Jon Snow
| House / Order | House Stark (acknowledged bastard) |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Northmen |
| Status | Uncertain (stabbed at the close of A Dance with Dragons) |
| Origin | The Wall, The North |
| Born | 283 AC |
| Died | |
| Weapon | Longclaw, a Valyrian steel bastard sword |
| Fate | Elected Lord Commander; cut down by mutineers of the Night's Watch in a conspiracy called "for the Watch" |
| Portrayed by | Kit Harington |
Jon Snow is the acknowledged bastard son of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, and a major viewpoint character in A Song of Ice and Fire. Raised at Winterfell alongside his trueborn half-siblings, he takes the black and rises to become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
His true parentage is the central unsolved mystery of the novels. Eddard never names Jon's mother, and the books strongly imply, without yet confirming, that Jon is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, hidden to protect him from Robert Baratheon.
Background
Jon was brought to Winterfell as an infant by Eddard Stark on his return from Robert's Rebellion. Raised with the Stark children, he was loved by his half-siblings, particularly Arya, with whom he shares a close bond, but resented by Lady Catelyn, who saw him as a living reminder of her husband's supposed infidelity. His status as a bastard, surnamed "Snow" after the custom of the North, shapes his sense of being an outsider. He is given a direwolf pup, Ghost, an albino with red eyes.
Biography
A Game of Thrones
With no place at Winterfell, Jon resolves to join the Night's Watch and travels to the Wall with his uncle Benjen Stark. There the romance of the order gives way to its grim reality: the Watch is a dumping ground for criminals and the desperate. Jon matures under the guidance of Maester Aemon and the gruff Lord Commander Mormont, befriends the cowardly but clever Samwell Tarly, and is made a steward. When Mormont's corpse-servant rises as a wight, Jon saves the Lord Commander's life and is rewarded with the Valyrian steel sword Longclaw.
A Clash of Kings
Jon rides north of the Wall with a great ranging led by Lord Commander Mormont. He encounters the wildlings and is sent to infiltrate them, falling in with Qhorin Halfhand. At Qhorin's order, Jon kills him to win the trust of the wildlings and pass as a turncloak.
A Storm of Swords
Among the Free Folk, Jon falls in love with the wildling Ygritte and breaks his vows with her. Torn between duty and feeling, he ultimately abandons the wildlings to warn the Watch. He helps defend the Wall against Mance Rayder's host; Ygritte is killed in the fighting. The arrival of Stannis Baratheon's army breaks the wildling assault. For his deeds, and amid maneuvering by Sam, Jon is elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
A Dance with Dragons
As Lord Commander, Jon pursues a controversial policy of allowing the wildlings through the Wall to settle, judging the Others and their dead the true enemy. His decisions, including sheltering wildlings and his intent to march against Ramsay Bolton after a threatening letter, anger many of his brothers. At the novel's end he is stabbed repeatedly by mutineers crying "for the Watch," his fate left unresolved.
Character
Jon is brave, dutiful, and burdened by his bastard status and the conflict between honor and necessity. He is forced again and again to choose between his vows and his conscience, killing Qhorin Halfhand, loving Ygritte, and admitting the wildlings. Like his father, he tries to do what is right rather than what is easy, and like his father, it brings him low.
Relationships
Jon's closest bonds are with his half-siblings, especially Arya, and his sworn brother Samwell Tarly. His love for the wildling Ygritte defines his time beyond the Wall. His direwolf Ghost is bound to him so closely that Jon dreams through the wolf, a sign of his latent warg ability.
Quotes
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death.
You know nothing, Jon Snow. (Ygritte, to him)
In the television series
In HBO's Game of Thrones, Jon Snow was portrayed by Kit Harington. The series resurrected him following his stabbing, revealed his parentage as the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen (legitimizing him as Aegon Targaryen), and ended his arc with him killing Daenerys Targaryen and returning beyond the Wall. None of these developments have yet occurred in the novels, where his fate after the mutiny remains unknown.