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Jon Snow is a fictional character in George R. R. Martin's fantasy novels and their TV adaptation Game of Thrones. He is the illegitimate son of Ned Stark and a prominent leader of the Night's Watch, who later learns he is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.
- Overview
- Biography
- Personality
- Relationships
- Quotes
- Behind the scenes
- In the books
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"You've got the North in you. The real North."
―Tormund
Jon Snow, born Aegon Targaryen,[d] is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, the late Prince of Dragonstone. From infancy, Jon is presented as the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, Lyanna's brother, and raised alongside Eddard's lawful children at Winterfell. Jon's true parentage is kept secret from everyone, including Jon himself, in order to protect him from those that sought the complete annihilation of House Targaryen.
Jon joins the Night's Watch and is later elected as Lord Commander. As a result of several controversial decisions, such as allowing the wildlings to settle south of the Wall, Jon is murdered in a mutiny, but is resurrected by the red priestess Melisandre.
Freed from his Night's Watch vows, Jon and his half-sister Sansa Stark retake Winterfell from House Bolton, restoring House Stark's dominion over the North. Jon is declared King in the North.
Jon negotiates with Daenerys Targaryen for an alliance against the White Walkers in the imminent Great War. Later he pledges himself and his army to Daenerys, with whom he falls in love, subsequently abdicating his throne and being named Warden of the North.
Background
"His name is Aegon Targaryen. If Robert finds out, he'll kill him. You know he will. You have to protect him. Promise me, Ned. Promise me." ―Lyanna Stark to her brother Ned, speaking of her son Jon Snow. Seventeen years before the War of the Five Kings, Rhaegar Targaryen allegedly abducted Lyanna Stark in a scandal that led to the outbreak of Robert's Rebellion. Rhaegar eventually returned to fight in the war, but not before leaving Lyanna behind at the Tower of Joy, guarded by Lord Commander Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard. Eddard Stark rode to war along with her betrothed, Robert Baratheon, to rescue his sister and avenge the deaths of their father and brother at the orders of Aerys II, the Mad King. Robert ultimately killed Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident, effectively ensuring their victory in the war. After the Sack of King's Landing, Ned continued south in search of his sister and ultimately found her at the Tower of Joy in the Red Mountains at the border of Dorne. Ned and his companions engaged in a final fierce melee with the remaining Kingsguard, which resulted in the deaths of all combatants save Ned himself and Howland Reed. After defeating the last of the Kingsguard, Ned rushed into the tower to save his sister - only to find Lyanna dying from childbirth, having just given birth to Rhaegar's own son. Desperate to protect the life of her newborn child, a fading Lyanna pleaded with Ned to promise her that he would keep her son safe, and his true heritage hidden from Robert as he had been Rhaegar's most bitter enemy. Furthermore, the boy's existence was a potential threat to Robert's claim to the Iron Throne after the deaths of Rhaegar's other children, Rhaenys and Aegon, by his wife Elia Martell, who also perished, during the Sack of King's Landing. In accordance with her last wish, Ned resolved to pass Lyanna's son off as his own bastard and raise him in his home castle - a great blow to his honor as he knew that his decision would shame both himself and his wife, Catelyn Tully. Rather than using his nephew's birth name of Aegon, which would have given away his real parentage, Ned gave the baby the name "Jon" after his great friend and mentor Jon Arryn, Lord of the Vale, whom he loved like a second father. The boy also grew up using the surname "Snow", as is customary for acknowledged bastards in the North. In truth, however, "Jon" is not a bastard at all, as Rhaegar apparently had his marriage to Elia annulled and married Lyanna. Jon spent the next seventeen years being raised in Winterfell as Eddard's illegitimate son, alongside his trueborn children with his wife. Understandably, Eddard never told anyone, including Catelyn or Jon himself, who his mother was or even if she was still alive. When pressed by Robert, whom he couldn't deny an answer, Ned vaguely claimed that Jon's mother was a lowborn woman named "Wylla" that he met during the war. Eddard never treated Jon much differently from his trueborn children. Despite sharing a happy marriage, Jon's presence at Winterfell would serve as a constant source of friction between Eddard and Catelyn. Catelyn never mistreated Jon, but she was cold towards him and avoided him whenever possible, viewing him only as a living reminder of the one time that Eddard had dishonored her. Catelyn would later confess to her daughter-in-law Talisa about how Jon caught the pox when he was a child, and she stayed with him through the night and prayed to the gods to let him live out of guilt for previously praying for his death, accepting that the boy was not to blame for her husband's sin, though it was still not enough to make her love Jon, something she would eventually come to regret. Due to his bastard status, Jon grew up feeling like an outsider at Winterfell. Although Ned would see that he was well-treated, Jon's attendance at Winterfell's more "formal" occasions was restricted and he would even be barred from sitting inside at the Lord's table with his family so as not to offend important guests. Otherwise, Jon still lived better than many bastard-born children and was well-raised by Eddard as his own. He was loved by his father and siblings, was never hungry or poor, lived in his father's castle, and had a noble's upbringing. Jon received a highborn education from Maester Luwin and a young lord's martial training from Winterfell's master-at-arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel. Of the Stark children, Jon was very close friends with Robb - given that they were roughly the same age, being regular companions in training and riding. He was also close with both Bran and Rickon, and was friendly rival to Lord Eddard's ward, Theon Greyjoy. However, Jon's closest relationship was with Arya, who, as an adventurous tomboy prone to un-ladylike pursuits, also felt like a social outsider. In contrast, Jon's early relationship with Sansa was unpleasant; very much her mother's daughter, she was aloof and cold to him as well.
