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Jon's Exile


Eddiey

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At the beginning of A Game of Thrones Eddard disinherits Jon Snow and exiles him for the rest of his life to the most distant and frigid outpost of Westeros. Having raised his son to be a member of the aristocracy and trained him to be a northern “knight,” it is hard to understand why a father who apparently loves Jon would strip him of his rank and send him to live with a brotherhood who will deny him sex, freedom, and wealth. I think the answer lies in separating the pretexts for Jon’s exile, and the real motivations.



A teenager’s drunken proclamation that he will take the black is no reason to do anything, much less justify a decision that will dominate the rest of his life, but this is exactly what Eddard does. Why does Eddard cling to such a flimsy pretext? I think the answer lies with Eddard’s relationship with Catelyn, with whom he is so ashamed of his infidelity that Eddard is entirely unable to oppose in matters regarding his bastard son.


When the maester cold heartedly suggests that Jon take the black Catelyn thinks that the suggestion is “perfect,” at least from the perspective of a hateful woman who condemns a teenager for the crime of not being her son. When Catelyn proclaims that she won’t let Jon stay at Winterfell when Eddard goes south, Eddard, as the authority figure, doesn’t simply command her to tolerate Jon and instead, pathetically, tries to plead with her to show compassion. Regardless Eddard barely puts up a fight and quickly agrees to disown Jon, ridiculously claiming exile on the Wall is better than taking Jon south to court because the other boys will not accept him.



Jon’s meteoric rise to power on the Wall obscures what a catastrophe taking the black was for him. Jon went from being surrounded by friends and family, living in luxury, and expecting a future as something like a lord and knight, to being a foot soldier in the frozen north, fighting wildling raiders.


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I'm not kidding at all. Just because lots of great things happen to Jon on the Wall doesn't mean he or Eddard had any reason to expect them to when Jon was sent there. Jon's reasonable future on the wall was to spend his days as a foot soldier fighting wildlings until he one day was killed. Jon went from being raised as an aristocrat, living in a castle, to being a grunt in the most frozen distant outpost of Westerosi culture. Jon was disowned and exiled pure and simple.


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I'm not kidding at all. Just because lots of great things happen to Jon on the Wall doesn't mean he or Eddard had any reason to expect them to when Jon was sent there. Jon's reasonable future on the wall was to spend his days as a foot soldier fighting wildlings until he one day was killed. Jon went from being raised as an aristocrat, living in a castle, to being a grunt in the most frozen distant outpost of Westerosi culture. Jon was disowned and exiled pure and simple.

Ok then. Please point me where in the text it is mentioned that Jon was disowned and exiled.

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Eddiey, Starks have been going to the wall for thousands of years, Neds own brother was on the wall, and all of them were made officers. Jon was always going to be an officer, and as soon as Benjen went missing he was next in line for LC. Jon is also not even Neds son, and the obvious problems associated with a Targ running around made Jon taking the black and attractive offer.


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The text never comes out and say Jon is disowned but its plain to see when you look at the events. Jon went from his life in Winterfel, a life that 99% of the population would envy, to his life on the Wall, one reserved mostly for criminals with no other option. What would make a father do this to his son?


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The text never comes out and say Jon is disowned but its plain to see when you look at the events. Jon went from his life in Winterfel, a life that 99% of the population would envy, to his life on the Wall, one reserved mostly for criminals with no other option. What would make a father do this to his son?

You are right; Ned never disowned or send Jon to exile. It is a fanfiction and they are not allowed around here.

A troll in sheeps clothing

Most definitely.

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How da fuck was Jon disowned, when as a "Bastard" he technically isn't entitled to anything!?!? Ned knew this. For crying out loud, it was his freaking plan...so that Jon can remain safe since birth. Also, it was Jon's choice to go to the Wall.

Is this a "Ned is an asshole" thread?

I wouldn't say that this was his plan, but keeping Jon safe was his goal.

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