Jon Snow

King **Jon Snow** is a character on HBO's *Game of Thrones*. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is portrayed by starring cast member Kit Harington.

## History

### Early Life

Jon Snow is acknowledged as the bastard son of Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark and by a lowborn a woman named Wylla. Ned never told anyone, including Jon, who his mother is - an unusual position for a bastard, as they normally know who their mother is but not their father. When Ned left for the south to fight in Robert's Rebellion, he left his pregnant new bride Lady Catelyn Tully at Riverrun while he continued on campaign, and she later gave birth to his first trueborn son, Robb Stark. When Ned returned from the war, he had brought with him an infant boy, which he said was his bastard son that he fathered during the war. Ned once told King Robert Baratheon that , but he refused to elaborate any further. Ned never even told Jon himself whether his mother was alive or dead, though he later promised that when he later returned from serving King Robert in King's Landing, he would tell Jon about her.

The truth is that Jon is not the son of Eddard Stark, but of her younger sister, Lyanna Stark and, possibly, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, who had abducted Lyanna a year before, an event that led to the outbreak of Robert's Rebellion. To protect the life of her newborn child, a dying Lyanna made Ned promise her he would keep her son safe, and is true identity hidden so as not incur Robert's wrath, as he had been Lyanna's betrothed.

Acknowledged bastard children of lords are usually sent away to one of their other castles or holdings to be taken care of but not kept in the presence of the lord's lawful family. Very unusually, Eddard announced that he would raise Jon at his home castle Winterfell, alongside his trueborn children with Catelyn. Robb was always treated as Eddard's heir, but otherwise, Jon wasn't treated much differently than his younger half-brothers Bran and Rickon. Jon's mere presence at Winterfell was a source of friction between Eddard and his wife Catelyn. Given that Jon was never legitimized, she was never his "stepmother" in any sense of the term or had any obligations to him whatsoever. Instead, he was a living reminder of the one time that Eddard had dishonored her, though otherwise over the years she loved Eddard very deeply. Catelyn never mistreated Jon but she was cold to him and avoided him whenever possible (not that Jon ever said he expected more from her). Catelyn would later confess to her daughter-in-law Talisa about how Jon caught the pox when he was a child, and she, out of guilt for previously praying for his death, stayed with him through the night and prayed to the gods to let him live, finally accepting that he was not to blame for Eddard's affair with Wylla, though it was still not enough to make her love Jon, something she would later regret.

Due to his bastard status, Jon grew up feeling like an outsider at Winterfell. He was generally well-treated, but for example when King Robert and Queen Cersei made an official visit to Winterfell, Jon was not allowed to sit inside at the front table with the king and lords, as this might have offended them. Otherwise, Jon still lived better than many peasants do - he was never hungry and always had a roof over his head living in a castle, and received a young lord's martial training from Winterfell's Master-at-Arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel. Of his three half-brothers and two half-sisters, Jon was actually quite close friends with Robb - given that they were roughly the same age, they were companions in training and riding. Otherwise, Jon always had the closest relationship with the younger of his two half-sisters, Arya, who as an adventurous tomboy prone to un-ladylike pursuits also felt like a social outsider. Jon later had the custom sword Needle forged and gave it to Arya as a going-away present. However, Jon's relationship with Sansa was apparently unpleasant at times, with Sansa often being unkind to him. He was also on good terms with Bran and Rickon, and developed a friendly rivalry with Theon Greyjoy.

### Night's Watch

Jon Snow and Robb instruct Bran in archery, when their father Eddard receives word about a captured deserter from the Night's Watch, for which the penalty is death. Jon accompanies his father, Robb, Bran, and his father's ward Theon Greyjoy out to the holdfast where the deserter, Will, is being held. It is Bran's first time watching his father carry out an execution, but as the deserter is brought into position outside, Jon warns Bran not to look away, as their father will know. Jon praises Bran afterwards for keeping his composure. On their way back to Winterfell, they find a dead direwolf and her newborn pups - which is very surprising because direwolves have not been seen south of the Wall in centuries. Jon talks Lord Eddard into allowing the young Starks to adopt them, pointing out that a direwolf is the sigil of House Stark: given that there are five direwolves and five trueborn Stark children, it must be a sign from the Old Gods that the Stark children are meant to have the pups. In order to make this point, Jon intentionally leaves himself out of the count of Stark children, and when Bran asks about this Jon responds that he is not a Stark. Just as they are about to leave, however, he finds the runt of the litter, an albino, which crawled away from its mother's corpse. On Theon's suggestion, as an outsider like himself, Jon takes this direwolf as his own, naming him Ghost.

Later when King Robert Baratheon and his entourage arrive for a great feast in the main hall, Jon is not allowed to attend for fear of offending the royal guests (on Catelyn's suggestion), so he waits outside in the courtyard venting his frustrations against a practice dummy. There he meets Tyrion Lannister, Queen Cersei Lannister's younger brother, who also stepped outside. As a dwarf, Tyrion knows what it is like to be an outcast, so he gives the young man some advice: never try to hide what he is, for the world will not forget. Instead, he should wear the name "bastard" openly, like armor, and then it can never be used to hurt him. When Jon's uncle Benjen Stark arrives, Jon tells him he has been thinking about it, and before his father leaves for the south he wants to join the Night's Watch, as they don't care about recruits' pasts and even a bastard can rise to positions of high honor in it.

Before departing, Jon has a run-in with the queen's twin brother Jaime Lannister in the castle yard, who sarcastically thanks him for protecting all of them from the mythical monsters that allegedly exist beyond the Wall, in order to taunt him. Before Jon departs for the Wall, he says goodbye to the unconscious Bran, who has been injured in a fall. He gives Arya a sword named Needle that he had made especially for her, advising her to "stick them with the pointy end." Jon says he will miss her, and they both hug. As he prepares his saddle, Robb asks if Jon said goodbye to Bran, and expresses his doubt in him dying. Jon says Starks are hard to kill, and Robb asks about his mother, and Jon assures him she was kind. Robb offers to visit him at the Wall sometime, and they bid farewell with a hug. At their parting on the Kingsroad, Eddard vows to tell Jon the truth about his mother the next time they meet. Jon is accompanied by his uncle Benjen and Tyrion, who has expressed a desire to see the Wall (and urinate from the top of it) before he dies. Ghost also accompanies Jon to the Wall.

At Castle Black, Jon's expectations of the Night's Watch are soon disappointed. Instead of a brotherhood of noble warriors sworn to defend the realm from wildlings and White Walkers, he realizes the Watch is a dumping ground for criminals and wastrels. He earns the enmity of Ser Alliser Thorne, the Master-at-Arms in charge of training new recruits. He humiliates his fellow recruits with his superior fighting skills, learned from Winterfell's master-at-Arms over the course of many years. Benjen stands with Jon on his first watch and tells him that he is going ranging North of the Wall. Jon is keen to accompany him but Benjen insists that he complete his training. Tyrion helps Jon see that he is no better than the recruits but has been afforded more advantages than them. Jon offers to train some of his new brothers and Pypar and Grenn accept. He also befriends the fat and bookish coward Samwell Tarly when he arrives at Castle Black and helps to protect him from the cruelty of Thorne. Thorne angrily tells Jon that going easy on Sam won't help him, and will risk getting him killed during the next winter.