Game of Thrones: Season 1
Jon and Robb instruct Bran in archery, when their father receives word about a captured deserter from the Night's Watch, for which the penalty is death. Jon accompanies his father, Robb, Bran, Theon, Rodrik, and Jory Cassel, Rodrik's nephew. out to the holdfast where the deserter, Will, is being held. It is Bran's first time watching his father carry out an execution, but as the deserter is brought into position outside, Jon warns Bran not to look away, as their father will know. Jon praises Bran afterwards for keeping his composure. On their way back to Winterfell, they find a dead direwolf - a species not seen south of the Wall in centuries - and her newborn pups. Jon talks Eddard into allowing the young Starks to adopt them, pointing out that a direwolf is the sigil of House Stark: given that there are five direwolves and five trueborn Stark children, it must be a sign that the Stark children are meant to have the pups. In order to make this point, Jon intentionally leaves himself out of the count of Stark children, and when Bran asks about this, Jon responds that he is not a Stark. Just as they are about to leave, however, he finds the runt of the litter, an albino, which crawled away from its mother's corpse. Theon remarks, "The runt of the litter, that one's yours, Snow." Jon takes this direwolf as his own, naming him Ghost. Catelyn ensures that Jon, Robb, and Theon are groomed for the arrival of Robert and Queen Cersei Lannister. Jon, in particular, is set against the altering of his appearance, as well as expressing antipathy against the royal family. When the Baratheon entourage arrives, Jon is present, but is not allowed to attend the subsequent banquet for fear of offending the royal guests (on Catelyn's suggestion). He waits outside in the courtyard venting his frustrations against a practice dummy. When Jon's uncle, Benjen Stark, arrives, Jon tells him he has been thinking about it, and before his father leaves for the south he wants to join the Night's Watch. Since they don't care about recruits' pasts and even a bastard can rise to positions of high honor in it, the Watch provides an easy escape from his life in Winterfell. He later meets Tyrion Lannister. As a dwarf, Tyrion knows what it is like to be an outcast, so he gives the young man some advice: never try to hide what he is, for the world will not forget. Instead, he should wear the name "bastard" openly, like armor, and then it can never be used to hurt him. When Jon angrily asks Tyrion what he knows about it, Tyrion replies that "all dwarfs are bastards in their father's eyes." Before departing, Jon has a run-in with Jaime Lannister, who infamously killed his grandfather, the Mad King. Jaime sarcastically thanks him for protecting all of them from the mythical monsters that allegedly exist beyond the Wall, in order to taunt him. Before Jon departs for the Wall, he says goodbye to the unconscious Bran, who has been injured in a fall. He gives Arya a sword named Needle that he had made especially for her, advising her to "stick them with the pointy end." Jon says he will miss her, and they both hug. As he prepares his saddle, Robb asks if Jon said goodbye to Bran and is sure Bran will survive. Jon says Starks are hard to kill, and Robb asks about his mother, and Jon assures him she was kind. Robb offers to visit him at the Wall sometime, and they bid farewell with a hug. At their parting on the Kingsroad, Eddard vows to tell Jon the truth about his mother the next time they meet. Jon is accompanied by his uncle Benjen and Tyrion, who has expressed a desire to see the Wall (and urinate from the top of it) before he dies. Ghost also accompanies Jon to the Wall. At Castle Black, Jon's expectations of the Night's Watch are soon disappointed. Instead of a brotherhood of noble warriors sworn to defend the realm from wildlings and White Walkers, he realizes the Watch is a dumping ground for criminals and wastrels. He earns the enmity of Ser Alliser Thorne, the master-at-arms in charge of training new recruits. He humiliates his fellow recruits with his superior fighting skills, learned from Winterfell's master-at-arms over the course of many years. Benjen stands with Jon on his first watch and tells him that he is going ranging North of the Wall. Jon is keen to accompany him, but Benjen insists that he complete his training. Tyrion helps Jon see that he is no better than the recruits, but has been afforded more advantages than them due to his highborn upbringing. Jon offers to train some of his new brothers and Pypar and Grenn accept. He also befriends the fat and bookish coward Samwell Tarly when he arrives at Castle Black, and helps to protect him