The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can find them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters.
- Daenerys VI, ASOS
For quite some time, I’ve been thinking about Jon’s potential to bond with one of Dany’s remaining dragons. This is something that most readers take as a given, but it seems that there is barely a consensus on which dragon he will claim.
Many readers have theorized that Jon will bond with Rhaegal because that is the dragon named for his father, Rhaegar Targaryen, but some readers have made arguments for Viserion on the grounds that the black bastard should claim the white dragon - a largely aesthetic argument.
I must admit that the aesthetic argument is quite seductive…but there’s a hitch: Viserion is cream and gold, not purely white.
The cream-and-gold I call Viserion.
- Daenerys I, ACOK
Viserion’s scales were the color of fresh cream, his horns, wing bones, and spinal crest a dark gold that flashed bright as metal in the sun.
- Daenerys, I, ASOS
Gold also isn’t a color that Jon is associated with in the books. His main color is black (which signifies his Targaryen parentage and identity as a member of the Night’s Watch). Ghost’s coloring, an albino direwolf with white fur and red eyes, is important because it’s meant to resemble the weirwood trees and establish a connection between Jon and the old gods. Cream and gold don’t really do that. And, I must also admit that I’m yet to come upon a compelling thematic argument for why Jon should bond with Viserion over Rhaegal.
Thematically and narratively, I think it makes the most sense for Jon to bond with Rhaegal. Now, some readers have argued that he could technically embrace his Targaryen heritage by bonding with any dragon. And while that is true, I think this argument diminishes the importance of Rhaegar Targaryen being Jon’s father. Yes, Jon may have never looked for a father, and he may always consider Ned Stark to be his father. But he also has to acknowledge the fact that he is a Targaryen through Rhaegar, no one else. He’s not just accepting being a Targaryen, he’s accepting a father he never knew about. And part of the emotional weight in the R+L=J reveal will be Jon coming to terms with the fact that Ned lied. Ned isn’t his father, someone else is - that someone else being Rhaegar. Thus, there is a heavy emotional weight in Jon bonding with this particular dragon.
But for today’s prompt, I want to make the argument that Rhaegal is more than just a dragon named after Jon’s father. What Rhaegal represents as a dragon and what Jon represents as a character are very much aligned.
So obviously, Rhaegal is named after Jon’s father, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.
“The green one shall be Rhaegal, for my valiant brother who died on the green banks of the Trident.”
- Daenerys I, ACOK
It’s worth noting that Dany not only mentions her brother, but mentions the green banks of the Trident. The Trident is a location that Jon is connected to without having actually journeyed to the place. For starters, there is the castle Harrenhal where Jon’s father and mother met, which is south of the Trident. And, there’s also the Ruby Ford which is where Prince Rhaegar died - and Jon has quite a few connections to this little part of the great river.
First, there’s the matter of Rhaegar’s rubies,
“Rhaegar’s rubies?”
“It may be. Who can say? The battle was long leagues from here, but the river is tireless and patient. Six have been found. We are all waiting for the seventh.”
- Brienne IV, AFFC
We’re told that seven rubies were lost; six have been found but the people wait for one more. While there’s not really a consensus on which characters are represented by the six rubies, the unanimous agreement is that Jon is definitely the seventh - Rhaegar’s real son who is yet to be revealed.
Then there’s the inn at the crossroads which lies near the ford, and is a place that is key to some of the most important events in the story. Some readers speculate that this might be where Rhaegar and Lyanna met before they decided to run off together.
Finally, Jon was named Robb’s heir in ASOS. One of Robb’s titles was King of the Trident. So it seems fitting for Jon to ride the dragon that is explicitly connected to this place.
Next comes Rhaegal’s color schemes. This is how he is described:
Rhaegal is a green and bronze dragon: his scales and wings are jade-green, while his eyes are bronze. He has black claws and teeth like black needles. His flames have been described as being yellow, yellow and red and "orange-and-yellow fire shot through with veins of green".
ref
Now green isn’t a color that Jon is associated with much in the books (it’s usually black - the NW, Rhaegar, and white - Ghost). However, I think Jon’s connections to this color are more symbolic.
Green is the color of life. It is synonymous with nature and fertility, prosperity, and hope. In the books, the color is often connected to youth and innocence, and sometimes even immaturity. In a lot of cases, it’s connected to the summer season.