After completing his training, Jon is inducted into the Night's Watch and swears his oath before a weirwood heart tree on the north side of the Wall. He is assigned to the stewards rather than the rangers, and at first thinks it is due to his ongoing feud with Ser Alliser Thorne. However, Sam points out that Lord Commander Jeor Mormont has asked for Jon as his personal steward, and may be grooming him for command. Jon is concerned when his Uncle Benjen's horse returns to the Wall riderless. Later, Ghost finds the corpses of two rangers assigned to Benjen, Othor and Ser Jafer Flowers. Learning of Eddard's imprisonment in King's Landing, Thorne taunts Jon about being a traitor's bastard, causing Jon to draw a knife in anger. He is restricted to quarters. Later, Othor's corpse becomes a wight and attacks Lord Commander Mormont. Jon saves Mormont's life by burning the wight, earning a pardon for his earlier misdemeanor. Mormont also gives Jon his Valyrian steel sword, Longclaw - given that his own son Jorah fled into exile and left it behind. Jon ponders abandoning the Watch to join Robb's army when it marches against the Lannisters, but Maester Aemon tells him that he chose to stay with the Watch when he was similarly tested - as he is secretly a long-forgotten great uncle of the Mad King, and was once known as Aemon *Targaryen*, but his entire family was killed at the end of Robert's Rebellion.

News of Eddard's execution reaches Castle Black. Jon immediately leaves, meaning to join Robb and seek vengeance for his father's death. Samwell, Pypar, and Grenn intercept him and convince him to stay. Mormont tells Jon their war against the White Walkers is more important than the game of thrones in King's Landing. He tells Jon that the Watch is marching beyond the Wall in force, to find Benjen and learn the truth about the threat. Jon swears to him not to attempt to desert again and accompanies the troops as they set out.

Lord Commander Jeor Mormont prepares Jon for a command role as the Great Ranging travels North seeking Benjen Stark and an explanation for the wight attack. They pass through several abandoned wildling villages before arriving at the home of their unsavory ally Craster. Jon is perplexed when he learns that Craster incestuously marries his own daughters but apparently has no sons. He takes an instant dislike to Craster when they meet with him. The feeling is mutual but Craster does reveal to Jeor that he has not seen Benjen and that the wildlings are gathering with their leader, King Beyond the Wall Mance Rayder. Jeor reprimands Jon for failing to follow his lead with Craster - the man disgusts him as well, but unfortunately he's one of the few wildlings who is willing to give them shelter and supplies which mean the difference between life and death for many black brothers in the wild.

Samwell Tarly appeals to Jon to aid Craster's pregnant daughter-wife Gilly. She is afraid of having a son but will not say why. Jon is frustrated and refuses to disobey Jeor's order to leave Craster's wives alone. Jon sees Craster carrying a newborn into the woods and follows him. He sees Craster leave the child for a White Walker but does not recognize the creature hidden in the shadows. Craster spots him and knocks him out. Craster disarms Jon and drags him back to his keep. He expels the rangers from his home. Jeor reveals that he knew that Craster was sacrificing his sons but chose to ignore it because of his usefulness as an ally.

The rangers reach the ancient fortified peak known as the Fist of the First Men and await Qhorin Halfhand and his party from the Shadow Tower. When Qhorin arrives he suggests altering their tactics and using small groups to overcome Mance's lookouts in the Skirling Pass. Jon asks to join Qhorin's raiders and Jeor lets him go.

### Wildings

Qhorin leads his men into the pass and they locate and ambush the wildling watchers. Jon realizes his opponent is a young woman and hesitates to kill her. She introduces herself as Ygritte but does not give away details of Mance's plans. Qhorin leaves Jon alone to execute Ygritte. Jon is unable to do it and she escapes. He pursues and recaptures her but they become separated from Qhorin's group. Jon decides they cannot regroup with Qhorin due to the approaching night. Ygritte convinces Jon to sleep next to her to share body heat and keep warm, and then makes sexual advances towards him. Jon rejects the temptation to break his oath.

As he unties Ygritte’s legs to continue his search for the rest of the raiders, she tells him that she knows that he is a virgin. He uses some the rope that’s binding her as a leash. As they walk, Ygritte questions Jon as to why the men of the Night's Watch hate the wildlings. She explains that both the wildlings and the Northmen like the Starks are descendants of the First Men, and the wildlings just happened to be on the wrong side of the Wall when it was built. She urges him to forget about his oath and live free. Another sexual advance from Ygritte prompts him to reach for his sword. She backs away and trips him with the rope when he is caught off guard. He pursues her but is ambushed and taken captive. Ygritte tells him that he should have taken her when he had the chance.

Ygritte brings Jon to the Lord of Bones and convinces him that Mance will want to question Jon. The Lord of Bones has a prisoner of his own; Qhorin. The Halfhand tells Jon that the rest of the men were killed while they searched for him. He urges Jon to make their deaths meaningful and become a spy within the wildling ranks. He then feigns anger with Jon until he is restrained after managing to knock Jon over.

In Winterfell, after Theon Greyjoy betrays House Stark and takes the castle, he refuses to flee and join the Night's Watch when he is surrounded by Ramsay Snow's men on the basis that Jon will likely kill him for betraying the Starks and apparently burning Bran and Rickon alive (though in fact he faked their deaths because they escaped). As they make their way to Mance, Ygritte continues to playfully mock Jon by tapping him on the head with the flat of his sword. Qhorin uses the distraction to advance his plan to portray Jon as a traitor to the Night's Watch. He attacks Jon, and the Lord of Bones allows them to fight. Jon is initially reluctant until Qhorin calls his father a traitor and his mother a whore. Jon slays Qhorin, stunning Ygritte and the rest of the band. Qhorin whispers a line from the Night's Watch oath to Jon with his dying breath. Jon's hands are freed, and Ygritte leads him to the crest of the mountain to look over the massive wildling encampment.

As Jon Snow is led by Ygritte and the Lord of Bones into the main wildling camp in the Frostfang mountains, he discovers that almost all of wildling society is on the move to escape the White Walkers, including the women and children. As they enter the camp, Jon is shocked to see a real-life giant walk past. Many of the wildlings are surprised to see Jon in his all-black Night's Watch clothing and shout "crow!" at his approach. Several young boys pelt Jon with ice and small stones but Ygritte shoos them away. Jon is led into the tent of the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder, where the Lord of Bones explains that he is Ned Stark's bastard son to a large man with a heavy beard who is eating chicken by the fire. He says he doesn't care, but his interest is piqued on hearing that Jon killed Qhorin Halfhand. As they talk Jon kneels before the man, whom he assumes to be Mance Rayder, and calls him "your Grace". This causes all of the wildlings to burst out laughing. As it turns out this isn't Mance, but his lieutenant Tormund Giantsbane. The real Mance is an unassuming man sitting in a corner, who then introduces himself and tells Jon to stand, as no man kneels before another among the Free Folk, since they do not recognize a class of nobility in their culture. Mance says he is glad that Jon killed Qhorin, as he had killed many of Mance's wildlings. Mance asks Jon why he wants to join them and he replies he wants to be free, but Mance doesn't believe this. Jon then explains that when the Night's Watch camped at Craster's Keep, he saw Craster leave his newborn son in the woods as an offering, and the inhuman creature that took it. Jon says that he wants to leave the Night's Watch because he is disgusted that Mormont already knew what Craster was doing but did nothing to stop it. Jon states that the First Men he is descended from defeated the White Walkers once during The Long Night, and that now he wants "to fight for the side who fights for the living". Mance is satisfied and advised Jon to get a new cloak.

