Connington's POV in ADWD

[HosteenOsteen]

Just reread.....the greyscale dominated my first couple of readings, and the clearly romantic feelings about Rhaegar. here I noticed his obsession with the Stormlands, his reclamation of his family seat first, his sense of Storm's End as an objective even if it meant not cooperating with Stannis which, as others suggest, would be the logical thing to do in order to overthrow the Lannisters----it as as if he cannot get over his defeat by Robert, as would the possibility of marriage with Arianne which he also rejects...you get the sense of a man trapped in the past, not putting the realm above his own personal interests, and whose emotions about Rhaegar are far stronger than any sense of advocacy for (f)Aegon...I did not find the POV particularly sympathetic, less than I recalled....

[C.T. Phipps]

I have a great deal of sympathy for Jon Connington as he's a man trying to make up for the mistakes of the past. He "failed" Rhaegar Targaryen and is trying to support his son's bid for the throne as a way of atoning even if it's blindingly obvious to most outsiders Varys and Illyrio cannot be trusted. Jon is an exiled lord of an ancient pedigree trying to reclaim his lost rights of Griffon's Roost in much the same way Daeny is doing the same, Stannis, and so many other characters.

I also feel horrible for him as he's going to die of Greyscale because he helped Tyrion.

A man who, frankly, neither likes nor respects Jon and from any perspective but the fans of the books--really wasn't worth it.

[A spoon of knife and fork]

I think this is a fair reading. You don't get the sense that he even particularly cares for Aegon as anything but an extension of Jons feelings for Rhaegar. Nothing like ned and his kids, for example (a similarly dour fellow with lots of baggage, but Ned has a loving, warm side that I didn't see with Jon Con).

I wonder if his living in the past is what has blinded him to the truth about Aegon. I predict that at some point he will realize the truth and it will destroy him. Once he can no longer deny the truth, he won't be able to support Aegon any longer. He'll be utterly broken. :(

[C.T. Phipps]

Jon isn't Aegon's father.

Which is sad, really.

As that might have spared Aegon's life if the imposter status came to light.

Jon is living for no one but a ghost.

The scary thing about Jon? Tyrion thinks he's just like Tywin but he's not a monster.

The problem is Jon thinks if he HAD been a monster, he might have saved his friend.

[HosteenOsteen]

Yes, I do feel a lot of sympathy with the way Jon acted during RR, in the narrative present though I feel he is holding on to things.....

[Good Guy Garlan]

That's a good point about Jon not seeing Aegon as his son but rather as an extension of Rhaegar and a means of atonement. You don't really get a whole lot of paternal feelings from Jon, that's for sure.

I also think GRRM is straddling a fine line with Jon. On the one hand, he and the GC are somewhat depicted as underdogs worth rooting for, but you just know the guy is yet another character trying to be Tywin 2.0 (get in line, son, you've got 3 Lannister siblings ahead of you)

[Ser Cold Fingers]

There are a lot of reasons to feel sympathy for JonConn...or at least I do. Those mentioned above...and that I believe he is being deceived by Varys & Illyrio (this assumes that (f)Aegon is not Rhaegar's son but a pretender, either a Blackfyre through a female line or a boy of Valyrian descent). JonConn truly believes that (f)Aegon is Rhaegar's son. I actually hope that JonConn dies before finding out the truth of (f)Aegon's lineage just because the internal conflict that would arise from learning the truth would be unbearable, IMO.

[aryagonnakill#2]

I don't have any sympathy for Jon Con. His own thoughts show that he knows deep down Aegon is fake(on the ship he thinks about the eyes being wrong and then immediately transitions into not trusting and planning on killing Varys.) + he has no reason to bring more war and misery to Westeros, but he is going to do it anyway for selfish reasons.

I don't expect big things from Jon Con, even if he has lacked some of the info we have had, just about everything he has done or thought so far has been wrong.

He thinks Tyrion planned his escape rather than listen to multiple witnesses that Tyrion had no coin to bribe

He was not swaying the GC until Aegon stepped up

He allows himself to believe Aegon is Rhaegars son

He is not willing to let Aegon marry because he wants him to marry Dany, who we the reader know is going to try to burn him not marry him. Admittedly he could not know this but still, it is reflective of a lot of his decisions being incorrect

Last but not least, he does not trust, but follows the orders of Varys and Ilyrio.

[Ser Cold Fingers]

I don't have any sympathy for Jon Con. His own thoughts show that he knows deep down Aegon is fake(on the ship he thinks about the eyes being wrong and then immediately transitions into not trusting and planning on killing Varys.) + he has no reason to bring more war and misery to Westeros, but he is going to do it anyway for selfish reasons.