“You’re no ranger, Jon, only a green boy with the smell of summer still on you.”
- Jon III, AGOT
“The Royce boy was green as summer grass, yet he insisted on the honor of his own command, saying it was his due as a knight.”
- Tyrion III, AGOT
And Rhaegal’s green coloring has been linked to summer:
Rhaegal was made of the green of summer and the bronze of fall.
- Daenerys I, ASOS
His coloring is so interesting because it denotes a cycle. Summer = growth and life, fall = decay and even death. And we have Jon who represents the cycle of life in the story (more specifically, the never ending cycle of life after death: rebirth).
In broader texts, green is also connected to the season of spring. Spring which usually comes after winter. Where winter represents death, desolation and despair, spring usually represents rebirth, renewal, and fertility (among other things). Spring in many ways is a hope for summer.
Anyone who is familiar with my blog will know that I have argued over Jon’s connection to spring many times. Many of his mythical parallels symbolize spring and the cycle of death and rebirth. Jon presumably dies at the end of ADWD, the start of winter, but readers expect him to return to the story so that he can help usher in the spring. In this way, Jon represents renewal and growth and rejuvenation of the land; bringing fertility back to the land after a period of death. Thus, it’s quite compelling to have the king who represents spring to ride the dragon whose coloring also represents spring.
I’ve also argued before that King of Winter is a fitting title for Jon in the upcoming war for the dawn (and beyond) because it’s not about him being an agent of winter, but rather about him being a king who conquers death (winter). It’s just added symbolism then: a winter king who fights death riding on a summer-green dragon which is colored with life.
Rhaegal also has some bronze specs. His eyes are bronze and as an egg he had bronze flakes. Some traits connected to this color are: support and comfort, strength, reliability, and stability. There is a scene in the books that marks the green egg with bronze flakes as a source of strength and comfort for Daenerys. It’s when a pregnant Daenerys takes her green dragon egg and holds it near her bosom for comfort.
Irri fetched the egg with the deep green shell, bronze flecks shining amid its scales as she turned it in her small hands. Dany curled up on her side, pulling the sandsilk cloak across her and cradling the egg in the hollow between her swollen belly and small, tender breasts. She liked to hold them. They were so beautiful, and sometimes just being close to them made her feel stronger, braver, as if somehow she were drawing strength from the stone dragons locked inside.
- Daenerys IV, AGOT
Dany holds the egg between her womb and breasts, both of which are linked to her fertility. But she is also mentioned to draw strength from the dragon. At this point, it seems obvious that Jon and Dany are destined to meet and become lovers sometime later in the series. And even if they do not become lovers, it is very probable that they come to find strength and comfort in one another.
She was lying there, holding the egg, when she felt the child move within her … as if he were reaching out, brother to brother, blood to blood. “You are the dragon,” Dany whispered to him, “the true dragon. I know it. I know it.” And she smiled, and went to sleep dreaming of home.
- Daenerys IV, AGOT
I do think it’s quite interesting that there is a link between the green egg and the child growing in Dany’s belly. There’s the aspect of fertility and the birth of a new life there, but also hope intermixed. There is a new life growing in Dany’s belly, and this baby reaches out to the green colored dragon who represents growth of new life. And then we have Jon Snow, who fans speculate will father Daenerys’ child(ren). Another link of fertility between Daenerys, Jon, and Rhaegal.
But that’s not all. There are some similarities in personality that make this a love match. Rhaegal has a fiery temper, which seems to match Jon’s quite well. Both boy and dragon can be little brats.
Across the tent, Rhaegal unfolded green wings to flap and flutter a half foot before thumping to the carpet. When he landed, his tail lashed back and forth in fury, and he raised his head and screamed.
- Daenerys I, ACOK
Dareon and Sam left with him. They descended to the yard in silence. Outside, Jon looked up at the Wall shining in the sun, the melting ice creeping down its side in a hundred thin fingers. Jon’s rage was such that he would have smashed it all in an instant, and the world be damned.
- Jon VI, AGOT
Though he is not as fierce as Drogon, Rhaegal is more dangerous than Viserion. We know that Jon can become quite dangerous, especially when he is angry as he sometimes exhibits explosive strength when enraged
[Barristan] wondered where Rhaegal was. Thus far the green dragon had shown himself to be more dangerous than the white..