Jon Snow then marches south with the Free Folk army and Mance Rayder. Mance explains that his army is a diverse force, formed of about ninety different groups or clans of wildlings, who speak seven different languages, and have numerous internal rivalries. However, he managed to unite them all by telling them the truth: that they will all die if they remain north of the Wall. Mance brings Jon to one of his scouts, Orell. He is sitting silently with his eyes rolled back as an eagle circles above him. Mance says that he is a "warg". Jon doesn't know what that is, so Mance explains that a warg is a person who is capable of entering the mind of an animal, seeing what it sees and even controlling its actions. Orell controls his eagle to scout miles ahead. Mance asks him what he has seen, and Orell says he saw the Fist of the First Men - and many dead "crows".

As Jon Snow and the Free Folk arrive at the Fist of the First Men, they survey the bloody aftermath of assault on the Night's Watch by the White Walkers and their army of undead wights. However they only find corpses of horses and no human remains. Jon says that there were three hundred men of the Night's Watch at the Fist, and asks Mance if Mormont could still be alive. Mance says that with Mormont, it's possible he was able to escape, but that even if he did he and his men took quite a beating and are trapped miles away from the Wall with the White Walkers in close pursuit. Mance warns Jon that all of the missing corpses from the Fist are no longer his friends and brothers from the Night's Watch, but have been resurrected as undead monsters who serve the White Walkers. Jon reluctantly agrees. Mance orders Tormund to take a force of twenty men to scale the Wall to attack Castle Black from its exposed rear. Mance's plan is for Tormund's small band to distract Castle Black by attacking their exposed southern side, at which point Mance's main army will assault it from the north. Tormund will know that Mance is in position when his army makes a massive signal fire. Mance orders Tormund to take Jon with him, as Jon knows the layout of Castle Black, and it will prove a key test of his loyalty: if it turns out that he won't really betray the Night's Watch, Tormund can easily throw him off the Wall to his death.

On their way to the Wall and Castle Black, Jon and Ygritte are gathering firewood, when the warg Orell asks him about the defenses of the Night's Watch. Orell has seen through the eyes of his eagle that there are patrols on top of the Wall and he wants to know how frequent they are. Jon says they usually sent out patrols in teams of four, two builders to inspect for structural damage and two rangers to protect them, but that the frequency of their patrols often changes. Orell says the wildlings know there are nineteen castles along the south side of the Wall, but he wants to know how many are currently manned. Jon finds this very unpleasant, but reluctantly says that only three are currently manned. Apart from Castle Black, there is also Eastwatch-by-the-Sea at the extreme eastern end, and the Shadow Tower at the western end. Jon is then asked how many men currently garrison Castle Black. Jon is very reluctant to answer, but after being threatened by Orell, he gives an exaggerated number, saying there are one thousand men (this is a lie, as Castle Black only had six hundred men before the Great Ranging, and the garrison now is closer to three hundred). Tormund tells Jon that he likes him, but if he is lying to them, he will rip his guts out through his throat. Jon and Ygritte then walk away, but she steals his sword Longclaw, making him chase her to get it back. She leads him into a nearby cave. Ygritte starts disrobing, and says that she wants to make sure Jon Snow has truly come over to the wildlings' side and broken his Night's Watch vows - by making him break his oath of celibacy with her. She quickly shucks off all of her clothes and walks up to him naked. Jon is very hesitant at first, but they soon end up having sex in the cave. Afterwards Jon and Ygritte lay together in a naked embrace and Ygritte tells Jon she wishes they could stay in this cave forever.

He joins a wildling party led by Tormund Giantsbane to climb the Wall. Beforehand, he is questioned by Ygritte about their relationship and his allegiance to the Night's Watch, saying that he must be loyal to her instead. During the climb, Ygritte causes part of the ice to break, leaving them hanging in the air by the rope. Orell, believing them to be lost, cuts it. Jon manages to save himself and Ygritte by climbing back to the ice. The two return to the climb and reach the top, where Ygritte gazes at the north side and the south side, before they kiss.

After surviving the perilous climb of the Wall, Jon Snow, Ygritte and the wildlings led by Tormund Giantsbane advance through the Gift - the strip of land immediately south of the Wall which the Watch draws supplies from - and continue on towards Castle Black, to await Mance Rayder's signal to begin the attack. Afterwards Jon confronts Orell about cutting his and Ygritte's rope loose on the Wall, nearly killing the both of them in the process. Orell tells Jon that he doesn't see Ygritte complaining about what happened because she is a wildling and understood what needed to be done in a pressure situation, also telling Jon that this is the reason he will never be able to keep her. During the journey through the woods, a clearly jealous Orell confronts Ygritte and says that he would be a better man for her than Jon Snow, while continuing to express his distrust in him. Jon also tries to persuade Ygritte that the wildlings' cause is doomed to failure, but she refuses to listen and points out that Jon is technically one of them; if it fails, so does he. She restates her passion for him and tells him bluntly that if they die, they die, but before they die they will live.

Jon Snow and the wildling party prepare to raid an elderly horse breeder's home for his horses and gold; Jon insists that the old man is no threat to them, but Orell and Tormund Giantsbane intend to kill the man so as to stop him from alerting the Night's Watch to their presence. However, when the party attacks the farmstead, Jon surreptitiously hits a rock with his sword, alerting the old man who flees; Jon also distracts Ygritte when she tries to shoot the fleeing man with an arrow. While in the abandoned mill not far away from the wildlings, Bran and Jojen Reed discuss how they plan to cross the Wall, before Meera spots the old horse breeder riding nearby. After the old man is captured by the wildlings, Hodor — scared by the thunder — begins yelling, which threatens to give away their location to the wildlings. Bran uses his Warg abilities to enter Hodor's mind and cause him to pass out. Outside, Tormund moves to kill the old man, but Orell tells him to have Jon do it instead to prove his loyalty. Jon is ultimately unable to kill the innocent man, and instead Ygritte kills the man with an arrow. Realizing that Jon is still loyal to the Night's Watch, Tormund orders his men to kill Jon; Tormund restrains Ygritte to stop her trying to help Jon, and soon after Jon battles with Orell. At the urging of Jojen, Bran enters the mind of Summer, his direwolf, to aid Jon. Summer and Shaggydog kill two wildlings threatening Jon as he battles to the death with Orell and finally kills him. With the last of his strength Orell wargs into the mind of his pet eagle, which swoops down and attacks Jon, clawing him badly about the face before he fights the bird off. Jon then steals a horse and escapes, leaving Ygritte and heading back to the Wall.

