A Dance with Dragons question

He (almost) can't be dead, not like that - too much invested in him, and not enough around him to take over his storyline. [eg, if Bran were at the wall, I could believe that he would take over Jon's story, but as it is it would all be wasted].

If Jon actually dies, I'll be incredibly impressed. Even more so if he manages to NOT make it feel like Jon's entire story was a red herring.

I think there's about a 5% chance that Jon is dead-dead, a 20% chance that Jon is alive-alive, and a 75% chance that Jon is dead-but-not-dead - i.e. that he's now living inside Ghost, which was kind of foreshadowed with the whole Varamyr detour at the beginning of the book. If that's true, that leaves three options open: that he stays a wolf until he dies (40%?), that he takes his own body back later (preserved in ice and healed in secret elsewhere, most likely by Mel, possibly via temporary zombification) (40%), or that he takes over somebody else's body at some point (20%). If he takes over somebody else's body, it will presumably be either the body of a villain (50%), the body of a hero who for some reason can't succeed on his/her own (35%) - less likely, he may take over the body of a random suicidal person (10%) or an innocent victim because he's turned evil (5%).

Jon Snow can’t be dead dead. He has to come back alive like his half brother Bran. The red witch would play a part in getting him back. I have a feeling that Jon’s story line will merge with Daneary’s since I suspect that Jon is actually the son of Prince Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark. George Martin foreshadowed Jon’s birth secret in the first three books. Lyanna seemed to die at childbirth when Ned Stark reached her.

The dragons must have three heads. We have two heads now: Daneary and Prince Aegon. Jon can be the third one.

I don't think that Jon living or dying will be relevant to the overarching plotlines. I think Melisandre's presence on the Wall is more important - she's the only fighting chance the Wall has against the Others.

Melis will perform the kiss of life to bring him back, like Thoros does to bring back Beric

I think that Jon Actually is Azor Ahai, as Daniel suggested because of the fact that Melisandre keeps seeing him in her fires. And because his wounds smoke while Bowen Marsh cries, providing the prophecised salt, and Ser Patrek's bloody, star laden heraldry is in the air above. Or might be that I am completely wrong. But I think I have read that theory someplace and seemed plausible.

It was like the chapter in ASofS that ends with the Hound wielding the axe at Aria's head, only he misses and we don't find out until later.

I don't think he's dead.

I think that he was killed (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) but is not dead-dead- instead, he became one of the others and will take his revenge on those who betrayed him. Either that, or he is now alive just in Ghost. I think that no matter what, Melisandre will try to resurrect him, as they seemed to have some kind of connection.

I'm going to guess Jon'll live on in his wolf. He's a warg, remember? And Melisandre told him to keep Ghost close by and she kept telling him he needed to embrace his ability, not run from it. Wargs live on in their animals after their human form dies off. I'd guess that his mind/spirit/whatever will go into Ghost, his body will somehow be healed (or he'll skin-change into another body), and he'll be revealed as Azor Ahai after that.

any and all options seem possible to me, save for him being outright dead which I don't think he is there just seems to be way too much story invested in him. I would add though that I don't want him to come back uncat style so hopefully some other way will be used.

Agree w/Sue's analysis, but personally, I have a hard time believing Jon's really dead. (And I can't believe I didn't think of the Warg possibility ...) I keep hoping that Wun Wun will carry him off somewhere cold to recover.

Of course he's not dead. Martin has yet to kill of a favorite main character, right? Unless Ned was anyone's favorite. I agree with other comments that there is too much invested in Jon at this point in the narrative.

I doubt he's dead. There's so much invested at him, and that death was so anticlimactic. If that was his exit from the series, I'd consider it poor story telling.

As was mentioned previously - there's a late trend to bring characters back from the brink of a series-exit. This just seems like another (and I sincerely hope that's the case). Who knows, maybe he's the 'Ice' in 'Song of Ice and Fire' (or that's the white-walker force and I'm laying too much importance on Jon).

I honestly love Jon to death (hur hur hur), but the real crux of why I adored him was his unending faith in his vows and his decision to be a man of the Night's Watch. His death isn't going to absolve him of that for me (the only thing that would is the wall itself coming down), so if he is Azor Azai (which I hope is Dany, tbh, dragons, man, dragons), and this was just a plot device to get him out of the Nights Watch... I'm kind of going to be bummed and not as involved in his storyline.

We'll see. I've been surprised plenty of times in this series before. Jon's death wasn't one of them... because these kids still haven't figured out how to LISTEN TO THEIR DIREWOLVES.

It will break my heart if Jon Snow is dead. I don't think he is because that just kills that portion of the story line. He can't be dead, it would not serve a good purpose. I think it is a way to bring Jon and Bran back together.

I honestly don't think that Jon Snow is dead. Rather, I believe that Daenerys and Jon will be the two at the end that ascend the iron throne. I also think that Jon is a Targaryen (which is the secret that his father would never tell).

Nah, there's no way he's dead. I didn't even flinch when they stabbed him. Jon needs to meet Danaerys and control one of her dragons. I bet Melisandre will have seen this coming (she said she always looks for bodily harm in herself first; with how attached she grew to Jon, I bet he comes second). But Jon needed to get out of the Night's Watch. Toward the end of the book, he wasn't even acting like a Lord Commander any more. He was not acting in the Wall's best interests. So he got impeached.

