Jon Snow is the moral center of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and his power comes from his dual nature as both a dragon and a wolf.
The Kit Harington character is both ice and fire, a Stark and a Targaryen. He embodies the core values and deeper messages at the heart of the story. Support ScreenPrism on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=7792695
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Jon Snow is the unlikely hero of Game of Thrones – unlikely because he’s too heroic.
00:21
When we first started watching the show, we probably expected the honorable Jon
00:25
to fall victim to his own noble antics.
00:28
The show is all about subverting tropes like the pure-hearted hero,
00:31
and we saw how Westeros answered honor from other characters.
00:35
Yet over time Jon has become the enduring moral compass of the story
00:39
as well as a more complex and interesting hero than we first thought.
00:43
“This isn’t about living in harmony.
00:45
It’s just about living.”
00:47
Spoilers are coming beyond this point.
00:49
If we look closer, his nuances as a character can be tied to the revelation that he is,
00:54
in fact, both a Stark and a Targaryen.
00:57
His true name is Aegon Targaryen.
01:00
We learned this long before he does, and many of us suspected it long before that.
01:05
“You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
01:07
Jon doesn’t immediately strike us as “Targaryen”
01:10
“Where are my dragons?”
01:12
But actually the core Targaryen qualities are very much a part of him.
01:17
When Jon speaks forgiving words to Theon Greyjoy,
01:20
we get the sense that he’s also talking about himself, without yet knowing it.
01:24
“You don’t need to choose.
01:25
You’re a Greyjoy, and you’re a Stark.”
01:28
He, too, doesn’t have to choose between his two natures.
01:32
Jon’s power and nuance comes from this unique blend of the Stark and Targaryen in him.
01:37
He is the center of Game of Thrones,
01:39
and his character reveals the values and messages that are the heart of the whole story.
01:44
“We’re all on the same side.”
01:47
“How can we be?”
01:49
“We’re all breathing.”
01:51
As a bastard, Jon has always felt like an outsider in the Stark household.
01:55
“I’m not a Stark.”
01:56
He was close to Robb and Arya,
01:59
but notably distant from Catelyn and Sansa.
02:01
“I was awful, just admit it.”
02:03
“[Laughs] You were occasionally awful.
02:07
I’m sure I can’t have been great fun always sulking in the corner while the rest of you
02:12
played.”
02:13
Catelyn hated Jon because she believed him to be her husband’s bastard.
02:17
“I want you to leave.”
02:20
And Ned never told his wife the truth, that Jon was in fact his nephew,
02:24
son of his sister Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.
02:27
Jon was constantly reminded of his illegitimate status as a child.
02:31
“You’re Ned Stark’s bastard, aren’t you?”
02:33
So this set him apart, preparing him for the loneliness of the later burdens he takes on
02:37
as an adult.
02:39
Given this childhood, Jon developed a solemn and brooding personality.
02:42
“You look a lot better brooding than I do.”
02:44
And he also came of age without any pretenses to power and glory.
02:48
“Your Grace?
02:50
Hear that?”
02:52
Jon never expected to be more than a bastard in the rigid social hierarchy of his world.
02:57
His highest ambition was to devote himself to the Night’s Watch and make something
03:01
valuable of his life through service.
03:04
“I’m ready to swear your oath.”
03:06
“You don’t understand what you’d be giving up.”
03:08
But however much he felt different or less than the siblings he grew up with,
03:13
Jon’s lived experience still makes him above all a Stark,
03:17
shaped by the man he believed to be his father, Ned Stark.
03:19
“You are a Stark.
03:20
You may not have my name, but you have my blood.”
03:25
Jon has inherited Ned’s sense of honor.
03:28
He upholds the value of truthfulness,
03:30
“I am true to my word, or I try to be.
03:34
That is why I cannot give you what you asked.”
03:36
even this is very politically inconvenient.
03:38
“Have you ever considered learning how to lie ever now and then?
03:41
Just a bit?”
03:43
He’s fiercely loyal to both House Stark and the Night’s Watch, always putting his
03:47
duty first,
03:49
even if that means leaving behind Ygritte,
03:50
“I know I love you.
03:51
I know you love me.
03:53
But I have to go home now!”
03:58
facing her on the battlefield and watching his lover die in his arms.
