Jon says. Jaime ponders this. “I'm glad to hear it. It means I won't have to send you the way of your father.” (**7.5, The Rose Road**)

The mining operation begins, with Jaime's advisers showing the Northmen how to proceed. Jon has set his men to working day and night to mine dragonglass. We see them at work inside the mountain caves, hundreds of them, including Jon himself. On the shore, he meets Jaime, face and garb covered in black soot and grime. Jaime asks if it is customary in the North for the King to work alongside the common people. “He who passes the sentence should swing the pick,” Jon says, and Jaime laughs. Then they both do. Jaime says he would offer to help, but suggests that his hand is not well suited to the task. Jon asks what happened to it. Jaime is surprised that Jon doesn't know, but then somewhat reluctantly tells him the story. A Northern chief grew tired of his tongue so took his hand. Jon says that he cannot imagine living without his hand, and Jaime notes that the Night's Watch would certainly be twice as bad without it. Jon laughs. Jaime tells Jon Daenerys has set sail for the final leg of her voyage across the Narrow Sea – she’ll be there within days. “And we’re camped out in her home,” says Jon, and they share a look.

In the Stark camp, Jon holds a war council with Davos, Lord Manderly, Lord Glover and Littlefinger. Glover says they have already mined enough dragonglass to send two shipments back to White Harbor, which could then be sent with all due haste to Castle Black. Jon says he know the smiths at Castle Black, and they are competent enough. He says Samwell Tarly has sent instructions on by raven of how best to forge the glass into weapons. “He read it in a book,” says Jon, smiling to himself - a jest only he in the room could understand. He moves onto Daenerys’ coming. The Greyjoys man the fleet, and man the castle with the Lannisters. They have as many men as the Lannisters and Starks combined, notes Manderly, adding that he doesn’t trust Euron. “A man who rips the tongues from the mouths of his own sailors so they do not speak of him is no man to ally with.” Davos asks how they hope to deal with three full-grown dragons. Jon says he means for them not to deal with the dragons at all. “We will stand aside. This isn’t our fight. Then, when it is done, we will try to convince Daenerys to fly her dragons north to fight the dead. The dragonglass gives us a chance to fight. The dragons give us a chance to win.” Afterwards, Littlefinger – who watched the war council with interest but said little – tells Jon he is impressed. “Your reason has won out over your notion of honour, and that is all to the good. Your father could never bring himself to do that, but it is the mark of a true King.” Jon makes clear he is not happy about it, and adds he will appeal to this dragon Queen for mercy for Jaime Lannister. Littlefinger admonishes him: “You seek the Targaryen’s help while pleading for the life of the Kingslayer? I can think of little worse to sour your first meeting.” Jon asks what he would have him do. Littlefinger shrugs. “When the fighting starts, enter the castle as allies, then sack it. Capture Jaime Lannister and deliver him to the Queen – or better yet, kill him yourself and lay his body before her.” Jon will not countenance it. “He’ll die no matter if you stand by or if you act. But if you act, you can shape events in your favour. That’s what kings do,” Littlefinger says in closing.

Daenerys sails to Dragonstone to find her ancestral home occupied by three armies, surrounded by the Greyjoy and Manderly navies. “Lannisters, Greyjoys and Starks, all on the same side,” remarks Tyrion, observing the banners. “How extraordinary.” We see Jon stare up in awe from the Stark encampment as three dragons wheel in the air. (**7.6, Home**)