### Return

Stopping to rest and tend to his injury, Jon is confronted by a furious Ygritte, who has an arrow ready to shoot him. Jon tries to talk Ygritte out of shooting him, insisting that he still loves her. Though his feelings are clearly reciprocated Ygritte is still angered by his betrayal and shoots Jon three times with her bow as he flees from her. Jon is badly injured, but his horse manages to carry him the rest of the way to Castle Black, as he hovers in and out of consciousness. Having reached safety, Jon is brought inside the castle by the guards, where he encounters Sam and Pypar, who are overjoyed to see him and insist that his injuries be taken care of.

Jon survives the injuries inflicted by Ygritte and has largely recovered, though he still grimaces while getting dressed. At some point, Jon has been told about his half-brother Robb's death at the Red Wedding and wanting vengeance for his family, but decides to stay at the wall. He shares with Sam that he had always been jealous of Robb for having more of their father's affection and for being better than him at riding, fighting, and winning the affection of other girls. Still, he says he could never bring himself to hate Robb, as he was also always a good friend and honorable person. Sam responds by saying he has felt the same way about Jon, that Jon is better than him at everything (except reading). It turns out that Sam had been sent to retrieve Jon, who has been summoned to testify before a panel of five sworn brothers, including Maestor Aemon, acting Lord Commander Alliser Thorne, and Janos Slynt (who was exiled to the Wall by Tyrion). At the hearing Jon admits to killing Qhorin Halfhand, to living amongst the wildlings, and even to having bedded one. He also states that Mance intends to attack and gives intel on his plans and strength. Both Slynt and Thorne are openly hostile to Jon, disbelieving much of what he says and call for his execution. Aemon, however, realizes that Jon is speaking the truth, and the hearing ends with Jon being allowed to keep his head.

Meanwhile, at the Dreadfort, when Theon Greyjoy is pressed by Roose Bolton for information on the whereabouts of Bran and Rickon Stark, he reluctantly guesses that they may try to head to Jon at Castle Black. On Ramsay Snow's suggestion, Jon becomes a target of the Boltons, since Ramsay reasons that even though Jon may be a bastard, he is still a son of Ned Stark, and may pose a threat to the Boltons' future hold on the North, either because the Northeners who are still furious at the Boltons for betraying the Starks may rally behind him even though he is a bastard in the Night's Watch, or because Jon may simply seek revenge on both Roose and Ramsay for their role in the Starks' downfall. Roose subsequently sends his hunter, Locke, to the Wall in order to infiltrate the Watch, use Jon to find Bran and Rickon and then kill them all.

The orphan Olly then arrives at Castle black, telling them how the wildling raiding parties already south of the Wall killed his entire village except for him. Thorne asks for Jon's opinion on protecting the smallfolk living in the  the Gift, thinking Jon will disagree with his decision not to send help. Instead, Jon regretfully says he knows from his time with the wildlings that this exactly what they want, and why they are attacking the villages - to lure as many of them out of Castle Black as possible to weaken its defenses for the massive attack about to come from the north side of the Wall. If the wildlings breach the Wall, he says, they can move south by force for over a thousand miles before they reach an army that could stop them. Therefore, Jon agrees with Thorne that they should do nothing, and concentrate every available man in Castle Black itself to brace for the assault. The black brothers are interrupted by a single horn blast. It is revealed to be Grenn and Eddison Tollett, who have escaped the mutineers at Craster's Keep. Jon is relieved to see them alive, but his relief turns to concern when they reveal that the mutineers remain entrenched at the keep. Jon understands that if the mutineers are captured by Mance Rayder, then the wildlings will know how vulnerable Castle Black really is. Jon tries to convince Alliser Thorne that eliminating the mutineers should be their top priority.

Jon and Grenn are training the new recruits to fight wildlings and one of the new recruits is Locke. The training session is interrupted by Thorne who continues to talk down to Jon and reminds him that he is nothing but a steward. Locke approaches Jon and they get acquainted, with Jon unaware of Locke's true purpose. Jon and Sam are talking about Bran going beyond the Wall and once he realizes that he could be at Craster's Keep, Locke comes in to tell him that Thorne has summoned him. Thorne gives him permission to attack Craster's Keep, but only with volunteers. Slynt convinced Thorne that Jon questioning his decisions is a problem, and if Jon gets himself killed on a dangerous mission he *volunteered* for (knowing the risks), it will both remove him and be his own fault; alternatively, if he succeeds and returns alive, so much the better. Jon gives a speech about avenging Mormont's death at the hands of the mutineers and this convinces a number of his brothers to join him in his attack, including Grenn, Edd, and Locke (who secretly intends to kill Jon during the mission and blame it on the mutineers).

The group attacks at night, taking the mutineers by surprise. Jon personally enters the main building to deal with Karl Tanner. The two of them are evenly matched, though Karl manages to get the upper hand by spitting in Jon's face and then kicking him to the floor. Before he can land the finishing blow, Karl is stabbed in the back by one of Craster's daughter-wives. Karl attempts to kill her, though it's a fatal mistake as Jon doesn't miss the opportunity to thrust Longclaw through the back of Karl's head and out of his mouth. After the fight, Jon and the others count five dead amongst the Watch, including Locke, whose neck was snapped in a way that terrifies Jon (Jon being completely unaware that Locke had been killed by a Bran-possessed Hodor). He then reunites with Ghost before turning to Craster's wives and offering them refuge at Castle Black. They decline, saying that after the abuse they took at other members of the Night's Watch they can't trust them and will go their own way. Before leaving, they set a torch to Craster's Keep, burning it to the ground.

Jon and his fellow black brothers return to Castle Black, much to the annoyance of Ser Alliser Thorne and Janos Slynt. Once Alliser spots Ghost, he orders Jon to lock up Ghost or his direwolf will become food for the Night's Watch. Later, Jon reports that Mance Rayder's army was closing in on Craster's Keep and will reach the Wall before the next full moon. Jon states that defending the tunnel is hopeless since the gates will not stop the giants in Mance Rayder's army. He proposes they seal the tunnel, but Alliser Thorne refuses to listen. Alliser then assigns Jon and Samwell Tarly to night duties atop the Wall until the next new moon.

News of the wildling attack on Mole's Town, the largest village in the Gift, reaches Castle Black. Jon, Pypar, and Eddison Tollett try to comfort a distraught Sam, who believes that Gilly and her baby are dead. Grenn is furious that the wildlings slaughtered the inhabitants of Mole's Town, which included brothers of the Night's Watch. Jon concludes that if Mole's Town has been attacked, then Mance Rayder's assault on Castle Black is imminent.