04:02
“You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
04:05
He’s courageous and selfless, leading his troops into battle and constantly putting
04:10
himself in danger.
04:11
He believes in justice, and swings the blade himself, again like his father.
04:16
He’s also caring, compassionate and forgiving,
04:18
“Do you forgive me?”
04:19
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
04:20
“Forgive me.”
04:21
“Alright, alright, I forgive you.”
04:24
All of these quintessentially Stark qualities make Jon the obvious successor to the late
04:29
Ned and Robb.
04:30
“The North remembers!”
04:33
and they elect Jon King because he is a Stark through and through.
04:37
“I put my trust in you, a stranger, because I knew it was the best chance for my people,
04:43
for all our people.”
04:46
The season 6 finale confirmed the long-standing fan theory “R+L=J.”
04:52
The end of season 7 went even further to reveal that Rhaegar’s earlier marriage was annulled.
04:57
So Jon is not a bastard, but the legitimate heir to the Targaryen line and the Iron Throne.
05:02
Jon Snow — or Aegon Targaryen — has yet to show his Targaryen heritage in obvious
05:08
ways.
05:09
He’s been spared the Targaryen madness and the Targaryen looks like the platinum hair.
05:14
But he seems to have a connection to dragons and might end up riding one,
05:18
putting him on equal footing with his nemesis, the Night King.
05:21
And his almost immediate, instinctive love for Daenerys
05:23
“I’ve noticed you staring at her good heart.”
05:26
seems to signal a deeper connection to this Targaryen nature within himself.
05:31
So their attraction and merging symbolizes that Jon is a Targaryen,
05:35
even though he hasn’t really faced this part of himself much yet.
05:39
So let’s look at few of the deeper qualities that we’ve identified in the Targaryens
05:43
in past videos,
05:45
and see if we observe them in Jon.
05:47
Strong, unstoppable will – check.
05:49
Inner vitality – check.
05:51
Mythic power – Jon does come back from the dead – so that’s a check.
05:55
Action – check.
05:57
Passion – check.
05:58
Will to survive – check.
06:00
And being a born leader – check.
06:02
The Targaryens are all about power.
06:04
Their ancestor Aegon the Conqueror forged the symbol of power in Westeros,
06:09
the Iron Throne, in dragon fire from his enemies’ swords.
06:12
So Targaryen blood is pretty much equated with power itself.
06:16
The Targaryen identity is consumed with navigating how to hold and use power,
06:21
the question of its boundaries, and the best and right way to rule.
06:25
A key part of Jon’s destiny is that he doesn’t know he’s a Targaryen,
06:29
and likewise, he doesn’t actually seek or seem to like having power.
06:34
“I never wanted it.
06:36
I never asked for it.”
06:38
Nonetheless, power comes to him.
06:41
“The King in the North!”
06:43
“King in the North!”
06:44
“The King in the North!”
06:45
He becomes King in the North against his own wishes, and now he’s the Targaryen heir,
06:50
which is somewhat inconvenient and not likely to please him
06:53
given his relationship with Dany and his discomfort with power.
06:56
Jon doesn’t expect or want to be a leader, but he also can’t help that he is,
07:01
just as he can’t resist that he is also a Targaryen, which makes him a born ruler.
07:06
I don’t need your permission.
07:07
I am a king.”
07:10
So — as the title “A Song of Ice and Fire” tells us — Jon Snow will not have to choose.
07:15
He’s ice, and he’s fire.
07:17
He’s a Targaryen, and he’s a Stark.
07:20
And it’s precisely this union of Stark and Targaryen characteristics
07:24
that’s exactly what’s needed to lead Westeros through troubling times.
07:28
“The people who follow you know that you made something impossible happen.
07:35
Maybe that helps them believe that you can make other impossible things happen.
07:40
Build a world that’s different from the shit one they’ve always known.”
07:44
The Season 7 Finale is titled “The Dragon and the Wolf,” which has two meanings.
07:49
We finally get the romantic union of Jon and Daenerys, the White Wolf and the Mother of
07:54
Dragons.
07:55
But we also learn in even more definitive terms
07:57
that Jon is equal parts Dragon and Wolf, so the title refers to his identity as well.
08:03
“I transcribed the High Septon’s diary.
08:05
He annulled Rhaegar’s marriage to Elia.”