from the cruelty of Thorne. Thorne angrily tells Jon that going easy on Sam won't help him, and will risk getting him killed during the next winter. After completing his training, Jon is inducted into the Night's Watch and swears his oath before a weirwood Heart tree on the north side of the Wall. He is assigned to the stewards rather than the rangers, and at first, thinks it is due to his ongoing feud with Thorne. However, Sam points out that Lord Commander Jeor Mormont has asked for Jon as his personal steward, and may be grooming him for command. Jon is concerned when Benjen's horse returns to the Wall riderless. Later, Ghost finds the corpses of two rangers assigned to Benjen, Othor and Jafer Flowers. Learning of Eddard's imprisonment, Thorne taunts Jon about being a traitor's bastard, causing Jon to draw a knife in anger. He is restricted to quarters. Later, Othor's corpse becomes a wight and attacks Mormont. Jon saves Mormont's life by burning the wight, earning a pardon for his earlier misdemeanor. Mormont also gives Jon his Valyrian steel sword, Longclaw - given that his own son Jorah fled into exile and left it behind. Jon ponders abandoning the Watch to join Robb's army when it marches against the Lannisters, but Aemon tells him that he chose to stay with the Watch when he was similarly tested - as he is secretly a long-forgotten great uncle of the Mad King, and was once known as Aemon Targaryen, but his entire family was killed at the end of Robert's Rebellion. News of Eddard's execution reach Castle Black. Jon immediately leaves, meaning to join Robb and seek vengeance for his father's death. Samwell, Pypar, and Grenn intercept him and convince him to stay. Mormont tells Jon their war against the White Walkers is more important than the game of thrones in King's Landing. He tells Jon that the Watch is marching beyond the Wall in force, to find Benjen and learn the truth about the threat. Jon swears to him not to attempt to desert again and accompanies the troops as they set out.
Game of Thrones: Season 2
Mormont prepares Jon for a command role as the great ranging travels North seeking Benjen and an explanation for the wight attack. They pass through several abandoned wildling villages before arriving at the home of their unsavory ally Craster. Jon is perplexed when he learns that Craster incestuously marries his own daughters, but apparently has no sons. He takes an instant dislike to Craster when they meet with him. Craster reveals to Jeor that he has not seen Benjen, and that the wildlings are gathering with their leader, King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder. Jeor reprimands Jon for failing to follow his lead with Craster - the man disgusts him as well, but unfortunately, he's one of the few wildlings who is willing to give them shelter and supplies which mean the difference between life and death for many black brothers in the wild. Sam appeals to Jon to aid Craster's pregnant daughter-wife Gilly. She is afraid of having a son, but will not say why. Jon is frustrated and refuses to disobey Jeor's order to leave Craster's wives alone. Jon sees Craster carrying a newborn into the woods and follows him. He sees Craster leave the child for a White Walker but does not recognize the creature hidden in the shadows. Craster spots him and knocks him out. Craster disarms Jon and drags him back to his keep. He expels the rangers from his home. Jeor reveals that he knew that Craster was sacrificing his sons, but chose to ignore it because of his usefulness as an ally of the Night's Watch. The rangers reach the ancient fortified peak known as the Fist of the First Men and await Qhorin and his party from the Shadow Tower. When Qhorin arrives, he suggests altering their tactics and using small groups to overcome Mance's lookouts in the Skirling Pass. Jon asks to join Qhorin's raiders and Jeor lets him go. Qhorin leads his men into the pass, and they locate and ambush the wildling watchers. Jon realizes his opponent is a young woman and hesitates to kill her. She introduces herself as Ygritte, but does not give away details of Mance's plans. Qhorin leaves Jon alone to execute Ygritte. Jon is unable to do it and she escapes. He pursues and recaptures her, but they become separated from Qhorin's group. Jon decides they cannot regroup with Qhorin due to the approaching night. Ygritte convinces Jon to sleep next to her to share body heat and keep warm, and then makes sexual advances towards him. Jon rejects the temptation to break his oath. Jon unties Ygritte's legs, while keeping her hands bound, as he continues his search for the rest of the raiders. She tells him that she knows that he is a virgin. As they walk, Ygritte