Atop the Wall, Jon and Sam are staring out into the darkness of the north and awaiting the imminent wildling invasion. Sam attempts to interrogate Jon about what it was like to be with a woman, stating that as their deaths are likely imminent, it may be his last chance to find out. Sam brings up that the vows of the Night's Watch only explicitly forbid members from taking wives or producing children, and that other "activities" are open to interpretation. Jon replies glumly that Ser Alliser most likely does not care about their interpretations. When further pressed by Sam to describe lying down with Ygritte, Jon attempts to explain but is unable to properly express it, proclaiming exasperatedly that he is "not a bleeding poet." Jon offers to take the watch up alone so Sam can go below. Later that night, Jon hears the horn blowing and looks north, witnessing a tremendous conflagration north of the Wall, just as Mance had promised him. Jon approaches Thorne, who finally relents and admits that they should have heeded his advice and sealed the tunnel, but grimly muses that leadership means not second-guessing oneself because of "clever little twats" like him. While they start to prepare for the massive wildling army that is emerging from the woods, another horn blows from down below at Castle Black, signaling the unanticipated appearance of Tormund's band of wildlings at Castle Black. Alliser decides to go down and defend the keep, leaving Janos Slynt in charge of the Wall's defenses. Even though a wildling strike force led by two giants,  one of which is riding a mammoth, charge towards Castle Black's outer gate, Janos Slynt does nothing and breaks down, demoralizing the troops. Grenn steps in by falsely claiming that Alliser needs Janos back down in Castle Black, allowing Jon to take command of the Wall's defenses. The Battle of Castle Black begins. The black brothers continue to rain down arrows on the advancing wildlings, even killing ones that are attempting to scale the Wall. One giant, armed with a massive bow, manages to fire a huge arrow at one of the bunkers atop the Wall, and Jon is unable to warn his brothers fast enough before the giant fires again, violently killing one of his black brothers. Although Jon manages to repel most of the wildlings attacking the outer gate, including the mammoth, one giant manages to single-handedly lift the gate. Jon, knowing the inner gate won't hold against him, sends a group of black brothers lead by Grenn to hold it at any cost. Then, Sam arrives to ask him for more men to defend the castle: Ygritte killed Pypar with an arrow through the throat, and Tormund badly wounded Ser Alliser, with the rest on the verge of being overrun. Jon decides to give Edd control of the top of the Wall, and tasks Sam with releasing Ghost from his pen to assist in the fighting, then orders half a dozen other men to descend with him and finally enter the fray. Jon quickly dispatches many wildlings with Longclaw, catching the attention of Styr, Magnar of the Thenns, and so the two meet in single combat. Styr eventually gets the upper hand by knocking Longclaw away, then Jon disarms Styr of his axe using some chains, and the fighting goes hand to hand. Styr brutally smashes his face into an anvil and tosses him into the blacksmith's forge. However, when Styr picks Jon up and begins to strangle him, Jon spits blood in Styr's face, distracting him long enough for him to grab the blacksmith's hammer lying next to him and bury it into Styr's skull. Upon killing him, Jon turns around to find Ygritte pointing her bow at him with an arrow drawn. He smiles at her, causing her to hesitate. Before either can say anything, Ygritte is shot through the heart by Olly. Jon holds her in his arms as she tells him that they should have never left the cave, and they lament circumstances that prevented them from being together as she succumbs to her wound. Later, while Edd forces the wildling army to retreat for the night, down below Jon deals with a heavily wounded Tormund, who continues to fight despite being the only wildling left alive in the castle. Jon subdues him with a crossbow and orders his brothers to take him prisoner and interrogate him. The following morning, Jon discusses with Sam his suicidal solution to end the wildling threat: he plans to assassinate Mance Rayder, noting that he is the only thing binding the disparate wildling clans that make up the army, and his death will rob them of that purpose and leadership. Sam tries to stop him, but to no avail. As Jon prepares to leave via Castle Black's tunnel, they discover the bodies of the black brothers who held the inner gate against the giant. Grenn is amongst the casualties and Jon tells Sam that all bodies must be burned. Before Jon leaves, he remembers the promise he made to Jeor Mormont and decides to leave Longclaw with Sam. Sam tells Jon to come back, and Jon looks and Sam and smiles unreassuringly before stepping out into the wilderness on the other side of the gate.

Jon finds Mance in a wildling camp north of the Wall and claims he wants to negotiate with him. Despite Mance expressing disappointment at Jon's betrayal, they drink a toast to some of their fallen friends, such as Grenn, Ygritte, and Mag the giant. Mance then notices that Jon is eyeing a cooking knife, and quickly deduces that Jon came to parley with Mance simply so he could assassinate him. Before anyone can make a move, they are interrupted by the sound of war horns. Outside, hundreds of mounted knights led by Stannis Baratheon and Davos Seaworth arrives and slaughter many of the wildlings, scattering the rest. Jon introduces himself to Stannis as Ned Stark's son, and suggests that Stannis arrest Mance instead of executing him, reasoning that Mance had the chance to kill him, but chose not to. Out of respect for Ned Stark, Stannis accepts, and Jon also advises Stannis to burn the bodies of the dead in order to prevent them from returning as wights. During the funeral, Jon notices Melisandre staring at him through the flames. Later, Jon visits Tormund, who tells Jon that Ygritte truly loved him, and asks him to lay Ygritte to rest north of the Wall. Jon later takes his love's body into the woods and burns it, weeping as he walks away.

Jon Snow spars with Olly, along with other new recruits before being summoned by Melisandre to see Stannis atop the Wall. He questions the Red Woman if she is cold, as she is dressed in unusually light clothing for the local climate, but she states that "the Lord's fire" lives within her. Melisandre asks if Jon is a virgin. Jon replies he is not, which she approves. Jon meets with Stannis and Davos, kneeling before the king. With Roose Bolton ruling Winterfell, Stannis asks Jon if he wants to avenge his fallen half-brother. Jon reaffirms that he is a sworn brother of the Night's Watch. Davos states that his loyalty to the Watch is considered dubious because of his time spent with the wildlings. Nevertheless, Stannis wants Jon to retake the North with the help of the wildlings, stating that he will pardon them and declare them citizens of the realm once the war is won. Stannis will give the wildlings their lives and freedom if Mance bends the knee and swears his loyalty. He gives Jon until nightfall to convince Mance, or the King-Beyond-the-Wall will be burned. Jon does his best to convince Mance to save his life as well as all the wildlings, but it is unsuccessful: the wildlings only follow him because he kneels to no one, so he if did kneel to Stannis they would lose all respect for him and ignore his commands anyway, so he might as well die with his honor intact by refusing. As Mance is led to the pyre, Stannis gives him one last chance to save his life. Mance politely refuses and is led to the stake and Melisandre lights the pyre. Unable to watch Mance suffer, Jon storms off. Just as the fire begins to fully consume Mance, he is mercifully shot through the heart with an arrow by Jon.