- The Queen’s Hand, ADWD
There’s also the matter of Jon’s mental state post-mutiny. It’s reasonable to suspect that he might become angrier, colder, and more ruthless - thus embodying traits of a true King of Winter. Jon will have the wolf blood in spades, and so it’s fitting for him to ride a particularly fearsome dragon.
In conclusion, I’ve come to really like the idea of Jon bonding with Rhaegal because there are some strong connections there not just for Jon but for Dany as well. I like the idea of Dany finding love, life, and new beginnings with Rhaegar’s son, especially as they fight against death and winter together. And for this son to ride the dragon that is named after the brother she’s never known but loves all the same.
[...] the Usurper’s dogs had murdered her brother’s son when he was still a babe at the breast. If he had lived, I might have married him. Aegon would have been closer to my age than Viserys.
- Daenerys I, ACOK
As for Jon, Rhaegal is connected to his role as one who brings about spring (new life) and eventually summer. Not only is Rhaegal connected to the fertility of the land, but he’s also connected to Jon’s own fertility through any children he might have with Dany. And through Rhaegal, Jon could wield magic that he inherits from his father’s bloodline. Really, Rhaegal is almost perfectly suited for him.
I’ll end with this really cute scene between Rhaegal and Drogon as more Jon/Dany seeding…
Drogon and Rhaegal were asleep atop some cushions, curled about each other, but Viserion perched on the edge of her empty bath.
The story is engaging, the characters are interesting, the worldbuilding is cool... the terrible dialogues are really my only criticism 🥲
I know it could be considered a show for children, but c'mon... The Dragon Prince deals with themes such as “how far would you go for your family?” and “the pursuit of power and its consequences”. Not to mention the complex characters in its cast, each with their own motivation. So I think they could improve the dialogues.
It has always been so so obvious to me that Jon and Dany are going to find out about their blood ties BEFORE becoming lovers. Like, I don't know if that's a super unpopular speculation but this is the way I have always imagined it. Getting together and THEN finding out about Jon's father is just so weird, because this revelation is a huge plot twist in any case :
It reveals Jon's Targaryen blood and invalidates his stigma for being a bastard which has been the very foundation of his arc, thus completely shuttering every single thing that Jon has believed about himself, his house and the world around him
It sheds some light to honorable Ned's highly ambiguous (but also impossible) choice, and Ned's moral integrity and entire persona is a cardinal element of the entire series, both narratively and thematically
it rearranges the entire political landscape since now we have not one but two Targaryens and the leader of the North (which I believe that Jon will be) happens to be one of them which will inevitably have huge political consequences
it lays the ground for the war for the dawn by revealing Jon's obvious connection to the prophecy, being the incarnation of the union of the Starks and the Targs, the union of ice and fire, the son of the man who first sought out the prophecy
it shakes Dany at her core because her whole life she felt sad for having no family left and now she has a family, she has a nephew who is also a soul mate because their journeys mirror each other and he is the son of the man she idolized for her entire life...
But that's somehow not enough, and it would be even better to have this plot twist turn their pre-established dynamic as lovers upside down? Why? It doesn't make any sense to me. It could go two ways, either they are absolutely overjoyed by the revelation cause now they are not just lovers, they are family too, uwu so cute (very anticlimatic), or they are absolutely shocked and horrified by the revelation, which makes this entire scenario very soap opera-ish and also contrary to asoiaf lore. So you mean to tell me that Targaryens have wed each other for centuries but somehow for Dany and Jon it will be so disgusting? Why? They are not even siblings, they didn't even grow up together.
The only reasonable way this could go is for them to bond over their past experiences and shared cause, find out about their blood ties bringing them even closer, and then become lovers.
When Jon Snow was a little boy he wished he would do some great deed that would make him father recognize him as a true Stark and even give him Ice.
When Jon had been Bran’s age, he had dreamed of doing great deeds, as boys always did. The details of his feats changed with every dreaming, but quite often he imagined saving his father’s life. Afterward Lord Eddard would declare that Jon had proved himself a true Stark, and place Ice in his hand. Even then he had known it was only a child’s folly; no bastard could ever hope to wield a father’s sword. Even the memory shamed him.
ASOS, JON VIII
The family name and the acceptance of belonging to the Stark family his siblings freely got simply by being born, were Jon biggest wishes since they were something he lacked. He even felt ashamed to have such desires thanks to his inferiority complex (which stemed out of the way bastards were treated in westerosi society).
