Game of Thrones’ final episode left several mysteries unsolved, with Jon Snow’s spinoff allowing for answers to a significant Night’s Watch problem.
Jon Snow’s spinoff offers the opportunity to explain several plot holes from Game of Thrones’ ending, including a major inconsistency with the Night’s Watch. The untitled Jon Snow sequel series is the latest of several spinoffs in development at HBO, including prequels like The Sea Snake, Ten Thousand Ships, The Golden Empire, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. However, Jon Snow’s show is the first Game of Thrones sequel series, with the franchise’s debut spinoff being August 2022’s House of the Dragon prequel.
While very few details have been announced for HBO’s sequel series, it’s confirmed that Kit Harington will be reprising his role as Jon Snow should the spinoff move forward. The show would follow Jon Snow’s journey after Game of Thrones’ divisive 2019 finale, which saw the prominent character exiled to the Night’s Watch after killing Queen Daenerys Targaryen. In the final shot of Game of Thrones’ original series, Jon Snow rode off beyond the Wall with Tormund and a host of Wildlings, with a green plant signifying the arrival of spring.
The sequel series will be an important test of whether Game of Thrones can be redeemed in the eyes of the larger public but can also provide answers to burning questions and mysteries left by the polarizing finale. One such mystery was that of the Night’s Watch, as the group’s fate was left largely pointless after the events of Game of Thrones’ final season. Tyrion Lannister revealed that the Night’s Watch would remain active as an order of the Seven Kingdoms, but there wasn’t truly a purpose for the men once the Night King and White Walkers were destroyed. Guarding the Wall was meant to keep the free folk and White Walkers at bay, but with the former arguably having no interest in returning to the South and the latter being wiped out, the true purpose of the Night’s Watch had already been fulfilled.
Tyrion explains that the Night’s Watch still exists as an order for “bastards and broken men,” but Game of Thrones’ ending never answered exactly what the men would be doing at Castle Black. If there are no White Walkers or Wildlings to fight, there’s no reason to train or protect the Wall. There would be no glory to be sought by bastards like Jon Snow and the lack of a unifying purpose for criminals who are exiled to the Wall. It’s unclear what would keep the men of the Night’s Watch from abandoning their posts with only a few surviving personnel at Castle Black, especially since Jon Snow has seemingly deserted the Night’s Watch to live among the remaining free folk beyond the Wall.
It’s possible that a new threat could arise beyond the Wall and threaten Westeros in Jon Snow’s spinoff, but Bran would presumably be able to sense such an occurrence as the Three-Eyed Raven. Without the motivation of keeping foes from breaching the Wall, the Night’s Watch is largely diminished to a labor prison. Perhaps the Night’s Watch will be given a new purpose across the realm in the sequel series, but unless King Bran Stark foresaw a new threat beyond the Wall, the original necessity of Game of Thrones’ order is obsolete. However, Jon Snow’s spinoff can finally explain the point of maintaining the Night’s Watch beyond a refuge for lost souls. Whether it be a new King Beyond the Wall, conflict with the Children of the Forest, or a novel supernatural foe similar to the White Walkers, Game of Thrones’ sequel series would require a new threat in order to truly justify the Night’s Watch’s continued existence.
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