questions Jon as to why the men of the Night's Watch hate the wildlings. She explains that both the Free Folk and the Northmen like the Starks are descendants of the First Men, and the wildlings just happened to be on the wrong side of the Wall when it was built. She urges him to forget about his oath and live free. Another sexual advance from Ygritte prompts him to reach for his sword. She backs away and trips him with the rope, when he is caught off guard. He pursues her but is ambushed and taken captive. Ygritte tells him that he should have taken her when he had the chance. Ygritte brings Jon to the Lord of Bones, and convinces him that Mance will want to question Jon. The Lord of Bones has a prisoner of his own; Qhorin. The Halfhand tells Jon that the rest of the men were killed while they searched for him. He urges Jon to make their deaths meaningful and become a spy within the wildling ranks. He then feigns anger with Jon until he is restrained after managing to knock Jon over. In Winterfell, after Theon betrays House Stark and takes the castle, he refuses to flee and join the Night's Watch when he is surrounded by Ramsay Snow's men, claiming that Jon will likely kill him for betraying the Starks and apparently burning Bran and Rickon alive (in actuality, Theon faked their deaths). As they make their way to Mance, Ygritte continues to playfully mock Jon by tapping him on the head with the flat of Longclaw. Qhorin uses the distraction to advance his plan to portray Jon as a traitor to the Night's Watch. He attacks Jon, and the Lord of Bones allows them to fight. Jon is initially reluctant until Qhorin calls his "father" a traitor and his mother a whore. Jon slays Qhorin, who whispers a line from the Night's Watch oath to Jon with his dying breath, stunning Ygritte and the rest of the band. Jon's hands are freed, and Ygritte leads him to the crest of the mountain to look over the massive wildling encampment.
"You are a Stark. You may not have my name, but you have my blood."
―Eddard Stark to Jon before he leaves for the Night's Watch.
Since he was raised by Ned at Winterfell, Jon has adopted a clear moral compass and a true sense of honor, which he tries his hardest to abide by even when he must make a difficult decision, especially after he became Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. He has always admired and idolized his father, but due to Catelyn's cold disdain for Jon, Eddard was careful not to give him more attention than his lawful children by Catelyn. Catelyn was never actively mean to Jon, but because he wasn't her own son she intentionally ignored him (as is common for bastard children), meaning that Jon grew up without a mother-figure. Nor did Jon consider Catelyn's behavior to be unusual or unexpected: it is rare for a noble to raise their bastard child alongside their lawful children, and his presence was a great insult to her honor.
While his interactions with Catelyn remained awkward or nonexistent, he was close with his half-siblings, particularly Robb and Arya. Robb was of the same age as Jon so they became playmates and comrades in training, while due to her tomboyish personality Arya was also something of a social misfit like Jon, which they bonded over. His closeness with Brandon and Rickon was proved when the latter had to leave Winterfell and Master Luwin advised them to go, Castle Black, where the old man was sure that their half-brother would keep them safe. With Sansa on the other hand, according to the talk they had when they reunited at Castle Black, the friendship has never been deep as those between Jon and the other siblings. Since then, however, Sansa proves to have great faith in her half-brother by standing up for him when he is King in the North and, when she discovers his true parentage, by seeing him as the best candidate to become King of the Seven Kingdoms. Also, when Jon is forced to join again the Night's Watch, Sansa shows great sorrow and thinks that sending Jon away is both a great unfairness and a great loss for the North.
Like many bastard children, Jon had to learn to grow up quickly. This made Jon mature and perceptive beyond his age, so he could navigate his complicated relationships within the Stark household. His bastard status has also made Jon something of a loner, solemn and somber with a desire to prove himself to society and to his father. Jon thought that the best way for a bastard in his position to gain honor and respect was to join the Night's Watch, emulating his uncle Benjen, because past social status is ignored after joining the Watch. Despite his introverted demeanor, Jon is very compassionate and protective of his fellow outcasts such as Sam, Grenn, and Pyp.
