I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time

Abstract: Often, I hear complaints about Jon Snow, the bastard of Winterfell. I previously wrote responses to various common complaints, and now I wrap it all up in a bow.

This is the sixth part in a series examining alleged negative aspects of Jon Snow, the acknowledged illegitimate son of Lord Eddard “One Does Not Simply Play the Game of Thrones” Stark. This was all explained five posts ago. Should you not want to read the whole thing, I’ll summarize: I’m a fan of Jon Snow, and I’m concluding my defense of his character with a general character defense. Oh, the symmetry!

To recap, Jon Snow has been accused of being boring (or his storyline is boring), he’s an emo whiny dummy, he’s indecisive, and he’s a bad boyfriend.

Well, yeah. I guess. I mean, I don’t agree. Daenerys has some boring storylines (WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS!), Theon is way more whiny, he’s no more indecisive than anyone else, and as a virgin who has his first sexual experience with a threatening scary barbarian, I think there’s no way he could avoid being a bad boyfriend.

But I’ve already fought those battles. Time for two more tactics, and I’ll even call upon my classical education to bring it home.

(more…)

Abstract: (I include these abstracts entirely on behalf of my academic friends who get scared by walls of text.) Not everyone likes Jon Snow. I take this opportunity to lend my support for the acknowledged (yet illegitimate) son of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell. This will be the first in a series. You’re welcome.

Just to be clear, I’m talking about Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, and not Jon Snow the British Journalist and Television Presenter. (That dude must get tired of being told how little he knows.)

Snow. Jon Snow.

I want to state upfront that I’m mostly going to be talking about Jon Snow as portrayed in HBO’s television series Game of Thrones, based on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ll be talking about the existing seasons, with hardly any mention of the books they are based upon. (I would have liked to have said *no* mentions but I know me, I’ll be doing some light references to the books.)

So if you’re a Game of Thrones TV Viewer and not a Book Reader (an Unsullied vs. a Sullied) I promise that I won’t be spoiling things to come. If you’re not up to date on the show and you don’t want to be spoiled, take my advice and stop reading. I make no promises for what might happen in the comments section. (But I can urge people to be spoiler-free, please. Especially in regards to that thing about Jon Snow that many of us suspect but hasn’t yet been confirmed or debunked. THAT thing. Or maybe that other thing.)

This post will be the first of several posts, discussing several negative aspects of Jon Snow or the Jon Snow storyline. I had originally planned on knocking out a quick post, but the original was turning into something big enough to keep a horde of Wildlings out, so I opted to break it into smaller, digestible chunks. Anyone who reads the entire thing will be my friend for life. It is known.

(more…)