Fans had a lot to say about the final season of Game of Thrones, not much of it complementary. Due to the rushed pace caused by having a mere six episodes to cap off a vast and sprawling saga, much of the revelations and occurrences were left open to interpretation. One of those moments that went unexplored was exactly what was going through Jon Snow’s mind when he turned on Daenerys after her rage and contempt led to her immolating King’s Landing.
The season 8 home release provided some insight from Kit Harington, the actor playing Jon, in a making-of documentary about the finale titled Duty is the Death of Love, an inversion of “love is the death of duty” that Maester Aemon told to Jon in season 1 to explain why the Night’s Watch have no wives or family. In it, he states that Jon didn’t meet with Daenerys intending to kill her, but that the choice was made for him by the Dragon Queen’s own words.
Even the aftermath of the carnage didn’t factor into his decision, and in the scene he tries to convince her to take a path of mercy and forgiveness instead of ordering her soldiers to slaughter prisoners, but his pleas are ignored. Daenerys states that they will be the ones to decide what is and isn’t good, and when he asks about everyone else she responds: “They don’t get to choose.” In Jon’s mind, this included his sisters, who he values even above the woman he loves.
Since much of the story of the Starks has been defined by tragedy, loss and heartbreak, it’s understandable that Jon had no intention of risking the safety of what little family he had left. In that moment, he perceives the choice as being between his loyalty to Daenerys or the lives of Arya and Sansa, and put in such plain terms there was no contest, so he dealt with the danger the only way he could in what was likely the only moment he would be able to.
His thoughts follow what we know of the character and his experiences throughout the series, but like many of the discussion points of season 8, the subtext is less clear than it would have been in earlier seasons. Rather than finishing Game of Thrones by being fondly remembered for its achievements, details like this are instead leaving people talking about everything that could have been done better.