In many ways, Jon has been unusually lucky for a bastard child, given how rare it is for a lord to raise one in his own castle alongside his lawful children. For all of Jon's misgivings about not knowing his mother and Catelyn ignoring and shunning him, he was loved by his father and siblings, was never poor or hungry, but lived in a castle and had a noble's upbringing. Jon was formally educated by Maester Luwin and was trained in combat by Ser Rodrik Cassel.
•Ygritte: She was Jon's first love and a wildling spear wife. They meet when Jon and his group ambush a group of wildlings, at which point Jon captures Ygritte. Ygritte later escapes and leads him into a trap in which Jon is captured by the wildlings. Under orders from Qhorin Halfhand, Jon infiltrates the wildlings. During this time, Ygritte and Jon become lovers and fall in love. However, Jon ultimately chooses his vows for the Night's Watch over her. Ygritte shoots him with three arrows but due to her feelings for Jon, she couldn't bring herself to kill him. In the battle for the Wall, Ygritte was killed by Olly and died in Jon's arms. Later, per Tormund's suggestion that she belongs in the true North, Jon cremates her body just beyond the Wall as he grieves.
•Daenerys Targaryen: Jon's second love and the daughter of King Aerys II Targaryen, as well as the younger sister of Jon's father, Prince Rhaegar, making her his aunt by blood. Having been summoned from Winterfell to bend the knee to Daenerys, Jon initially refuses on the grounds that they need to focus on allying against the Night King and the army of the dead instead of worrying who rules from the Iron Throne. After witnessing the large numbers of the army of the dead, Daenerys agrees to help Jon and during their time together, they fall in love. They fight the Army of the Dead in the Battle of Winterfell, during which the Night King is defeated. With the Long Night prevented, Jon honors his pledge to help Daenerys take the Iron Throne. However, she razes King's Landing after the city surrenders, killing thousands of civilians. Unable to dissuade her from continuing this destruction, Jon reluctantly kills Daenerys, and she dies in Jon's arms as he grieves.
Spoken by Jon
Jon Snow: "Why's your mother so deadset on us getting pretty for the King?" Theon Greyjoy: "It's for the Queen, I bet. I heard she has a sleek little minge." Robb Stark: "I heard the prince is a right royal prick." — Jon Snow, Theon Greyjoy and Robb Stark. Robb Stark: "Next time I see you, you'll be all in black." Jon Snow: "It was always my color." Robb Stark: "Farewell, Snow." Jon Snow: "And you, Stark." — Robb Stark's final words to Jon Snow. Eddard Stark: "There's great honor serving in the Night's Watch. The Starks have manned the wall for thousands of years, and you are a Stark. You may not have my name, but you have my blood." Jon Snow: "Is my mother alive? Does she know about me? Where I am, where I'm going? Does she care?" Eddard Stark: "The next time we see each other, we'll talk about your mother. I promise." — Eddard Stark's final words to Jon Snow. "I never met my mother. My father wouldn't even tell me her name. I don't know if she's living or dead. I don't know if she's a noblewoman or a fisherman's wife or a whore..." ―Jon Snow to Samwell Tarly "I'm the watcher on the Wall." ―Jon Snow taking the black. "My father told me big men fall just as quick as little ones, if you put a sword through their hearts." ―Jon Snow to Tormund "With me, lads. Castle Black's not falling tonight." ―Jon Snow during the battle for the Wall. Davos Seaworth: "Some of the Night's Watch fear you have too much affection for the wildlings." Jon Snow: "They were born on the wrong side of the Wall. That doesn't make them monsters." — Davos Seaworth and Jon Snow Jon Snow: "I don't know what I have left to give you." Stannis Baratheon: "You can give me the North." Jon Snow: "I can't. Even if wanted to, I'm a bastard. A Snow." Stannis Baratheon: "Kneel before me, lay your sword at my feet, pledge me your service and you'll rise again as Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell." — Jon Snow and Stannis Baratheon "I'm not asking you to forget your dead. I’ll never forget mine. I lost fifty brothers the night that Mance attacked the Wall. But I’m asking you to think about your children now. They’ll never have children of their own if we don’t band together. The Long Night is coming and the dead come with it. No clan can stop them. The Free Folk can’t stop them, the Night's Watch can’t stop them and all the southern kings can’t stop them! Only