### Lord Commander

Stannis and Davos summon Jon to discuss his future. Stannis shows him a letter delivered by messnger-raven from Lyanna Mormont saying she would only pledge her House to a member of House Stark. Stannis offers a simple solution: as king, he will officially legitimize Jon and make him Lord of Winterfell. Later that day the choosing for the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch has begun and many brothers of the Night's Watch have assembled to vote for either Ser Alliser Thorne or Ser Denys Mallister commander of the Shadow Tower. After hearing from Jon that he intends to refuse Stannis's offer and stay true to his vows, Sam nominates Jon as the third candidate and recounts how he took command of the defense of Castle Black (including the fact that Thorne fought bravely and Janos Slynt was cowering in the pantry with Gilly) and was willing to sacrifice himself to stop Mance. With the votes cast, Maester Aemon and his aide tally the tokens and a tie is declared between Jon and Thorne. Aemon feels around in his hands for his voting chip and produces a circle token and adds it to Jon's stack amidst cheers and laughter as Jon has been chosen as the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

Jon is approached by Stannis and Davos about the offer of legitimization. As the new Lord Commander, Jon reminds the king that his place is with the Night's Watch, even though his dream was to be a Stark. Stannis, a man of duty, respects his decision to keep his vow and tells Jon he intends to march on Winterfell within a fortnight since the Night's Watch cannot afford to feed both his army and the wildling prisoners. He also recommends sending Alliser Thorne to command Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and that executing the wildling prisoners would be the safest choice. Stannis then leaves, but Davos stays behind and tries to further persuade Jon to help Stannis retake the North. Davos iterates that the Night's Watch is "the shield that guards the realms of men", telling Jon that it may not just mean protecting the Seven Kingdoms from beyond the Wall, but possibly taking part in battles in order to prevent the Seven Kingdoms from suffering, such as the North will under Bolton rule. During Jon's first general meeting of the garrison in the main hall as Lord Commander, he starts with some levity by assigning a black brother to oversee the digging of a new latrine pit. He also acknowledges Ser Alliser Thorne as an experienced and valuable member of the Night's Watch by naming him First Ranger. Jon then orders Janos Slynt to man and repair Greyguard, a ruined castle. Janos refuses to obey, even after Jon warns him that this was a direct order. Janos then refuses him a third time and publicly insults him, saying he can take his order and shove it up his bastard ass. Having publicly disobeyed and insulted Jon, the Lord Commander orders Janos taken outside, and calls for Olly to fetch him Longclaw. Obedience to the laws of his father, Eddard Stark - that the man who passes the sentence must swing the sword - Jon makes ready to personally behead Janos. While on the chopping block, Janos begins to plead for mercy, but Jon executes the cowardly former Commander of the City Watch with a single blow - incidentally exacting small justice on one of the men who betrayed his own father to his death, and slaughtered the Stark guardsmen in the throne room and King Robert's bastard children. From across the courtyard, Stannis Baratheon sees Jon behead Janos for refusing his orders, and slightly nods in approval.

Jon continues to train new recruits, with Stannis, Selyse, Shireen, and Melisandre observing him, with Stannis implying that he does not believe Jon to be Eddard's bastard son - saying that Eddard was always an honorable man and it wasn't in his character to randomly have sex with some tavern whore. Later, Sam presents him with requests to the Northern Lords for men for the Night's Watch, but he is reluctant to send one to Roose Bolton, his brother's killer, until Sam convinces him that they must stay neutral and ask for as many men as they can for the Watch, and right now the Boltons rule the North and have the most men - leading Jon to sign the request angrily. Melisandre enters his office and again tries to persuade him to chase the rats out of his home, but he claims that Castle Black is now his home. She attempts to seduce him, sensing a power inside his blood, but Jon rebuffs her, remembering his love for Ygritte. As Melisandre leaves, she tells him, "You know nothing, Jon Snow".

Later on, Jon consults Maester Aemon for advice on a hard decision he is about to make, noting that half the men in the Night's Watch despise him for his sympathy for the wildlings, but Aemon tells him to "Kill the boy, and let the man be born," in other words, just make the hard choice and do what he believes is best. Indeed, Jon's plan is to allow the wildlings to pass the Wall and settle in the North as subjects of the Seven Kingdoms or even let them join the Watch. Jon's idea is met with harsh criticism, even from his closes friends such as Edd and Olly, but Jon's goal is actually to keep the wildlings from falling into the hands of the coming White Walker army. Jon points out that every single wildling left on the north side of the Wall will be killed, then resurrected and and added to the White Walkers ever-growing army of the undead. Jon speaks alone with Tormund, who reveals that the remainder of Mance's army probably fled back to Hardhome, a large fishing village on the coast. Jon requests that Tormund go there and negotiate with the remaining wildling chieftains, to let them pass through the Wall on Jon's terms. Tormund agrees, so long as Jon accompanies him so that the wildlings will know it is not a trap. Jon borrows several of Stannis's ships for the journey (as he is marching inland and won't be using them). Later, as Stannis prepares to leave Castle Black for Winterfell with his army, Jon thanks him for his help, promises him he will have his ships back, and watches Stannis depart for Winterfell to take his childhood home back from the Boltons.

Jon later prepares to leave Castle Black with Tormund and a group of black brothers including Edd. He entrusts the care of the Night's Watch to Thorne, who criticizes his mission, and says his farewells to Sam, who gives him a bag of dragonglass daggers in case he should run into White Walkers on the way. He hugs Sam for what might be the last time and leaves Castle Black on his mission. Later at Winterfell, Ramsay Bolton mentions to Sansa Stark that Jon has been made the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, citing Jon as an example of a bastard who rose high in the world, claiming that if Jon did it, then so can he.

Jon reaches Hardhome with his companions. After Tormund kills the Lord of Bones for challenging him, he and Jon go inside a hut to speak with the leaders of the clans. Though the wildlings are prepared to kill Jon for murdering Mance, Tormund stands up for him and reveals that Jon in fact killed Mance out of mercy. Jon offers to share the dragonglass weapons with the wildlings and allow them to settle on land south of the Wall, if they promise to aid the Night's Watch in the coming battle against the White Walkers: even if they and all the men of the Seven Kingdoms are not enough to stop them, they can at least die fighting. Five thousand wildlings agree while the rest decide to stay, though Tormund hopes more will come around with time. However, as they are preparing to leave, they are all attacked by an army of wights. Jon fights his way to the hut to retrieve the dragonglass daggers, but he is ambushed by a White Walker. They fight for a while and Jon is almost killed until he retrieves Longclaw. To the surprise of both Jon and the White Walker, Longclaw doesn't shatter from the cold of the Walker's weapon when he uses it to parry his attack - because it is made of Valyrian steel, forged with dragon-fire and spells. Jon quickly regains his ground and slashes the White Walker with it, making it shatter into a cloud of ice particles, and revealing that the White Walkers can also be killed by Valyrian steel. Edd helps Jon to his feet and they make it back to the boats to Stannis's ships, with the wights refusing to follow them in the water. But as they leave, the Night's King himself appears at thousands of e wharf and shares a long glance with Jon, at the same time using his magic to raise all of the dead as wights before Jon's eyes. Jon looks on in obvious terror, as he knows the slaughter he just witnessed is merely a prelude to what is coming for all of Westeros.