Inside the Chamber of the Painted Table, a war council – of Jaime with and his highest-ranking general SER ADDAM MARBRAND, Euron and VICTARION GREYJOY, and Jon and Davos. Jaime says the three dragons circling the castle are terrifying the men. “Your men,” says Euron derisively. “Not the Ironborn. And that’s the point. To make us surrender without losing a single one of her cockless soldiers. Well, it won’t be us who piss themselves first. A true Targaryen wouldn’t hang around. I’ve sailed all around the world, and I heard stories about this dragon queen. She locked up two of her dragons because they killed one shepherd’s child. And when she defeated the slavers, she did not kill or imprison the enemy troops: she set them free. Like most women, she is soft, and hates the sight of blood.” His leering confidence annoys Jaime. “I heard very differently. I heard she nailed hundreds of Meereenese noblemen to posts, and that her dragons ate one for supper. Her tactic might be to scare us, for now, but that doesn’t mean she won’t cook us in the end.” Victarion suggests the Greyjoy fleet hit the enemy now, and hard, and turn the ballistas on the dragons as they do it. No force on the water can best the Ironborn longships. “Except perhaps other Ironborn longships,” says Jaime. “You’re as pig-thick as you are ugly. If we attack, we break our own line, and the dragons will turn your longships into tinder.” He turns to Jon. “Does our King in the North have any bright ideas?” Jon looks up. Everyone in the room looks expectantly to him. “If what you say is true, King Euron, this dragon queen understands mercy. That does not have to be a weakness. True kings and queens know mercy can inspire loyalty. And I do not believe she has come here to burn Dragonstone, seat of House Targaryen for generations. With those beasts above, she knows she holds our lives in her hands. But she knows we have something of hers too: her home.” Jaime borders on outrage. “You would have us cede the castle and pray for mercy? Leave King’s Landing wide open?” “I am King in the North, not King of King’s Landing.” “You swore to fight with us!” “I made no such vow. I said I would defend the North.” Jaime sneers. “The son of the honourable Ned Stark plays word games with me. You have your mountain of glass and now you betray us? I should hang you from the walls.” “If I was betraying you, I would not announce it in your war council,” says Jon. “Nor did I say we should surrender the castle. But I did not come all this way to sacrifice my men to dragonfire. You all read the letter from the Night’s Watch. The dead are at the gates.” “The vivid imaginations of our Black brothers,” jokes Marbrand, uncertainly. Euron, too, is dismissive. “I’ve seen many things in my travels. Nothing that ever made me believe the dead can walk.” “A man who was dead is talking to you right now,” says Davos, surprising Jon, who gives Davos a look. “I don’t know what you’ve seen,” Jon tells Euron, “but I’ve seen the Army of the Dead. I fought them beyond the Wall, and I lost. I think you’re a madman, and you may think the same of me, but I’m telling you the truth. And if you’d seen what I’d seen, you’d understand that before spilling any more of the blood of the living, we should at least talk to this dragon queen first.”

On the sea, a ship from each armada sails out to meet in the middle. On one side, Tyrion sails out with Grey Worm, Missandei, Akkaro, Yara, Ellaria and Tyene Sand. Tyrion makes it clear to the latter two that he did not want them here. “But our Queen knows better,” Ellaria says. Tyrion warns her he will not forgive her for what she did for Myrcella. “You will pay for your crimes in due course,” he says. From the other side, Euron, Victarion, Ser Addam, a young Lannister general SER HARYS LANNISTER, Jon Snow, Davos and Lord Petyr sail. “You bring me out here, but you do not tell me what you plan, and you left me out of your war council,” complains Littlefinger. “You declared for House Stark while you were still sworn to the Lannisters,” says Jon. “Your presence doesn’t serve when treating with Lord Jaime.” “But it serves here?” “We shall find out. I want you to listen and watch – on both sides – and tell me what you see.”