He knew he could never be a true Stark, having the same opportunities with his siblings and that’s why on his first chapter, he announces he wants to join the Night’s Watch.
“I forget nothing,” Jon boasted. The wine was making him bold. He tried to sit very straight, to make himself seem taller. “I want to serve in the Night’s Watch, Uncle.”
He had thought on it long and hard, lying abed at night while his brothers slept around him. Robb would someday inherit Winterfell, would command great armies as the Warden of the North. Bran and Rickon would be Robb’s bannermen and rule holdfasts in his name. His sisters Arya and Sansa would marry the heirs of other great houses and go south as mistress of castles of their own. But what place could a bastard hope to earn?
AGOT, JON I
Even after he goes to the Wall, he continues to feel the need to prove that he’s a worthy son of Ned Stark. Let’s have a look at his thoughts when he was about to desert the Night’s Watch in order to join Robb’s case:
He was no true Stark, had never been one … but he could die like one. Let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons, not three.
AGOT, JON IX
None of his siblings who get POV chapters -nor Robb through Catelyn’s chapters- express a similar desire to prove their Starkness and that they are worthy kids of their father. But then again, none of his siblings is considered inferior to carry the Stark name and be associated with their father due to the bastard stigma, like Jon is.
A couple of years later, Jon’s brothers are all dead - at least as far as he knows- and Stannis Baratheon offers him his greatest desire: Winterfell.
But Jon who is much more mature at this point, will decline. A major reason for doing this is because prioritize his mission as a Black Brother over his personal desires. It’s more important to defend Westeros from the Others than to have the home he always longed for. Jon Snow’s selflessness is often ignored by the fandom but it’s not something they should take for granted. After all, most characters constantly prioritize their own needs over the good of the realm even when they are in a position of power.
He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind.
my instagram explore page loves showing me those like erotic dark romance novel tiktoks and i really have to wonder: why do all these straight women desperately want to fuck a mafia boss
Sexual fantasies are, by their very nature, transgressive. Yes, even the fluffy, romantic ones. As long as general culture remains negative about sex and sexuality in any form that isn't cishet procreative sex within the confines of matrimony with the woman not as an equal actor but an object sex is performed onto, this is going to remain true.
And the thing about fantasies is that our brains like to take the things we crave the most and mix them up with our fears, anxieties, pain, and trauma into a melange of, sometimes, truly epic levels of fuckery.
But here's the secret - things we fantasize about, from the most wholesome to the bizarre to seriously fucked up? They are very, very often NOT what we literally want.
Being into dubcon or noncon doesn't mean you actually want to be raped or rape. Being into monsters doesn't make you a zoophile. And fantasizing about violent, obsessive men doesn't mean you wouldn't run as far the fuck away from a man like that the second one of them set their sights on you.
If you're really interested in the subject, I recommend reading My Secret Garden by Nancy Friday, a compilation of anonymously submitted women's sexual fantasies. And, as it turns out, women fantasize about a lot of really violent, uncomfortable, and just plain screwed up stuff.
And, for most of them, even when they don't actively realize it, it's about reclamation. Of fear, of trauma, of loss of power. It's about THEMSELVES and how THEY feel. As weird as it's gonna sound, the men featured in those fantasies don't really matter, they're just a vessel, a manifestation of the extreme version of what you're dealing with and/or crave. A safe, cathartic way to experience something profoundly unsafe, unwise, and terrifying.
For women fantasizing about criminals, villains, monsters, and anti-heroes, it's very often about the idea that someone like that - intense, violent, with single-minded focus, and immense power - would love her, want her, always put her first, go against all his instincts/training for you without a second thought and be a clear and present danger to everyone but warmth and safety for her and only her, and burn the world itself down for hurting her in even the slightest of ways. It's a sexual version of the fantasy of having a pet tiger, one that would never, ever attack you or hurt you in any way.
And just like the people who want to boop the forbidden snoot, the women fantasizing about their fantasy Mafia Boss Lover are very well aware of the fact that 1) men like that don't actually exist, 2) the criminal world of their fantasy has all but nothing to do with reality, and 3) that the thing they're actually fantasizing about is being loved, wanted, and safe... just in a REALLY intense, exaggerated way. And, let's not mince words, there's also often a more or less strong D/s dynamics at play in the scenario, too.