together. All of us. And even then it may not be enough, but at least we give the fuckers a fight." ―Jon Snow Eddison Tollett: "Your eyes are still brown. Is that still you in there?" Jon Snow: "I think so. Hold off on burning my body for now." — Eddison Tollett and Jon Snow Bowen Marsh: "You shouldn't be alive. It's not right!" Jon Snow: "Neither was killing me." — Bowen Marsh and Jon Snow Sansa Stark: "Winterfell is our home. It's ours. And Arya's and Bran's and Rickon's, wherever they are. It belongs to our family, we have to fight for it!" Jon Snow: "I am tired of fighting! It's all I've done since I left home. I killed brothers of the Night's Watch, I've killed wildlings, I've killed men I admire, I hanged a boy, younger than Bran! I've fought, and I lost." Sansa Stark: "If we don't take back the North, we'll never be safe. I want you to help me, but I'll do it myself if I have to." — Sansa Stark and Jon Snow "Ramsay Bolton cannot be allowed to keep Winterfell, my lady. It is our duty to stop him, even more so because he holds our brother Rickon Stark his prisoner." ―Jon Snow to Lyanna Mormont Ramsay Bolton: "Come, bastard, you don't have the men, you don't have the horses, and you don't have Winterfell. Why lead those poor souls into slaughter? There's no need for a battle. Get off your horse and kneel. I'm a man of mercy." Jon Snow: "You're right. There's no need for a battle. Thousands of men don't need to die. Only one of us. Let's end this the old way. You against me." Ramsay Bolton: "[Chuckles] I keep hearing stories about you, bastard. The way people in the North talk about you, you're the greatest swordsman who ever walked. Maybe you are that good. Maybe not. I don't know if I'd beat you. But I know that my army will beat yours. I have 6,000 men. You have, what, half that? Not even?" Jon Snow: "Aye, you have the numbers. Will your men want to fight for you when they hear you wouldn't fight for them?" Ramsay Bolton: "He's good. Very good." — Jon antagonizes Ramsay Bolton. Jon Snow: "Battles have been won against greater odds. I've fought beyond the Wall against worse than Ramsay Bolton." Sansa Stark: "You don't know him." — Jon and Sansa about Ramsay Bolton. "If I fall, don't bring me back." ―Jon Snow to Melisandre "You all crowned me your king. I never wanted it. I never asked for it. But I accepted it because the North is my home! It's part of me, and I will never stop fighting for it, no matter the odds!" ―Jon to his subjects. "When enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything. Then there are no more answers, only better and better lies." ―Jon Snow at the Dragonpit Summit "You think our house words are stamped on our bodies when we're born, and that's who we are? Then I'd be fire and blood too!" ―Jon Snow to Tyrion
Spoken about Jon
"Go on, Tommy, shear him good. He's never met a girl he likes better than his own hair." ―Robb Stark about Jon Snow. "Let me give you some advice, bastard. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you." ―Tyrion Lannister to Jon Snow "Seventeen years ago you rode off with Robert Baratheon. You came back a year later with another woman's son." ―Catelyn Stark to Eddard Stark "A bastard boy with nothing to inherit, off to join the ancient order of the Night's Watch. Alongside his valiant brothers in arms..." ―Tyrion Lannister to Jon Snow "Honor made you leave, and honor brought you back." ―Jeor Mormont to Jon Snow "You're prettier than half my daughters." ―Craster to Jon Snow "Your death will be a gift for them south of the Wall. They'll never know what you've done. They'll never know how you died. They won't even know your damn name. But they'll be alive because some nameless bastard north of the Wall gave his life for theirs..." ―Qhorin Halfhand to Jon Snow Jaime Lannister: "Do you know I've never been with any woman but Cersei? So in my own way, I have more honor than poor old dead Ned. What was the name of that bastard son he fathered?" Catelyn Stark: "Brienne." Jaime Lannister: "No, that wasn't it. Snow, a bastard from the North. Now when...when good old Ned came home with some whore's baby, did you pretend to love it? No. You're not very good at pretending. You're an honest woman. You hated that boy, didn't you? How could you not hate him? The walking, talking reminder that the honorable Lord Eddard Stark fucked another woman." — Jaime Lannister antagonizes Catelyn Stark by reminding her of Jon Snow. Catelyn Stark: "Many years before that, one of the boys came down with the pox. Maester Luwin said if he made it through the night, he'd live. But it would be