Entertainment

Your Faves Know Nothing About Jon Snow On 'GoT'

by Kayla Hawkins
Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Game of Thrones Season 7 is delivering on the big, anticipated moments fans have been waiting years to see, like bringing Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen together for the very first time. Their first meeting was a little bit awkward, as Dany tried talking politics through advisor Tyrion and Jon tried to convey the seriousness of the White Walker threat, but there was one particularly strange moment, when Jon warned Davos off of telling Dany that he was stabbed in the heart. Which characters know that Jon Snow died on Game of Thrones? Jon was killed at the end of Season 5, leading into one of the series' biggest cliffhangers ever. But it seems that at least for now, that information is a secret that most of the characters don't know.

That information gap might open up one of Game of Thrones' biggest plot holes to date. Aside from being one of the series' protagonists and a seemingly good guy, Jon Snow isn't the most natural leader in the world. He looks good in a black cloak and man bun, but a lot of Jon's time at the Night's Watch was filled with dysfunction. He killed his superior in order to infiltrate the wildlings, fell in love even though he's not supposed to have any relationships, and later was murdered in a rebellion of his own men. Then, after being resurrected, he abandoned the Night's Watch in order to pursue a familial vendetta and installed himself as the Lord of Winterfell and the King in the North. Without knowing that Jon died, and that therefore "his Watch has ended," many characters are missing a major part of Jon's story — and one of his biggest justifications for leaving the Wall. So who knows, and who doesn't? Here's how things stand three episodes into Season 7.

The Audience

Yes, the show demonstrated without any ambiguity that Jon Snow died, was a corpse for several days, and then resurrected by Melisandre. His watch ended, he served his time on the Night's Watch, and now, he's free to be a normal person again.

Dany & Tyrion

Macall B. Polay/Courtesy of HBO

Just as clearly, Dany and Tyrion both were so puzzled by Davos' reference to Jon being "stabbed in the heart" that they must not know what Mel did to bring him back. It strains credulity that these two are even entertaining the idea that Jon's claim to the North is legitimate (doesn't Tyrion, who was once married to Sansa, an actual trueborn Stark, have just as good of a claim?). But perhaps this is meant to show a few key things about Dany and her group: They're still new to politics, they know very little about what's happened in Westeros recently, and they need all the allies they can get, even seemingly illegitimate ones.

Sansa

No, it doesn't seem that Sansa is aware that Jon literally died and then came back to life either. Jon never mentioned it explicitly, and she arrived after he was already alive for the second time. But it seems that Sansa does know that Jon went through, at the very least, a metaphorical death and rebirth, as the two discussed how much they've changed when they reunited. And, the Wildlings referenced Jon's death in front of Sansa, but again, she may think that was a metaphorical death.

Melisandre & Davos

These two were in the room with Jon's body when he awoke, and Mel is the one who brought him back. Davos even accidentally referenced the resurrection. They know, and they're both aware of the power of magic in this universe.

Littlefinger

Helen Sloan/Courtesy of HBO

Once, Littlefinger was the canniest man in the realm, carefully putting the pieces in place that led to Ned Stark's death, the Lannister-Stark war, and installing himself as the representative of the Vale, one of the seven kingdoms. But he's been spending so much time giving Sansa inspirational speeches, that he's been doing very little research into why Jon has returned from the Wall — but Littlefinger has been trying to fight Jon since the season began, so if he finds out, this could be a problem.

Bran

Helen Sloan/Courtesy of HBO

With his newfound Three Eyed Raven powers, Bran just downloaded all of the world's memories, so it's safe to assume that he knows. In fact, it probably would have been easier for him to tell Sansa this than give her flashbacks to one of the worst nights of her life.

Varys

Helen Sloan/Courtesy of HBO

For some reason, Melisandre kept her knowledge secret from Varys, but the spymaster is certainly the person who's most likely to figure things out on his own. Mel told him that he would die in Westeros, but until then, Varys should gather his remaining spies and start looking into the King in the North's mysterious rise.

Cersei

The reigning queen has a lot of things to worry about beyond Jon's mortality. So not only does Cersei have no idea about Jon's past, she's basically failed to register that the North has gone from the Lannister-sympathetic Boltons to the independent Starks, ruled by (what she thinks) is a deserter from the Night's Watch. But the supernatural rarely intercedes in King's Landing, so Jon's rebirth probably won't impact Queen Cersei.

Even though Jon Snow's death and resurrection was a huge moment for the Game of Thrones audience, most of the relevant people in Westeros don't actually know that the King in the North left the Wall because he died and came back to life with the aid of Melisandre's magic. Only time will tell how this secret affects the game.