Now, you can choose to be judgy bitches about it (goodness knows plenty of you in the replies, comments, and tags are), in which case I would suggest you examine why you're feeling such a profound need to shame women for enjoying themselves in their own little world, or you can apply the YKINMKATO mantra and understand that straight women, living in the constant state of preyhood, sometimes consciously or subconsciously reclaim power over that situation through transgressive sexual fantasies.
Also, fuck this idea that queer people only fantasize about healthy and wholesome relationships, romantic, sexual, or otherwise, as if at least half of Tumblr isn't simping for, oh, for example, Hannibal fucking Lecter. Do you have ANY idea how many Mafia and Thug BL content there is out there?! FFS, Tom of Finland, a WWII veteran who fought against Nazis, drew art of exaggeratedly masculine men in Nazi uniforms in pornographic situations as a way to dissociate himself from those traumas and fascists themselves as far back as the 1950s!
So yeah. Less judgement, and more taking some responsibility for curating your online experience if seeing someone's kink truly offends you this much.
#humans#there's also something here about healing from repressive cultures and purity culture#by fantasizing outside of what's Allowed#fantasizing about a sweet small town hallmark movie guy who looks like he'd be good with kids is somewhat tainted#because that's what was expected of you. forced on you#purity culture is about conforming to what's allowed at the expense of actual desire and pleasure#the thing about a taboo fantasy is that it's YOUR fantasy#and like dubcon/noncon is about the desire thing as well#what if someone WANTED you#it's not about a one to one translation of the thing to real life—it's something that has meaning inside the context of your inner world#when you grow up with purity culture the conventional nice vanilla fantasies can FEEL gross and scary and coercive#in evangelical purity culture desire is BAD and you shouldn't pursue what you Want sexually#sex is about emulating a social norm whether you like it or not#so the tame and 'vanilla' fantasies often have this coercive feeling and it's very hard to explore desire and pleasure like that#therefore lots of people fantasize about being fucked by an alien or mafia boss or werewolf or vampire or something else safely imaginary#thats my read of the situation anyway#nazi mention
I'm going to try to explain this without sounding completely deranged but like, okay: IMO, there are two kinds of fantasies. let's call them horses and unicorns.
a horse fantasy is something that is theoretically possible. I do not currently own a horse, and the reality of owning a horse would involve boring stuff like paying for its food and mucking out its stall, but it is something I could do in real life. like, horses exist and can be owned by humans. lots of fantasies can fall into this category: traveling to a foreign country, living in a cute house with just you and a cat, winning a marathon, basically anything that is technically achievable even if it would be difficult to do so in real life.
a unicorn fantasy is something that is definitely (or almost definitely) impossible. I do not currently own a unicorn, and there is no version of reality where I could own a unicorn, because unicorns are not real. the actual logistical issues that might arise from owning a unicorn, like paying for its food or mucking out its stall, are completely immaterial because it's not something that could ever actually happen. and like, it's in my brain! I control it! I can imagine a unicorn that only eats marshmallows and shits potpourri if I want to!
I think the disconnect comes in when people assume that a unicorn fantasy is actually a horse fantasy. to use the tiger example from upthread: you can own a tiger. you can't have a completely domesticated tiger that would never hurt you, not even by accident. so saying "I want a pet tiger" is a unicorn fantasy, because everything necessary for that fantasy to work (it being completely domesticated and incapable of harming you) are not things you can have in real life.
now, serial killers/war criminals/normal criminals/etc. are all things that exist. and there are definitely people in relationships with them in real life! so it's tempting to assume that something like "I want to fuck a serial killer" is a horse fantasy: something you would want to do, and could do, if given the opportunity.
but for the vast majority of people, that's not the fantasy. the rest of the fantasy ("he's a serial killer, BUT he only kills bad people and he's nice to me and is both able and willing to protect me from literally anything and has sex exactly the way I want to because he magically knows what I want because, again, this is happening in my brain") is what makes it a unicorn.
This is obviously not exclusively a cishet woman thing but cishet women do deal with a different flavour of sexual repression than queer folks (not better or worse, just a different flavour!) and those fantasies really are about power, just not how you think.