a very long night. So I sat with him all through the darkness, listened to his ragged little breaths, his coughing, his whimpering." Talisa Stark: "Which boy?" Catelyn Stark: "Jon Snow. When my husband brought that baby home from the war, I couldn't bear to look at him. Didn't want to see those brown stranger's eyes staring at me. So I prayed to the gods "Take him away, make him die." He got the pox and I knew I was the worst woman who ever lived. A murderer. I'd condemned this poor, innocent child to a horrible death all because I was jealous of his mother, a woman he didn't even know! So I prayed to all Seven Gods, "Let the boy live. Let him live and I'll love him. I'll be a mother to him. I'll beg my husband to give him a true name, to call him Stark and be done with it, to make him one of us."" Talisa Stark: "And he lived?" Catelyn Stark: "And he lived. And I couldn't keep my promise. And everything that's happened since then, all this horror that's come to my family, it's all because I couldn't love a motherless child." — Catelyn Stark tells Talisa Stark about Jon Snow. Selyse Baratheon: "You think highly of this boy." Stannis Baratheon: "Lord Commander of the Night's Watch" Selyse Baratheon: "A bastard by some tavern slut." Stannis Baratheon: "Perhaps. But that wasn't Ned Stark's way." — Selyse Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon discuss Jon Snow. "Bastards can rise high in the world, like your half-brother Jon Snow. Born the bastard of Winterfell, now the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. You didn't know? Yes, he's done very well for himself." ―Ramsay Bolton about Jon Snow. "Who does Jon Snow want to command? The Night's Watch or the wildlings? Everyone knows he loved a wildling girl. He spoke with Mance Rayder many times. What would have happened in that tent between those two old friends if Stannis's army hadn't come along? We all saw him put the King-Beyond-the-Wall out of his misery. Do you want to choose a man who's been fighting the wildlings all his life? Or a man who makes love to them?" ―Alliser Thorne attempts to dissuade the others from electing Jon Snow as the new Lord Commander. "He’s prettier than both my daughters, but he knows how to fight. He’s young, but he knows how to lead. He didn’t have to come to Hardhome. He came because he needs us. And we need him." ―Tormund on Jon Snow "You have a good heart, Jon Snow. It will get us all killed." ―Alliser Thorne to Jon Snow as the wildlings pass through Castle Black. Roose Bolton: "Jon Snow is a bastard, not a Stark." Ramsay Bolton: "So was I, Father." Harald Karstark: "Your hold on the North will never be secure as long as a Stark can walk through that door." — Ramsay Bolton and Harald Karstark warn Roose Bolton about Jon. "We just have to make it to Castle Black. Once we're with Jon, Ramsay won't be able to touch us." ―Sansa Stark to Theon Greyjoy about Jon. "If you want to help him, leave him be." ―Melisandre to Davos Seaworth about Jon. "They think you're some kind of God. The man who returned from the dead." ―Tormund to Jon Snow about how the wildlings see his resurrection. "You are the son of the last true Warden of the North. Northern families are loyal, they'll fight for you if you ask. A monster has taken our home and our brother. We have to go back and save them both!" ―Sansa Stark to Jon Snow seeking his help in taking back Winterfell. "The crows killed him because he spoke for the Free Folk as no other southerner would. He died for us! If we are not willing to do the same, we're cowards. If that's what we are, we deserve to be the last of the Free Folk." ―Tormund to the wildlings about Jon
•During casting for the first season, Harington competed with fellow cast members Iwan Rheon, Alfie Allen and Joe Dempsie for the role of Jon Snow. Rheon was later cast as Ramsay Snow/Bolton, Allen as Theon Greyjoy and Dempsie as Gendry. Harington remains close friends with all three.
•Harington is contractually obligated to keep his hair long enough in the off-season that he can return to playing Jon Snow during actual filming - it would take longer than a full year for his hair to grow back to its full-length need for the role. To achieve Jon Snow's signature long dark hair, the TV series's hair designer Kevin Alexander first has to dye Harington's hair slightly darker; Then, to create the effect of dirty ringlets, he dampens the hair and then puts in a mixture of wax and hair putty before the hair totally dries. This combination keeps the curls soft and movable - if they were put on dry hair it would make it stiff.