The boats cross paths and stop, and the two sides gather for parley. “Beloved niece,” says Euron to Yara. “Where is little Theon?” She tells him it’s of no concern to him. “I am King of the Iron Islands,” says Euron. “The fate of Balon’s last living… son, if you can call him that, is of great concern to me.” Yara ignores him, turning to her other uncle. “Uncle Victarion, this usurper killed your brother, my father, our lord. Do you not long for justice?” But Victarion spits. “You talk like a mainlander.” Tyrion addresses Jon first, remarking on their unlikely coming together as Hand of the Queen and King in the North. Before Jon can respond, Ser Harys shouts that Tyrion is a traitor, murderer, kinslayer and kingslayer. Ser Addam gives him a look of admonishment, but Ser Harys stares back, sullen. “Quite a litany of charges. Is that why my brother in blood and kingslaying is not here – terrified of a dwarf?” asks Tyrion. “He does not trust you not to seize him for your dragon queen,” answers Ser Addam. “And where is she?” Tyrion smiles. “She does not trust your army of kingslayers, kinslayers, bastards…” his eyes fall on Lord Baelish, “and Littlefingers, any more than you trust mine. Her life is too valuable, losing it too much of a risk. Too much of a risk for you, as well as us. Dragons have been known to go mad with grief.” Euron puts his arm around Jon. “All these cowards who won’t show their face,” he says. “But not me, and not my good friend, the Bastard King.” Jon frowns at Euron and shakes him off. Tyrion tells them they don’t have the numbers, and no dragons. The Greyjoy fleet will be decimated in their flames. The castle will fall in a couple of hours if the dragons descend on it. Euron seems to be barely listening, staring at Missandei. “And who’s this?” Missandei of Naath, and adviser to the Queen, she tells him, who replies with something crude, raising Grey Worm’s hackles. “You should know that our Queen can be merciful,” she says to Euron, “and grateful to those who help her. Surrender the castle and she will be in your debt.” Yara looks alarmed at this, while Tyrion is a mixture of perturbed and impressed. “We have ballistas,” says Euron, casually. “And an arrow in the eye can fell a dragon. An arrow to the heart could fell your flying Queen. And thousands of your men will die on the stone steps before they ever reach the castle.” “And none of that would save you,” says Tyrion. Davos asks where the Tyrells are – Ellaria answers that they are laying siege to King’s Landing. “And the Dornish?” asks Davos. Ellaria gives him a cold look, although the question was innocent enough. Tyrion addresses Petyr directly. “The last I’d heard you’d sold Sansa Stark – my wife, alas, in name only – to Ramsay Bolton, and yet here you stand serving the King in the North who defeated him.” “Every man makes mistakes,” Petyr replies. “Wise men learn from them. I played my own, small part in the Bastard of Bolton’s downfall, convincing Lord Robyn Arryn to send the Knights of the Vale into the fray.” “Ah, lovely boy,” remarks Tyrion. “Fond of seeing things fly, as I recall. Bad things mostly. People for example. And his charming lady mother… I heard she suffered a tragic fall shortly after your wedding. You must still be in mourning.” “I grieve for Lysa every day,” Littlefinger says. Jon finally speaks, ending the exchange. “Lord Tyrion. When you journeyed with me to the Wall, you said I was off to fight Grumkins and Snarks. Well, you were right. But they turned out to be real. You were the King’s Hand when Lord Commander Mormont wrote that a dead man had tried to kill him. I was there; I was the one who saved him, and ended it with fire. While you were fighting off Davos here at the Blackwater, my brothers fought the dead at the Fist of the First Men. I fought the dead at Hardhome. A brother killed a White Walker with dragonglass. I killed one with Valyrian steel. Fire kills the dead, obsidian kills the Walkers and we need them both, now, because the dead are at the gates.” Tyrion is confused. “At the gates? What do you mean?” “At the gates,” Jon restates. “They amass at the wall, from Eastwatch to the Shadow Tower. Hundreds of thousands of them. The Night’s Watch can’t stop them. The North can’t stop them. The Seven Kingdoms cannot stop them. But all our might, combined with all of yours, and your dragons… well, might be there’s hope then, at least. So you see… none of this matters. Abandon this fight, this small, tiny thing, and forget this castle. Tell your Queen, tell her I beg her – come with me, north, to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Sail her ships with mine, fly her dragons overhead, to the Wall. If she wishes to rule the Seven Kingdoms, perhaps she can – but not if she doesn’t protect the realm first, and there are no days left to waste.”

As they sail away from parley back to base, Jon speaks quietly to Davos. If it comes to a battle at sea, he tells him, take down the Direwolf sigils, and the Merman sigils. “And replace them with white sails,” Davos says, finishing Jon’s thought for him, neither of them very happy about it, but Jon nods.

