How is show Jon different from book Jon?
In multiple ways, thanks for asking! I’m just gonna bullet point a few:
We get an insight into his head in the books, and we can see that he’s very politically minded, and a really fast learner. This narrative of him being a stupid northerner in the show is FALSE.
He’s 14 when the books start and 17 when he’s stabbed by his brothers in book 5, and if we take that timeline into account a lot of his mistakes make more sense and can be attributed to him being young and not dumb (show Jon is older so his mistakes are more chalked up to stupidity than inexperience by the audience.)
“You know nothing, Jon Snow” in the books is said by Ygritte to let Jon know that he knows nothing about the Free Folk and how they live their lives, and that he comes from a position of privilege. Jon then makes a conscious effort to learn and respect their ways and traditions, which puts him at odds with the prejudiced night’s watch members. In the show this saying is often used to be “haha look how dumb Jon is!”
The show dumbs him down. A lot. Jon is intuitive, and due to his bastard status had to interpret and understand people’s motives from a young age. In the show he’s literally referred to as a northern fool and made fun of multiple times for how stupid he is.
HE’S POLITICALLY MINDED. He understands how to manipulate people. None of this “noble Jon wouldn’t manipulate people” that the show perpetuated.
He’s often vicious when he has to be (he makes Gilly give her child away! He plans on betraying Ygritte the ENTIRE TIME they’re together! He beheads Janos Slynt out of duty, yes, but he sets the situation up knowing that Janos will not listen to him, knowing that he’ll have to deal with Janos refusing his Lord Commander, knowing that he’ll be able to behead a man responsible for his father’s death)
He holds his own against pressure that Stannis puts on him in, which just shows us that he’s a formidable politician in the making.
He has to deal with the iron bank in the books, and talks them into a loan for the watch even tho the watch basically has like… nothing to bargain with. He’s a smart cookie.
He puts the needs of many over the needs of the few. Show Jon wouldn’t be defending Dany for her rampage in KL (that was badly written and executed as well on the show, but that’s a separate post)
He’s so scary that people ACROSS THE SEA WHO AREN’T EVEN WESTEROSI talk about him as the black bastard of the watch
He’ll say fuck duty and honor if it saves people
He’s not above lying (that show scene. In the dragonpit. Where he refuses to lie to Cersei in exchange for troops. Was. Fucking. Stupid. Book Jon would have lied to her without regret.)
The whole Ygritte thing is put in a different perspective in the books. Because he’s using her to blend in with the wildlings. He’s broken up about it but he does it knowingly and the entire time is ready to betray her, no matter what his feelings for her are. In the show it makes it seem like it’s more of a last minute decision to betray her bc a farmer was being threatened.
That’s all I have for now, as I’m on the train and this is getting long. Feel free to add on!
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