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[THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 9 OF SEASON 6 OF GAME OF THRONES]
There's very little left to be said about the latest episode of Game of Thrones. It was an incredible spectacle in terms of production values; an episode which did not flinch at showing us the full horror of a medieval battle. It kept the suspense and pace at full volume at all times, making it arguably one of the best, if not the best episode of the series as a whole.
But for the purposes of this blog it was something a friend of mine said about The Battle of The Bastards which got me thinking.
But for the purposes of this blog it was something a friend of mine said about The Battle of The Bastards which got me thinking.
One of the pivotal moments in the episode was when Ramsay let Rickon run towards Jon's army in a cruel mockery of mercy, before shooting him dead with an arrow. Jon's reaction is to ride out in front of his forces to try and rescue him. Failing at this and seeing his half-brother die in front of him, he launches a one-man charge at the Bolton forces. Had his own cavalry not charged in behind him he would definitely have been killed by the oncoming horses.
What my friend complained about, with some justification was this: Jon Snow is a trained commander, and a seasoned fighter. His charge toward the Bolton forces could easily left his army leaderless before the battle had even begun. Why would he ever do that? Isn't this just poor storytelling?
I would argue, no, it isn't.
In fact, from a characterisation point of view, it makes perfect sense. It's definitely true to say that Jon is an experienced leader and an intelligent character, but saying that doesn't tell the whole story. Jon Snow is a man who has spent the last few years losing everything that ever mattered to him; his father, his half-brother, his family home, his lover, his friends in the Watch, the old Lord Commander (and arguably the moral heart) of the Watch, his own life and ultimately his belief in anything he had ever done.
Firstly let's sum up Jon Snow's character. He is a man who believes in duty, honour, and family. He has a strong moral centre and an understanding of the big picture. His position in society as a bastard means he is both insecure in terms of understanding his place in the world, and always trying to find ways to prove himself, becoming very disillusioned if he fails.
For this season, Jon Snow has been wrestling with his place in the world more so than previously. He came back to life, but so far has only expressed disappointment at this. Now this might simply paint him as an ungrateful person, but the truth, I think, is more complex than that. When Jon Snow was murdered it was not only a personal betrayal, but in Jon's mind the end of the Watch as a moral or honourable force he could place his trust in. With Sam gone and the leadership of the Watch under the command of shortsighted men, Jon had nothing left for him in the organisation he had sworn his life to. Even after he executes the people who betrayed him, it feels like a hollow victory. The traitors are dead, but none ever recanted their actions, and ultimately nothing is gained by their deaths.
For this season, Jon Snow has been wrestling with his place in the world more so than previously. He came back to life, but so far has only expressed disappointment at this. Now this might simply paint him as an ungrateful person, but the truth, I think, is more complex than that. When Jon Snow was murdered it was not only a personal betrayal, but in Jon's mind the end of the Watch as a moral or honourable force he could place his trust in. With Sam gone and the leadership of the Watch under the command of shortsighted men, Jon had nothing left for him in the organisation he had sworn his life to. Even after he executes the people who betrayed him, it feels like a hollow victory. The traitors are dead, but none ever recanted their actions, and ultimately nothing is gained by their deaths.
Jon's belief in his own leadership and the Watch itself has been so fundamentally shaken that he abandons his sworn duty and his mission. But also, in a very real way he abandons his own autonomy; from then on he is simply spurred into action by others, mostly Sansa and to a lesser extent Davos. Jon is a man who has lost all direction in life. As such he is clinging on to the only things left which give him meaning, firstly what's left of his family, and secondly his duty to the Wildlings (Sansa's new-found position of leadership in this dynamic is also very interesting from a characterisation point of view and I hope to tackle this later).
For all Jon knows, Sansa and Rickon are the only family he has left. Not only is the killing of Rickon an extremely cruel act of violence on Ramsay's part, it's literally the death of half of Jon's remaining family. We know that since the Red Wedding Jon has been plagued with guilt for not helping Robb more, and for not being able to help find his lost siblings. Trying to save Rickon becomes his way of trying to end that guilt and piece together some stability and safety for his family. His failure to do so, for Jon, is the culmination of what he sees as a litany of failures on his part, not only for Robb and his family, but his inability to save more people at Hardhome, or his Lord Commander. At the moment Jon sees Rickon die, he is not only enraged that his brother has been murdered in such a cowardly way, but also, in that moment, in a battle he probably can't win, with a sister who doesn't believe he can protect her, Jon loses all sense of purpose. His suicidal charge into the Bolton lines is exactly that, he no longer cares for his own survival for those few seconds. His own cavalry charging in to save his life reminds him of his duty to his friends and the men he leads, or simply it switches his training on in his head and he simply fights because that's all he knows. Either way, it snaps him out of his impotent rage long enough for him to survive to the end of the battle.
Needless to say Jon Snow's charge into the Bolton army was from the point of view of a commander and tactician, a foolhardy and irresponsible move. I can see why viewers would be asking questions of the writers about why exactly the felt this was an appropriate thing for them to have Jon do. However, a close look at his motivations and experiences will show us that this is entirely consistent with his character and his state of mind since being resurrected. What this moment shows, is, in fact, a very close understanding among the writers of the show of what kind of person Jon Snow is, and how he has been psychologically affected by several years of what can only be described as appalling emotional trauma. From this point of view, Jon's actions are those of a damaged man, with very little left for him.