Jon and the others make it back to the north side of Castle Black on foot (no explanation is given why they didn't simply sail back to Eastwatch at the eastern end of the Wall), and he makes himself seen by Alliser Thorne so that they will be let inside. Thorne hesitates but ultimately relents and orders the gates to be opened. As the wildlings are let through Castle Black into the Seven Kingdoms, Jon laments not being able to save the rest, while Samwell comforts him, reminding him that he at least saved a few, who would have died too if he did nothing. Thorne, however, warns Jon, telling him that his kind heart will get him killed. Indeed, as Jon looks around, he sees almost all of his brothers looking at him scornfully, among them Olly, Othell Yarwyck, and Bowen Marsh.

### Murdered

Jon discusses with Sam the war against the White Walkers, and his increasingly strained relationship with the rest of the Night's Watch. Sam asks for leave to take Gilly and her baby with him to Oldtown where he will train to become a maester. Sam reasons that he is better suited to the life of a maester than a warrior, and that the Night's Watch needs to fill the gap left by the late Aemon Targaryen. Jon is reluctant, as he has few friends nowadays, and also points out that as a maester, Sam's vow of chastity will be doubly prevalent, before finding out that Sam and Gilly have had sex already (to Jon's amusement). Jon eventually agrees to Sam's request and sees him off. Davos Seaworth returns to Castle Black to beg Jon for soldiers - though this was really just a ruse to get Davos out of Stannis's camp, because he had become so desperate that he gave in to Melisandre's request to burn Shireen as a sacrifice. Jon points out that the Night's Watch, even if they do ally with Stannis, will not be enough, and the wildlings will not fight for Stannis as it isn't their fight. Their argument is broken up by the arrival of a wearied and addled Melisandre - who abandoned Stannis when it became apparent he would lose the Battle of Winterfell. When Davos questions her about Stannis and Shireen, she says nothing yet her sorrow is manifest, all but confirming the demise of his king and princess. Still forlorn and at a loss for words, Melisandre heads inside the castle, leaving both Jon and Davos horrified at the news. That night while reading messages, Olly comes to Jon and tells him one of the wildlings knows of the whereabouts of his uncle Benjen Stark, who has been missing since before the Great Ranging. Jon quickly follows Thorne to a gathering of his Watch brothers, only to find a sign marked "Traitor". Thorne, Yarwyck, Marsh and two other black brothers proceed to stab Jon while uttering, "For the Watch." As the wounded Jon kneels, gasping for breath, Olly tearfully comes forward and after a few moments of pause, stabs Jon and declares, "For the Watch." Jon collapses from his wounds and the mutineers leave him out in the cold to bleed to death.

Upon seeing the body of his dead master, Ghost howls in mourning from his pen. His cries summon Davos, Edd and a handful of other black brothers who quickly move Jon's body to his quarters. They quickly realize that Thorne was most likely the orchestrator of Jon's demise, and free Ghost to help them protect Jon's body while Edd leaves to find Tormund and the Wildlings. Melisandre also looks at Jon's body and claims that she had seen a vision of him fighting at Winterfell, though Davos remains adamant that Jon is gone for good. Thorne later approaches Davos and the loyal brothers with a promise of amnesty if they throw their weapons down and surrender, though they refuse to back down, despite Thorne's threats of death if they don't.

After being rescued by Edd and the wildlings, Davos goes to Melisandre and asks if there's any magic she knows of that can resurrect Jon. Shaken by Stannis' death, she says all she believed in was a lie. Davos states that he wasn't asking the Lord of Light for help, but Melisandre herself. Melisandre then performs a ritual with Jon's body: cleaning his wounds, cutting some of his hair, trimming his beard, and burning it in the fire, all while chanting in High Valyrian. Her attempts seem to be in vain and Tormund storms out in frustration. Those remaining leave the room one by one, and after a few moments alone with Ghost, Jon awakens, gasping for air.

Coming back to his senses, Jon is accosted by Davos and Melisandre. He reflects on his perceived failure in spite of doing the right thing, but after some encouragement from Davos, Jon gets dressed and enters the courtyard to the surprise of every wildling present, reuniting with Tormund and Edd. Later, the leaders of the mutiny are rounded up for execution. After hearing last words from each (with the exception of Olly), Jon once again acts in accordance with his father's law that "the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword" and personally cuts the trapdoor rope, hanging them simultaneously. Technically free from his vows, Jon then passes his cloak and command to Edd, declaring his intent to leave the Night's Watch.

A day later, Jon packs his belongings. Edd chastises him for abandoning the Night's Watch despite the threat of the White Walkers looming, and reminds Jon of the oath he swore. Jon retorts by saying that he already died, and that he couldn't stay after what was done to him. His half-sister, Sansa Stark arrives after escaping Ramsay Bolton with help from Theon Greyjoy, along with Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne. After a moment of stunned disbelief, Jon joyfully embraces his long-lost sibling. Shortly thereafter, Jon brings Sansa inside to get warm and eat. The two share their lives since leaving Winterfell, and reminisce about their childhoods. Sansa regretfully mentions how awful she was to Jon during their youth, and that she felt guilty about it for years. Jon shrugs it off as childhood mischief, though he forgives Sansa after she presses the issue. The pair acknowledge that their last haven is Winterfell, and even then, the Boltons are currently occupying it, but Jon is reluctant to fight again after everything he's been through. Later, as Jon eats with Sansa, Brienne, Podrick, Tormund and Edd, he receives a letter from Ramsay, informing him that he is holding Rickon prisoner and furiously demanding the return of Sansa on threat of massacring Jon's allies, raping Sansa and murdering Rickon and Jon. Jon notes Ramsay's signature and Sansa deduces that Roose Bolton is dead. Jon asks Tormund how many men he has; Tormund says 2,000, not enough to fight Ramsay's 5,000 by themselves. With some urging from Sansa to rally the Northern Houses still loyal to the Starks, Jon resolves to take Ramsay down.

While discussing strategy with Davos, Melisandre, Sansa, Brienne, Edd, and Tormund, Jon bitterly notes that they simply don't have the numbers to challenge the Boltons at present. Even though the three most powerful houses are already backing the Boltons, Jon suggests rallying the weaker houses, as their combined strength would give them a numerical advantage when combined with his current forces. When Sansa mentions Brynden Tully's recapture of Riverrun and the virtual guarantee of support from the Tullys, Jon is surprised that Sansa has such valuable information. Thereafter, Jon, Sansa, Tormund and Brienne leave Castle Black.

