Jon Snow and Game of Thrones

Kit Harington as Jon Snow

Kit Harington as Jon Snow

The HBO series Game of Thrones is famous for brutal, gory sword fights mixed in with dire wolves, dragons, and quite a bit of kinky sex.

Based on the A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels written by George R. R. Martin, the television adaptation has largely remained faithful to the books thus far.

And for the most part, the television shows have been dazzling.

Martin has published five novels. The television series has now run for five complete seasons.

However, the novels and “seasons” of the show haven’t matched up perfectly — events occurred in the most recent novel that have not happened onscreen, and not everything in the books made it onscreen.

In the final episode of season 5,, one of the few remaining heroes in the broad saga, Jon Snow, was murdered,  which (according to my wife and son, who read them) also happened in the most recent novel. Readers of the books will remember that Jon was brought back from the dead in that same novel in which he was killed, because he’s become an essential character in the overall story.

Clearly, the word “ice” in the title for the series refers to Jon Snow, just as “fire” refers to the dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen.

Yet in response to speculation coming from fans of the books, HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo has been quoted by Deadline Hollywood as saying, “Dead is dead as dead as dead. He be (SIC) dead. Yes. From everything I’ve seen, heard, read, Jon Snow is indeed dead.”

The problem is that the show really won’t make any sense or have much of a future without Jon Snow. Therefore, I don’t understand the current marketing strategy. The show is insanely popular already — there’s no need to create additional hype. In fact, this may backfire.

If Mr. Lombardo was deliberately trying to deceive fans (meaning Kit Harington will return next season as Jon Snow) he’s irritated people like me for no reason. If he really doesn’t know the fate of Jon Snow, he just should keep his mouth shut.

Conversely if he’s telling the truth and Jon Snow is gone, I’m done with the show.

If the character Jon Snow is permanently dead, Mr. Lombardo can forget about making three more seasons. I seriously doubt I’ll be the only fan who loses interest in the show after the last remaining truly heroic and noble character left in the story has been killed off.

Furthermore, if Jon Snow is truly gone for good, the storyline for Game of Thrones will no longer be faithful to Martin’s vision for the final resolution of the series, and his devoted fans will not be happy.

The writer in me will want to boycott the show on principle.

Comments

  1. In the final episode of season 5,, one of the few remaining heroes in the broad saga, Jon Snow, was murdered, which (according to my wife and son, who read them) also happened in the most recent novel. Readers of the books will remember that Jon was brought back from the dead in that same novel in which he was killed, because he’s become an essential character in the overall story.

    Your wife and son are fibbing you. The third from the last chapter (not including the epilogue), he dies just as in the series. The last two chapters are not about him.

  2. John Leonard says

    George R. R. Martin said in an interview that the ending of the series was supposed to have Jon Snow and Arya come together, presumably after his Targaryen heritage is discovered.

    Melissandra, the witch that Stannis brought with him to the wall, supposedly revives Jon Snow in the books. Yes, he’s allegedly transformed into something less than himself, like Caitlyn Stark was after the red wedding, but the character was not completely killed off in the books, according to multiple sources.

    If Kit Harington isn’t in the cast next year, we’ll know for sure. And I won’t be watching the rest of the series, because he’s about the last interesting character who is heroic in nature.

  3. They’ve definitely set up that possibility, but it hasn’t happened yet.

    Readers of the books will remember that Jon was brought back from the dead in that same novel in which he was killed, because he’s become an essential character in the overall story.

    He is a skinchanger/warg so the rumor is that he might have entered into his Direwolf at his death.

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