08:07
In his own way, Jon is a dragon, too.
08:09
If we look back, his story isn’t worlds away from Dany’s.
08:12
He begins as a bastard, never thinking he will have a high-profile life.
08:17
She begins in exile, hardly imagining that she’s going to be vying to rule all of Westeros.
08:22
She’s far away from King’s Landing, gets married off to a Dothraki,
08:26
and believes that on the off chance a Targaryen could return to power
08:29
it would be her brother, Viserys.
08:32
But — like Jon — she adapts to the cards she’s dealt,
08:35
finds the opportunity in every seemingly hopeless situation,
08:38
and grows stronger with each obstacle.
08:40
Jon has survived even death itself,
08:43
and we can see from Dany’s questions about his scars
08:46
“Taking a knife in the heart for his people?”
08:48
that this intrigues and attracts her to her fellow dragon.
08:52
When Viserys dies, Dany says “He was no dragon.”
08:56
To her, being a true dragon means that you are strong enough to survive fire — not just
09:00
in the literal sense,
09:02
but in the broader sense of life’s fires as well.
09:04
And Jon and Dany both have emerged stronger from the fires in their lives.
09:08
And they’ve also grappled with the Targaryen question of how to rule.
09:12
“You are a dragon.
09:14
Be a dragon.”
09:15
Dany tries to become an enlightened ruler, freeing slaves and vowing to serve her people.
09:20
Jon repeatedly sacrifices his safety for his people and always does what he believes is
09:25
best for them,
09:27
even when they don’t understand or approve of the actions he takes to serve them.
09:31
“I trust the eyes of an honest man more than I trust what everybody knows.”
09:35
The rarely black-and-white Westeros needs a moral center,
09:38
“When enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything.”
09:43
an inspiring figure.
09:45
The audience may painfully used to the grey zone and cynical tone of most storylines,
09:50
but we still yearn for someone we can genuinely root for.
09:54
For the characters within Westeros, Jon is also a moral guide.
09:58
Like us, they sometime find him too stupidly heroic.
10:01
“Heroes do stupid things and they die.
10:04
Even this Jon Snow.
10:07
They all try to outdo each other.”
10:09
And yet they love him and respect him for that.
10:12
More importantly, they’re inspired to serve his cause.
10:15
Despite being a man of honor and a “basically good” character,
10:18
Jon actually shows an exception ability to adapt.
10:22
He forms an alliance with the free folk, bends the knee to Daenerys Targaryen,
10:26
and even strikes a bargain with Cersei Lannister.
10:29
His adaptability might be why he hasn’t encountered death like his father and brother.
10:34
Jon only ever adapts so far though.
10:36
His evolving strategy reflects his growing awareness of the bigger fight and the greatest
10:41
threat.
10:42
So he’s ever unyielding in his determination to help his people survive,
10:46
but he becomes flexible, assessing each situation and updating what he knows.
10:51
Now that Jon knows that the White Walkers require everyone’s immediate and undivided
10:55
attention,
10:56
Jon is the bulwark against Westeros’ primary existential threat.
10:59
He won’t get bogged down in smaller fights or squabbling for power
11:03
because he keeps his eye on the big game – and this makes him a visionary.
11:07
“But if you use them to melt castles and burn cities, you’re not different.”
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He embodies the ultimate message of the story: you must adapt to survive in a brutal, morally
11:19
grey world,
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but don’t let that make forget what’s most important and what you truly hold dear.
11:25
George R.R. Martin has said that William Faulkner is one of his great inspirations,
11:30
and especially Faulkner’s assertion that “the human heart in conflict with the self
11:34
was the only thing worth writing about.”
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It seems at times from the outside like Jon is a straightforward noble hero,
11:41
“You’ve always known what was right.”
11:43
“That might seem that way from the outside, but I promise you it’s not true.”
11:49
Jon always has to balance his instinctive sense of honor with the painful awareness
11:53
that too much of that honor is likely to get him and others murdered.
11:58
He has regrets, makes difficult decisions and has to live with the consequences.
12:03
Within him, the inner Stark will have to reconcile with the Targaryen.
12:07
But ultimately, the union of the two is the source of his great power.
12:12
“There is only one war that matters.
12:16
The Great War…and it is here.”
12:19
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