The new Game of Thrones trailer gave us a lot to obsess over, and obsess we have. We’ve been poring over the footage since yesterday like the secrets of the universe are contained within. And though we haven’t found the answers to those questions yet, we think we may have found something far more important: it might show Jon Snow completely surrounded in a White Walker fighting pit.If so, it could be the most important moment on the show yet–one that could either prove catastrophic, or be its greatest harbinger of hope.Starting at around the 1:41 mark of the trailer, we see Jon strike down someone in wildling clothing. He then resets and faces the surrounding force, who are also dressed like wildlings (though when he leaves the Wall he and his men are dressed like that too). Pay close attention to those people in the background and how they move.
The Death of Jon Snow and His Recruitment by the Night King
The Night King was stunned when he saw Jon defeat a fellow White Walker at Hardhome, but then he let Jon escape anyway, even though Jon still seemed to be easily within his grasp. Might he have done that because he saw a potential and powerful ally in Jon? If so, this could be the moment he makes Jon join his side.The new King in the North seems to be entirely by himself here (did his men die and are now those very wights, or did he get separated from them?), and this part of the trailer ominously features Sansa’s voice-over where she says, “When the snows fall, and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies. But the pack survives.” The White Wolf does not have a pack here, which is exactly why he could have one soon–a blue-eyed pack made up of his fellow dead. The Night King could have a new soldier to fight for him.
The End of the Prince That Was Promised and Mankind’s Demise
If Jon is killed and joins the Night King it could be far worse than just mankind losing a brave leader. It could mean the Prince That Was Promised has fallen. And if that’s the case, the living might be doomed no matter who tries to fill his shoes.Jon is as likely as anyone to be the hero the prophecy foretold of, the one about the person who will lead the living to victory in the Great War against the dead. Jon, being the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, is the son of ice and fire, and has already cheated death once. There’s a lot of evidence his is the famed Prince, Azor Ahai reborn. But if the prophecy was talking about him and he dies, that would mean there is no hope for mankind. (Or that the prophecy had been misread, which happens all the time with prophecies.)It’s a dire situation, where the stakes are potentially as big as they have ever been in Westeros.Yet, that doesn’t mean this is all bad, because this moment of despair might yet prove hopeful.
Jon Snow Can’t Be Recruited by the Night King
Before this shot in the trailer we see a man slumped over on his horse riding through the snow, and it looks like Jon. There’s no guarantee it’s him, and even if it is, we don’t know whether it comes before or after the White Walker ring of death. If that is Jon and it takes place afterward, then Jon managed to escape somehow (though possibly injured, maybe even fatally). The other is that Jon is dead before he gets to the White Walker fighting pit anyway.Stay with us.
If Jon is dead before that scene, but he is then fighting wights, that means he couldn’t be recruited by the Night King. It also means a whole lot of other weird possibilities are in play, and Jon is way more powerful than we even thought. At the very least it means he still fights for the living (like his dead-ish Uncle Benjen). That’s a good thing. Not ideal, but better than the alternative.
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Jon Snow Escapes and Proves the Prince That Was Promised Is Real
While a White Walker fighting pit would seem to be as bad a situation as anyone could find themselves in, what would it say about someone that could fight through it and escape? It would take a very special person, someone of legendary and heroic status.If Jon Snow can do that it might definitively prove that the prophecy was right, and he is the Prince That Was Promised. Jon could turn the most devastating of situations into the most hopeful moment yet for the living.That would be true even if he escapes because someone else saved him, say a queen riding a dragon who swoops in to rescue him, or maybe a powerful warg controlling a dragon. No matter the exact circumstances, an escape from such a predicament would point towards mankind having a great hero to protect them.So if we’re right and Jon Snow is in the middle of a White Walker fighting pit alone, facing insurmountable odds, it could still prove a triumphant moment for the living.Or Jon dies there and fights alongside the Night King to destroy all of humanity.No pressure!We’ll find out soon enough, but in the meantime we’re going to keep obsessing–and worrying–about this trailer.What do you think? Is Jon doomed in that moment? Or is something else going on here? Let us know in the comments below.
Images: HBO