The fantasy is that here is a powerful, aggressive, even violent man, and he wants you and needs you so much that he would burn the world down for you. The central fantasy of the romance novel is that the heroine is so desired and loved by the hero that he is both metaphorically and literally forced to his knees for her. I'm not with my books or notes right now so I can't remember the exact quote, but I think it was Jayashree Kamblé who said that this aggressive/Alpha male subtype of romance heroes is "a lion among men who is a lamb before his woman". That's the fantasy. It's really powerful! If your life experience has told you to expect to do all the care work and to minimise yourself and your needs to be palatable to others and to be grateful for any crumb of attention because you're too fat or too outspoken or just generally not perfectly feminine enough, the fantasy of someone going absolutely feral because they want you so much is really powerful and empowering!
Again, not exclusively cishet women, and also sometimes you just think a scenario would be hot if it happens within your mind where you are 100% in control and can just stop if it feels bad. That's also fine! That's normal! We need to stop shaming people for their romantic or sexual fantasies, especially those of us who clearly have no idea what a fantasy is and what it does for the person indulging in it 🙄
That this is not about liking bad dudes but about the feeling of power one gets from having a powerful man as a pet tiger is something George Sand encapsulated as early as 1842!
“Corilla, it is not his face that disgusts me. His mind is yet more hideous. You do not know that he has a perfect tiger's heart."
“That is what led me astray," said Corilla. " To hear the common stories of all the fools who hover around us is a glorious thing, forsooth! To bind a tiger, though — to subdue a forest lion — to lead him on a leash — to make one sigh, weep, blush, and tremble at a single glance, whose look has routed armies — and with one blow of his sabre cut off an ox's head — is a more intense pleasure than I have ever known.”
As someone who likes my fictional romances angsty and fucked up, I assure you I am the most vanilla person imaginable in my real life, and no don’t want to time travel to war torn China or post apocalyptic space or w/e and prefer my partners unhaunted and well-adjusted. Fantasy is not reality.
“Gared was near as old as I am and longer on the Wall,” he went on, “yet it would seem he forswore himself and fled. I should never have believed it, not of him, but Lord Eddard sent me his head from Winterfell. Of Royce, there is no word. One deserter and two men lost, and now Ben Stark too has gone missing.” He sighed deeply. “Who am I to send searching after him? In two years I will be seventy. Too old and too weary for the burden I bear, yet if I set it down, who will pick it up? Alliser Thorne? Bowen Marsh? I would have to be as blind as Maester Aemon not to see what they are. The Night’s Watch has become an army of sullen boys and tired old men. Apart from the men at my table tonight, I have perhaps twenty who can read, and even fewer who can think, or plan, or lead. Once the Watch spent its summers building, and each Lord Commander raised the Wall higher than he found it. Now it is all we can do to stay alive.”
- Tyrion III, AGOT
This fandom rarely ever acknowledges the skills that got Jon his place as Jeor Mormont’s steward - which subsequently marked him as next in line to lead the Watch. It seems that most people think it was purely because of Jon’s identity as a Stark, which doesn’t seem to track with what we’re actually shown in the text.
Because up until this point, Jon didn’t register in Mormont’s conscious.
Mormont frowned through his thick grey beard. “Snow? Oh, the Stark bastard. I think not. The young ones need to forget the lives they left behind them, the brothers and mothers and all that. A visit home would only stir up feelings best left alone. I know these things. My own blood kin … my sister Maege rules Bear Island now, since my son’s dishonor. I have nieces I have never seen.” He took a swallow. “Besides, Jon Snow is only a boy. You shall have three strong swords, to keep you safe.”
Jon is, as of now, just the Stark bastard. That’s all he is. And Mormont can barely recall him in conversation. As far as the Old Bear knows, Jon is merely a privileged lordling who is yet to earn his place at the Wall. And we must recall the tragedy of Waymar Royce, an inexperienced lad who was thrust into a position of leadership a bit too early - something Mormont deeply regrets.
So what tipped the scales in Jon’s favor?
He told them all of it, even the part where he’d set Ghost at Rast’s throat. Maester Aemon listened silently, blind eyes fixed on the fire, but Chett’s face darkened with each word. “Without us to keep him safe, Sam will have no chance,” Jon finished. “He’s hopeless with a sword. My sister Arya could tear him apart, and she’s not yet ten. If Ser Alliser makes him fight, it’s only a matter of time before he’s hurt or killed.”