•Despite initial claims from Harington, Benioff, and Weiss that Jon had been killed off for good following the fifth season, Harington later hinted that Jon would return in some way, which was proven true in the sixth season. Harington confirmed that he had been told to lie to the rest of the cast and even his friends and family. Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, apparently believed him, while Liam Cunningham, who plays Davos Seaworth, did not (reportedly laughingly telling Harington to "fuck off"). Even the rest of the cast were forced to assert that Jon was dead, such as Maisie Williams, Emilia Clarke and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, while Natalie Dormer said that Jon was "dead right now.....right now", hinting that he would return. Throughout production, the name "Jon Snow" was not even allowed to be mentioned except for script-readouts; he was referred to only as "LC" (Lord Commander). Rampant speculation broke out after the leaking of a photograph which showed Harington as Jon wearing the outfit of a House Stark soldier, fueling fans' beliefs that Jon was not gone for good. The first poster released for the sixth season featured a bloodied-but-apparently-alive Jon, further teasing that Jon would return. After the airing of "Home", Harington issued a public apology to the series' fanbase for lying to everyone and expressed appreciation for the fans' love for his character.
•While shooting Jon's showdown with Ramsay in "Battle of the Bastards", Harington actually punched Iwan Rheon twice by accident, though Rheon was not seriously hurt. In real life, despite having only appeared onscreen together in one episode of the entire series, Harington and Rheon are close friends.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Jon is 14 years old when the story begins. Jon resembles his father with a lean build, long face, and gray eyes, more than any of his true-born children (except Arya, to an extent, but she is a girl, while he looks very much like a young version of Eddard). Jon loves his half-siblings and among them, is closest with Robb and Arya.
Unlike in the television series, Jon has never been on good terms with Theon. Jon feels Theon is an "ass" and Theon feels Jon is jealous of his highborn status. Meanwhile, Theon resents Jon for being bastard-born but treated better than him by Eddard.
Eddard refuses to reveal who Jon's mother is, which wounds and haunts Jon. Jon often wonders about his mother and why Eddard will not say anything about her. While Jon loves and is loved by his family, he feels a sense of alienation from them because of his bastard status and the coldness of Eddard's wife. Catelyn views Jon as an interloper in her family and resents that Eddard brought Jon to live at Winterfell with her true-born children.
At the feast to welcome King Robert, Jon is unable to sit with his family as he usually does because Catelyn fears that the king or queen would take insult at sharing a table with a bastard. Instead, Jon sits with squires at another table. This coincides with the visit by his uncle Benjen, and (emboldened by having more than he is used to drinking) makes Jon realize that his future may lie outside Winterfell's walls. His uncle frustrates Jon by telling him to wait a few years before deciding, but when Eddard decides to go to King's Landing, Catelyn refuses to allow Jon to remain behind at Winterfell. Catelyn was relieved because when Jon joined the Watch he forsook any right to inheritance, and could never challenge her own sons for Winterfell. Nor did Catelyn have to pressure Jon into joining: he went to the Wall of his own volition, albeit because he had been raised on legends of the former glories of the Night's Watch.
There is no mention in the books that Jon caught the pox as a child and Catelyn, out of guilt, prayed for him to survive: in A Game of Thrones, Catelyn states outright that she wishes it was Jon who had fallen from the broken tower in Bran's place.
Jon is crestfallen to discover that the Watch is now a glorified penal colony, full of murderers, rapers, and other outcasts, and few of the recruits are like his uncle.
Jon Snow, born Aegon Targaryen, is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, and the bastard son of Ned Stark. He is a central figure in the series, rising from a Night's Watch recruit to a king, a dragonrider, and a hero in the fight against the White Walkers.
Jon Snow is an English journalist and TV presenter who retired from Channel 4 News in 2021. He has reported on various conflicts, disasters and political events around the world, and is known for his colourful ties and socks.
Jon Snow is the bastard son of Eddard Stark and a member of the Night's Watch. Learn about his appearance, character, history, parentage, and role in the books and TV series.
He is best known for his role as Jon Snow in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination and two nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards and Critics' Choice Television Awards.
Apr 21, 2021 · Relive Jon Snow’s epic journey, from bastard from the North to the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and beyond. #GameofThrones is now streaming on @HBOMax. The shield that guards the...
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May 22, 2019 · Jon Snow (Kit Harington) cheated death once. The 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch sustained a knife to the heart in Game of Thrones ‘ fifth-season finale, only to return two episodes...
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