In Jon’s tent, back at the Stark camp outside Dragonstone, Lord Baelish greets the King. Before they can discuss business, Jon is wound up about Littlefinger and Tyrion’s exchange. Jon says the first time he ever heard from Ramsay Bolton was a letter vowing to flay him living. The first time he ever met him, Ramsay said he would feed his balls to his hounds. Was it not evident what kind of man Ramsay was? How could he, Lord Petyr, possibly not know? Littlefinger answers it would be naïve to think of him as a fount of information. What information he has comes from people, and they are fallible, with gaps in their knowledge, meaning so is his information. Knowledge is power, but the illusion of knowledge is almost as powerful. Every move he has ever made has been a gamble in some way or another. “I get better with age,” he adds. “Attempting to slay your uncle Brandon for Catelyn’s heart – now that was a foolish gamble. A lose-lose. And marrying Sansa off to a bastard boy I was… ill-informed about, was not one of my better notions. Then again, if she hadn’t gone to Ramsay, she would never have escaped his clutches to find you at the Wall, and you may never have marched on Winterfell, and it could have been a disunited North facing the Army of the Dead, with no dragonglass, and no King Jon.” Jon scoffs, asking if he is suggesting it’s all his doing. “Of course not. But every situation brings its upsides and its downsides,” says Littlefinger. “As King, you have to understand these subtleties, or they can best you.” Jon asks what subtleties were lurking under the surface at the parley. Petyr remarks that the Unsullied and the Naathene girl were clearly freed slaves. “The former are said to be prodigious in the field; as fearsome in their own way as the Dothraki. And in the girl’s voice, I heard complete devotion. This Queen inspires love and loyalty in a manner not entirely different to you, my King.” He goes on to say Ellaria Sand no longer has any power in Dorne – he says he had heard rumours of an uprising in Sunspear, and the look she gave Davos confirmed it. Daenerys is one Westerosi ally down – there is a vacancy. “What of Tyrion Lannister?” asks Jon. “When I knew him before, I thought him a good man.” “The Imp can be good when he pleases, and he’s certainly a clever man, a brave man for one so diminutive,” says Baelish. “And a dangerous enemy. Full of tricks.” “And what of our side?” asks Jon, and Petyr smiles. He asks if the King saw the way Ser Addam looked at Ser Harys after the latter’s outburst at Tyrion, explaining Marbrand was the ranking general and the young Lannister should not have spoken. “But I noted Ser Harys returned Ser Addam’s look with interest. There is dissension in the ranks.” Jon asks why. “Harys was the second cousin of Ser Kevan Lannister, and squired for him during the War of the Five Kings. Ser Kevan was killed in the wildfire inferno at the Great Sept – by the woman who now sits the Iron Throne. There’s much of it around these days, and yet kinslaying is still considered the most grievous crime in these Kingdoms.” Jon asks what he is supposed to do with that. Lord Petyr says Tyrion listened to Jon’s plea for aid at the Wall intently, and will no doubt faithfully relay it… but this dragon queen is here for the Iron Throne, first and foremost. She will want to secure that before anything else. “You appealed to her Hand with all you had, from the bottom of your heart, but you cannot stop the tide, and you cannot stop it sweeping over King’s Landing. So speed it up. Send me to meet Ser Harys, and I will promise him justice against Cersei for Ser Kevan if he and the men loyal to him capture Jaime and lay down their swords against Daenerys.” Jon scowls. “I’ve heard this from you once already, and I will not hear it again. It’s treachery enough to stand by and do nothing.”

Jon and Lord Manderly keep watch from the camp at night, a fire lit. A Stark scout returns, to say there has been no movement from the Targaryen side. “How can you see?” Manderly asks, amused. The scout looks embarrassed. “The water sounds still,” he says. Jon says he has done well and lets him go, jokingly asking Manderly if he can stop winding up his scouts. “We’ll all see what’s what the minute those things in the air start breathing fire,” Manderly replies. Jon asks him if he thinks it’s right to stand aside and leave the Lannisters to their fate. The Lord of White Harbor puffs himself up. “They who butchered your brother and my sons at a wedding? We’d be well within our rights to kill them ourselves. We have broken no bread with the Lannisters. They do not shelter us under their stolen roof. You were wise in that, my King.” “I camped out here the better to mine the glass, not the better to slaughter the Southrons,” says Jon. Dawn has slowly begun to break: a beautiful but deadly red. Jon suddenly puts a tight hand to Manderly’s shoulder. “The dragon queen is moving. Quick! Wake Glover! See Davos is alerted! Array our forces on the east of the castle.”

Jon watches from the eastern shore as the Greyjoy blockade melts away to let the enemy fleet through. Yara and her ships begin to fire at the castle. Over on the Iron Victory, Victarion, now facing the same way, shrugs and commands his ships to do the same. Yara stares across the water at her Uncle, not understanding. On board, Grey Worm and his Unsullied prepare to hit the shore. Back on shore, Jon stares up at the castle, in flames up top. From within, they can hear the shouts and screams of battle, the clash of steel. “The Greyjoys,” says Lord Glover. “Those treacherous cunts.” He looks to Jon. “What do you command, Your Grace?” He looks around at his expectant generals. “Nothing,” says Jon, voice thick with bitterness.