With help from Tormund, Jon speaks with the wildlings and asks for their help in the coming battle against Ramsay. Though Tormund speaks for Jon, Dalba is skeptical, citing that they were allowed into the North to help fight against the White Walkers, not the Boltons. Jon points out that if they do not help, Ramsay will wipe them all out anyway. Tormund also points out that Jon effectively died for the wildlings' well-being, something they owe him for. The wildlings agree after Wun Wun stands up and says "Snow", confirming his allegiance. Jon, Sansa and Davos later accost Lady Lyanna Mormont, who previously refused to aid Stannis Baratheon. Jon tells Lyanna of his friendship and service under her uncle, Jeor Mormont, while he was in the Night's Watch, though Lyanna initially refuses them, citing that Jon is a bastard and Sansa has been married into House Lannister and House Bolton. Jon reveals that Ramsay is holding Rickon hostage, and Davos manages to convince her that they need to defeat Ramsay in order to unite the North against the coming White Walkers. Lyanna agrees and supplies them with sixty-two men, the remaining force of House Mormont, promising that each will fight with the worth of ten men. However, Jon fails to convince Robett Glover to pledge his allegiance to them, as he cites Robb Stark's failures to protect the North from the Ironborn and Jon's allegiance with the wildlings. Despite being heavily out numbered, Jon remains adamant that they attack Winterfell before Ramsay gathers more men or the weather turns against them. Behind Jon's back, however, Sansa sends a letter calling for help.

Ramsay, Smalljon Umber, and Harald Karstark meet with Jon, Sansa, Tormund, Davos, and Lyanna Mormont at the battlefield the day before the battle. Jon offers Ramsay a chance to settle their dispute in one on one combat but Ramsay refuses, citing his almost certain victory due to his significantly larger army. Ramsay offers surrender terms saying he will pardon Jon for breaking his Night's Watch vows if he will hand Sansa over, which is ignored. In response, he acknowledges Sansa's presence and expresses his anticipation that she will return to his side once he defeats the Stark army. Sansa asks for proof of Rickon's capture, which he provides by way of the decapitated head of his direwolf, Shaggydog. Sansa refuses the terms of surrender and tells Ramsay he will die the following day before riding off. Jon holds a meeting with Tormund and Davos, in which he discusses their battle plan to let the Boltons attack the middle of their formation in order to encircle their army. After the meeting, Sansa criticizes Jon for not listening to her advice and for attacking too early insisting that they could have gathered more men. Jon however insists that this is the largest army they could possibly gather. Jon meets with Melisandre and insists to her not to bring him back if he should fall in the battle. Melisandre insists it's not her gift that has brought Jon back but the Lord of Light's and that only the Lord of Light can decide Jon's fate. The armies gather the following morning as Ramsay brings out Rickon. Telling Rickon that they are playing a game, he tells Rickon to run towards Jon's army and as he does brings out a bow. Jon hastily rides out on a horse to try to save Rickon as Ramsay fires arrows at him. Ramsay appears to have no intention of hitting Rickon with his few shots but eventually, just as Jon was approaching his brother, Rickon is struck in the back with an arrow and killed. With Jon now defenseless in the middle of the battlefield, Bolton archers fire volleys of arrows in his direction with the Bolton cavalry charging at him as well. The Stark cavalry begin their charge to meet the Bolton cavalry, narrowly saving Jon from being trampled, forcing them to abandon their initial strategy of luring the Bolton army into encirclement. After luring Jon's army forwards, Ramsay executes his own pincer movement with his infantry, completely encircling the Stark/Wildling army. The Bolton army continues to press their advantage, with interlocking spears from all directions forcing Jon's army closer and closer together. Jon nearly suffocates as he is pushed beneath the tide of Wildlings that are pushed into one another, but he eventually claws his way out, just in time to see Petyr Baelish and Sansa arrive with reinforcements courtesy of House Arryn. The cavalry from the Vale quickly flanks the encircling Bolton army, which is decimated. Vindicated, Jon makes eye contact with Ramsay as he retreats from the battlefield, clearly satisfied by this turn of events and realizing that Sansa was right all along. Ramsay returns to Winterfell and closes the gates, confident that their opponent is not equipped for siege of Winterfell, as long as they remain within the gates, and he readies his archers. However, unexpectedly, with the help of the giant Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun, Jon's forces manage to breach the gates, and the remaining Bolton forces are defeated, although Wun Wun is severely injured by a barrage of arrows and spears, and eventually succumbs to Ramsay's final arrow, as Jon and Tormund watch on in horror, helpless to save their friend. Ramsay finally accepts Jon's offer to a one-on-one duel, while wielding a bow and arrow. Grabbing a nearby shield, Jon deftly blocks all of Ramsay's shots with his shield until he gets close enough to smack the bow out of Ramsay's hands and hit him to the ground, whereupon he punches Ramsay's face into a bloody pulp. Though it seems as if Jon will kill Ramsay, he stops when he sees Sansa, knowing she has as much right to revenge as he does. Jon orders Ramsay locked up and the remaining Boltons surrender. Rickon's body is found and Jon orders his body buried in the crypt with Ned's bones. Sansa asks Jon for Ramsay's whereabouts, and he directs her to the kennels, where she kills Ramsay that night by setting his own hounds on him.

## References

1. ↑ Jon is roughly the same age as Robb Stark, and they were both born near the end of Robert's Rebellion - which in the novels was 15 years before the beginning of the narrative - so they were both about 14. In the TV version, the rebellion was 17 years ago, making Jon and Robb 16 in Season 1. Four years pass in the TV series by Season 5.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "The Kingsroad"
3. ↑ "The Winds of Winter"
4. ↑ Robert's Rebellion (Histories & Lore) - Catelyn Stark's perspective
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Dark Wings, Dark Words"
6. ↑ "Winter is Coming"
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Winter is Coming (Episode)"
8. ↑ "Lord Snow"
9. ↑ "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things"
10. ↑ "You Win or You Die"
11. ↑ "The Pointy End"
12. ↑ "Baelor"
13. ↑ "Fire and Blood"
14. ↑ "The North Remembers"
15. ↑ "The Night Lands"
16. ↑ "What is Dead May Never Die"
17. ↑ "The Ghost of Harrenhal"
18. ↑ "The Old Gods and the New"
19. ↑ "A Man Without Honor"
20. ↑ "The Prince of Winterfell"
21. ↑ "Valar Morghulis"
22. ↑ "Valar Dohaeris"
23. ↑ "Walk of Punishment"
24. ↑ "Kissed by Fire"
25. ↑ "The Climb"
26. ↑ "The Bear and the Maiden Fair (Episode)"
27. ↑ "The Rains of Castamere (Episode)"
28. ↑ "Mhysa"
29. ↑ "Two Swords"
30. ↑ "The Lion and the Rose"
31. ↑ "Breaker of Chains"
32. ↑ "Oathkeeper"
33. ↑ "First of His Name"
34. ↑ "Mockingbird"
35. ↑ "The Mountain and the Viper"
36. ↑ "The Watchers on the Wall"
37. ↑ "The Children"
38. ↑ "The Wars to Come"
39. ↑ "The House of Black and White"
40. ↑ "High Sparrow (Episode)"
41. ↑ "Sons of the Harpy (Episode)"
42. ↑ "Kill the Boy"
43. ↑ "The Gift (Episode)"
44. ↑ "Hardhome (Episode)"
45. ↑ "The Dance of Dragons"
46. ↑ "Mother's Mercy"
47. ↑ "The Red Woman"
48. ↑ "Home"
49. ↑ "Oathbreaker"
50. ↑ "Book of the Stranger"
51. ↑ "The Door"
52. ↑ "The Broken Man"
53. ↑ "Battle of the Bastards (Episode)"