Chett could stand no more. “I’ve seen this fat boy in the common hall,” he said. “He is a pig, and a hopeless craven as well, if what you say is true.”
“Maybe it is so,” Maester Aemon said. “Tell me, Chett, what would you have us do with such a boy?”
“Leave him where he is,” Chett said. “The Wall is no place for the weak. Let him train until he is ready, no matter how many years that takes. Ser Alliser shall make a man of him or kill him, as the gods will.”
“That’s stupid,” Jon said. He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. “I remember once I asked Maester Luwin why he wore a chain around his throat.”
Maester Aemon touched his own collar lightly, his bony, wrinkled finger stroking the heavy metal links. “Go on.”
“He told me that a maester’s collar is made of chain to remind him that he is sworn to serve,” Jon said, remembering. “I asked why each link was a different metal. A silver chain would look much finer with his grey robes, I said. Maester Luwin laughed. A maester forges his chain with study, he told me. The different metals are each a different kind of learning, gold for the study of money and accounts, silver for healing, iron for warcraft. And he said there were other meanings as well. The collar is supposed to remind a maester of the realm he serves, isn’t that so? Lords are gold and knights steel, but two links can’t make a chain. You also need silver and iron and lead, tin and copper and bronze and all the rest, and those are farmers and smiths and merchants and the like. A chain needs all sorts of metals, and a land needs all sorts of people.”
Maester Aemon smiled. “And so?”
“The Night’s Watch needs all sorts too. Why else have rangers and stewards and builders? Lord Randyll couldn’t make Sam a warrior, and Ser Alliser won’t either. You can’t hammer tin into iron, no matter how hard you beat it, but that doesn’t mean tin is useless. Why shouldn’t Sam be a steward?”
[…]
Maester Aemon was gentler. “Is your friend a hunter?”
“He hates hunting,” Jon had to admit.
“Can he plow a field?” the maester asked. “Can he drive a wagon or sail a ship? Could he butcher a cow?”
“No.”
Chett gave a nasty laugh. “I’ve seen what happens to soft lordlings when they’re put to work. Set them to churning butter and their hands blister and bleed. Give them an axe to split logs, and they cut off their own foot.”
“I know one thing Sam could do better than anyone.”
“Yes?” Maester Aemon prompted.
Jon glanced warily at Chett, standing beside the door, his boils red and angry. “He could help you,” he said quickly. “He can do sums, and he knows how to read and write. I know Chett can’t read, and Clydas has weak eyes. Sam read every book in his father’s library. He’d be good with the ravens too. Animals seem to like him. Ghost took to him straight off. There’s a lot he could do, besides fighting. The Night’s Watch needs every man. Why kill one, to no end? Make use of him instead.”
Maester Aemon closed his eyes, and for a brief moment Jon was afraid that he had gone to sleep. Finally he said, “Maester Luwin taught you well, Jon Snow. Your mind is as deft as your blade, it would seem.”
- Jon V, AGOT
It must have been Jon advocating for Sam. He told Aemon how he stood up for Sam and led the other recruits in making sure that he wasn’t excluded. He correctly identified that the Watch needs all sorts of people and comes up with a workable solution for Sam’s inclusion. And given that Aemon is one of the higher ranking officers in the Watch, it’s more than possible that he told Mormont of everything Jon had said and done. And Mormont saw in Jon a man who was quick on his feet, knew how to lead and delegate, and knew how to tackle the Watch’s weaknesses, which are identified by Mormont himself a few chapters earlier.
So Jon proved his worth. He proved that he was a man who could inspire and lead, plan ahead, and take action. Remember that by Jon V (when he becomes steward), he has all but taken control of the Watch’s new recruits and become the de factor master at arms (thereby supplanting the thoroughly ineffectual Alliser Thorne). He has also proven that he has an analytical nature by rightfully acknowledging that the Watch lacks learned men like Sam and he tackles that problem by placing Sam near Aemon thereby ensuring that the Watch will always be served by a learned and skilled maester.
Jon is already thinking like a Lord Commander, and he’s only a few weeks in! He knows the Watch’s weakness and correctly identifies how to bypass them. It’s all the more impressive when we note that this is quite early in his AGOT arc, meaning that his ability to plan ahead was not gained on the fly in A Dance with Dragons, but is a skill that he has always had and was slowly developing over time.