I would have said definitely alive...but..for a long time, I was of the mind that Jon was Rheagar and Lyanna's son and he was to help Dany rule with her dragons(Her marrying her half-uncle is less weird than her brother, right?). But then, I remembered that Jon BURNED his hand in the 2nd (?) book. Daenerys can't be burnt. Quentyn could, and he is definitely dead, and definitely couldn't handle dragons. So what does THAT mean??!?

Here's a wild theory, they think he is dead and freeze his corpse, but he is alive in Ghost and we have Ghost's POV until at some point somebody realises and thaws him out. Jon Snow can't just take off and rip out Ramsay Bolton's throat, but Ghost can. Just saying..

My theory is that Melisandre will save him in some way and then he will be tied to her which is what she wanted all along. Jon turns from good guy to bad guy against his will or something along those lines.

What I love about this book series is that he COULD be dead, there are no guarantees even for a major character. But I hold out hope, because with Ned, it was without question, whereas here, there is room for doubt. And magic. So he could be dead but still a player, as we have already seen.

It would break my heart if he died...

It would pretty much break my heart if he was dead too. I tend to agree with Wastrel that he's probably not, just because without Jon up at the Wall it would be difficult to continue that storyline in a fully satisfying way. There is also the chance that I'm in denial!

There's also the tendency in GRRM books for characters who 'die' in their own POV to not actually be dead. If someone else watches you die, you're probably done for, but if a character dies in their own viewpoint they almost always pop back up in some capacity.

I just got to that part and I actually felt tears. He's like my favorite character, and I thought that I could handle everyone else dying if only Jon got to live.

And then he got Ceaser'd.

I want to not think he's dead, and there are plenty of reasons why he could survive, as Wastrel says. The biggest one for me is that Melesandre is up there, and she's got who knows how many tricks up her crimson sleeves.

So I'm hoping he'll pull through, but considering how many times I've thought that in this series... I just don't know anymore.

I think it would be interesting if Jon's consciousness lived on in Ghost, Jon's body became one of those living-dead wraiths, and Jon was then able to re-inhabit his undead body. He could act as a sort of double-agent as he did when with the Wildlings. Of course, GRRM so far has never taken plot twists in the directions I've thought of, so I don't really expect this one will work out that way.

Melisandre will make him a zombie. I kind of hate that..

and I admit I was pretty upset. I did not have this after the Red Wedding chapter. All the Freys can live; I don't mind... but something about Jon trying so hard and still they shank him? (sigh) (sigh again)

Maybe he becomes the king of the Others, and he reaches a settlement with everyone -- except of course his undead stepmom or whatever she is. Face it, there's no way he's dead in the same sense that his father is dead. And at this point, I wouldn't put it past GRRM to bring him back either. But Jon getting stabbed is no different than Brienne getting hanged, except there I was rooting for it to take.

I was completely taken aback by what happened to Jon. But... I'm not decided either way as to his fate - I'm just going to wait until the next book (when? when? hurry!!!). Too many stories are dependent on Jon (plus my own theory of him and Dany uniting for the Iron Throne), so I hope he's not dead.

I read and interview with GRRM and when asked about Jon being dead the answered "Oh you think he's dead, do you".

He better not be dead, or his next book will wind up in the freezer. Frozen in time, never to be seen again.

I was more shattered by this than The Red Wedding because l love Jon way more than l ever loved Robb. It was a complete surprise and a magnificent twist, but l'm afraid of what comes after. I don't want him to become like Caitlin or be a puppet of Melisandre, but l also don't want him to inhabit Ghost permanently. That would destroy Ghost essentially, and he's been a great dog and we all love him, but l think its the most likely scenario. I hope he recovers from his wounds on his own (but he won't) and that he saves the Wall (but he won't). Kudos to Martin for being this ruthless with his characters and never pulling punches.

I seriously doubt he is dead (part of that could be wishful thinking but we will see). Seems like GRRM has been pulling a lot of characters back from the brink when it seemed like they died in their own POV chapters (Theon and Asha definitely, Brianne possibly).

Jon is out of the Lord commander spot now, though, opening it up for the 999th lord commander, which seems like an ominous portent of doom for the wall. I'm betting that the wall will fall sometime soon and that GRRM didn't want Jon at the helm of the Night's Watch when that happened.

I don't think he's dead. I think this was the only way he could leave
The Night's watch.

Jon Snow is dead..

John is better off dead. There hasn't been a decent battle at the Wall since he became Lord Commander and I am yearning for some carnage. With John dead the Wildings and Night's Watch will be at each others throats. There would be nothing to stop the Others from tearing down the Wall and eating the flesh from Ramsey Bolton at Winterfell. For those of you who can't stomach that he might be dead...you know nothing John Snow.

I'll add another character who is supposedly dead in his own POV and then resurfaces, Tyrion Lannister. As to Jon being dead Melisandre keeps seeing him in her fires whenever she asks after Azor Ahai; he could also be rescued by Tormund Giantsbane, as their continued life and comfort in the Wall depends largely on Jon being Lord Commander. So I do not think he's dead, he might be badly wounded and left out to die out in the cold and with the aid of Ghost he recovers, and so many other possibilities that we have seen GRRM use to save the characters he needs for the story to move along, without needing to resort to an "undead" approach for Jon.