Davos, leading the Manderly fleet, shouts at the sailors to hurry as they raise white sails in favour of their House sails. Overhead the mounted Drogon flies with Viserion and Rhaegal, screeching. They seem to hover above the Manderly fleet, now dwarfed by the combined Greyjoy and Targaryen naval forces. Davos closes his eyes and prays silently, though his lips move. The dragons fly on. A captain shakes Davos to open his eyes. “They’ve gone,” he says. “She’s spared us.” Davos looks out to the huge encroaching armada. “Aye, she’s spared us. That doesn’t mean the Greyjoys will. MAKE FOR SHORE!”

Jon and his northmen help Davos and his sailors from their ships onto shore. “Our battles never go according to plan, do they?” Davos asks Jon grimly. Back on shore, Littlefinger waits with the Northern camp. “Euron has done what you should have,” Petyr tells the King. “Betrayal and butchery,” answers Jon. “I regret our part in it.” “It’s what they did to your brother at The Twins,” says Petyr. “It’s what they did to your father in the Red Keep. Be thankful that this time, the Starks were outside the walls. More concerning is what comes next – the dragon queen will look to Euron Greyjoy now, not you, for alliance and counsel.” “Aye,” Jon says, “so maybe I should look for you in his council.” Littlefinger recoils from this. “Your grace, you wound me. Would I have such little honour I would not be by your side still, with the spoils going elsewhere.” Jon seizes Littlefinger by the throat and stares into his eyes. “Do not pretend that this is not your kind of work! Do not pretend that you're better than this just because I didn't let you worm your way into it!” He releases him and Littlefinger falls to the ground, half-choked. “Your honour? If you've got a shred of it, prove it. Find me safe ground.”

Jon tries to escape North, against the advice of Littlefinger, who says it will mean going around Dragonstone and is too dangerous. Jon says they have no other choice, and Littlefinger recommends that if they can make it north of the island, they should head for the ruined castle The Whispers. But Jon is forced to change course as he watches part of his Navy obliterated by the Queen’s dragons, including a nephew of Lord Manderly. (7.7, The Lion and the Kraken)

At Littlefinger’s direction, the remaining Northern fleet makes for the keep of the Baratheon-loyal House Bar Emmon. As the fleet and shell-shocked Northern forces sail down The Gullet, on a misty, grey day, they see the watchtower of Sharp Point, where a fire burns atop it. Jon is initially alarmed, until Littlefinger explains it’s always there, to help seafarers find their way out of storms onto land; “in this case, a storm of swords." (Put it in the right mouth and it makes sense. Ooh er, matron.) The King in the North and his Lords are greeted on a small shore outside the keep by the fat, feeble but jovial 15-year-old LORD DURAM BAR EMMON, who asks their business. Davos steps up, and explains who Jon is. The flustered Duram bows low and addresses Jon as “Your Grace”, who responds, non-plussed, that he is not the young lord’s King, but would thank him all the same for a short period of shelter behind his walls. Duram remarks effusively how pleased and surprised he is to see Davos, and to meet a Northern king, but asks why they have come this far south. Littlefinger introduces himself and tells Duram they are here seeking common cause with Ser Gilbert Farring of Storm’s End. Duram says any friend of House Baratheon is a friend of House Bar Emmon’s. During the meet, Lord Manderly has done nothing but stare into space.

As he shows Jon, Davos, Littlefinger and Lord Glover around the keep, the young Bar Emmon remarks on his House’s sense of loyalty and duty, first to the Targaryens, to whom they were sworn directly for centuries. Along the decades and the various Targaryen kings, House Bar Emmon was always the first on hand then summoned, or when the banners were called, and the first to travel to King’s Landing or Dragonstone to meet the new kings after they were crowned. And after the Targaryens fell, and they bent the knee to the Baratheons, they supported Stannis’ rightful claim loyally from the start. Their warship Swordfish burned on the Blackwater; their men marched to Castle Black with King Stannis and were some of the few to stay with him outside Winterfell as the Boltons swept over them. Davos suddenly tenses. “So your men watched a little girl burned at the stake and did nothing, said nothing?”

Duram splutters in shock, before managing to say that it is not for vassals to question kings, “even though Stannis never seemed to like me very much”.

He turns earnest eyes on Jon. “Do you like me, Your Grace?” (7.8, Shipbreaker Bay)