‘Game of Thrones’: Jon Snow’s Final Fate Revealed in Series Finale

Game of Thrones came to an end for good on Sunday, finally revealing the fate of Jon Snow once and for all.

Warning! Spoilers for the Game of Thrones series finale lie ahead!

Fans paid their final visit to Westeros on Sunday, at least for a while, and they said goodbye to the character they have known and loved for years. That included Jon Snow, the closest thing to a typical fantasy hero within Game of Thrones. We have seen him go through just about everything in the last eight years, and on Sunday he said goodbye to the Seven Kingdoms for good.

As expected, Jon Snow was horrified by the events of last week’s episode and the carnage in King’s Landing. Even so, it took some convincing for him to believe that Daenerys might go so far as to harm him or his family to ensure her claim to the throne was supreme. Once he accepted that, Jon killed his queen for the good of the realm.

Jon then spent some time in prison with Tyrion, with weeks apparently passing on the show. At last, the power dynamic above shifted, putting Tyrion back at the hand of the new king, Bran Stark. They decided that Jon’s “punishment” for murder would be life at the Wall in the Night’s Watch.

The last fans saw of Jon was a triumphant return to the wild north. The bastard-turned-king was reunited with his direwolf, Ghost, as well as Tormund Giantsbane and the Free Folk he had come to love. It seems that Jon intends to unite the Free Folk with the Night’s Watch, ensuring that the realm is protected against northern threats without forcing the wildlings to be at war with the Seven Kingdoms.

At the very least, Jon’s reunion with Ghost comes as a welcome surprise to many fans. Their unceremonious separation in Episode 4 had many fans outraged, furious that Jon did not even stop to pet his faithful canine companion before going their separate ways.

Still, there are undoubtedly those with mixed feelings about Jon Snow’s big conclusion. The once-king has always been a man of his word, no matter the cost. He refused to break his Night’s Watch vows in all his time with the Free Folk back in the earlier seasons, and he could not even lie to Cersei about his feilty to Daenerys in Season 7. For him to promise to guard the Wall and then run off with Tormund and his friends could be seen as a bit out of character.

Doubtless, Jon Snow’s ending will be a bit more fleshed out in the last two novels. With the series now over, many fans are anxiously waiting to see the ending of the story played out in more detail when George R.R. Martin publishes The Winds of Winter and then A Dream of Spring. The next book is expected soon, though no release date has been announced.