Jon Snow has made some truly dumb decisions in the course of this show, but not all of them have been that bad in retrospect. He’s had to go through a lot since season one and losing his home and his family was only the beginning. In truth you can’t blame him all the time since circumstances are often what bring him to the point that he seemingly has no choice but to make bad decisions in order to eventually make the right ones. Sometimes you have to step through the fire to get to the other side, but Jon seems to sit and pause in the metaphorical flames at times, as though unsure whether or not he made the right move. His decision-making isn’t always the best, but it’s gotten him to where he is now.
Here’s a few of the mistakes that Jon Snow made.
5. Mercy-killing Mance Rayder.
After the vicious war that went on between the wildlings and the Night’s Watch it was surely considered a measure of payback to be able to burn their king, Mance Rayder, at the stake. It was an insult to the wildlings that wasn’t really in keeping with tradition but it was something that was justified by all the pain that the wildlings had heaped upon them. Killing him mercifully didn’t win Jon any friends.
4. Refusing Stannis’s offer to be Jon Stark.
This could have gotten him out of the Night’s Watch and back to Winterfell in order to finally have some stability in his life and a place to call his own. But no, Jon’s honor wouldn’t allow that. As great as honor is it is necessary to temper it now and again. In Jon’s defense though bending the knee to Stannis Baratheon would have eventually been an even greater burden.
3. Becoming Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.
He might as well have painted a target on his back. By the time he came to the Wall he was already neck deep in enemies aside from a few men he could call allies. One of the more influential people in the keep didn’t like him at all, and the only reason he was relatively safe was because the lord commander at the time saw potential in him. But assuming the mantle of lord commander was a huge mistake.
2. Falling in love with a wildling woman.
Unless he was planning on renouncing his vows entirely this was one of the dumbest moves he could ever make. Of course love is powerful and makes you do stupid things, but this woman was an enemy that would have killed him regardless of her heart. The mere fact that she tried to should have been a huge warning sign that she just wasn’t the right one.
1. Leaving Ser Alliser Thorne at Castle Black.
Keeping your enemies close isn’t always the best idea, and it’s usually more metaphorical than anything. Keeping the man that would love to see you dead in the same vicinity is NOT A GOOD IDEA. In fact it’s one of the worst ideas that any leader with so many enemies could ever have, and obviously it didn’t pan out well for Jon since the Watch turned him into a pincushion not long after.
Sigh. Do we really need to say it? You know nothing Jon Snow.
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