I don't expect big things from Jon Con, even if he has lacked some of the info we have had, just about everything he has done or thought so far has been wrong.

He thinks Tyrion planned his escape rather than listen to multiple witnesses that Tyrion had no coin to bribe

He was not swaying the GC until Aegon stepped up

He allows himself to believe Aegon is Rhaegars son

He is not willing to let Aegon marry because he wants him to marry Dany, who we the reader know is going to try to burn him not marry him. Admittedly he could not know this but still, it is reflective of a lot of his decisions being incorrect

Last but not least, he does not trust, but follows the orders of Varys and Ilyrio.

I don't consider what JonConn is doing as selfish. He deeply troubled by his past and failure to Rhaegar. I interpret his intentions on trying to what is right by correcting so many wrongs done to Rhaegar & his family. He has devoted many years of his life to (f)Aegon in hopes of placing him on the IT...he believes that is the honorable thing to do.

IMO, Jon is also not wanting to bring War & Misery...he is trying to restore the kingdom.

[Beanis Buttershield]

Rereading the books is entirely necessary, you are meant to focus on the obvious themes so that once you've analyzed the story you will notice another story underneath. I haven't gotten to this part yet in my reread. GRRM does a great job with the greyscale.. completely takes your mind off of the other happenings and you devote lots of energy to sympathizing with him rather than following the underlying theme of ASOIAF--Everyone thinks they are the good guy. Thanks for the heads up!

[thelittledragonthatcould]

Just reread.....the greyscale dominated my first couple of readings, and the clearly romantic feelings about Rhaegar. here I noticed his obsession with the Stormlands, his reclamation of his family seat first, his sense of Storm's End as an objective even if it meant not cooperating with Stannis which, as others suggest, would be the logical thing to do in order to overthrow the Lannisters----it as as if he cannot get over his defeat by Robert, as would the possibility of marriage with Arianne which he also rejects...you get the sense of a man trapped in the past, not putting the realm above his own personal interests, and whose emotions about Rhaegar are far stronger than any sense of advocacy for (f)Aegon...I did not find the POV particularly sympathetic, less than I recalled....

How would that be logical?

He's not here to overthrow the Lannisters but the Baratheons whether that be Stannis or Tommen Baratheon and anyone else who claims the Throne for themselves,

[John Doe]

A man who, frankly, neither likes nor respects Jon and from any perspective but the fans of the books--really wasn't worth it.

Eh, he pretty much saved Aegon.

[DavosBolton]

The fact that Jon Connington harbors no ill will towards his cousins who ruled in Griffin's Roost until his arrival makes me like him. He plans on giving those cousins of him the seat of his house when he passes on.

[John Doe]

Rereading the books is entirely necessary, you are meant to focus on the obvious themes so that once you've analyzed the story you will notice another story underneath. I haven't gotten to this part yet in my reread. GRRM does a great job with the greyscale.. completely takes your mind off of the other happenings and you devote lots of energy to sympathizing with him rather than following the underlying theme of ASOIAF--Everyone thinks they are the good guy. Thanks for the heads up!

Agreed.

[John Doe]

I don't consider what JonConn is doing as selfish. He deeply troubled by his past and failure to Rhaegar. I interpret his intentions on trying to what is right by correcting so many wrongs done to Rhaegar & his family. He has devoted many years of his life to (f)Aegon in hopes of placing him on the IT...he believes that is the honorable thing to do.

IMO, Jon is also not wanting to bring War & Misery...he is trying to restore the kingdom.

If Tywin wanting to strenghten his family's rule is selfish, than this should be considered pretty selfish too.

[John Doe]

I don't expect big things from Jon Con, even if he has lacked some of the info we have had, just about everything he has done or thought so far has been wrong.

He thinks Tyrion planned his escape rather than listen to multiple witnesses that Tyrion had no coin to bribe

He was not swaying the GC until Aegon stepped up

He allows himself to believe Aegon is Rhaegars son

He is not willing to let Aegon marry because he wants him to marry Dany, who we the reader know is going to try to burn him not marry him. Admittedly he could not know this but still, it is reflective of a lot of his decisions being incorrect

Last but not least, he does not trust, but follows the orders of Varys and Ilyrio.

Well, he follows Rhaegar in that.

[JonCon's Red Beard]

1. He's the most romantic character of the whole bunch.

2. Aegon is Jon's plot device, sadly. He will head North to Jon. (the OtherJon).

Feelings or not, he's as much Aegon's father as Ned is Jon's. He raised him for the last 12 years.

[sj4iy]

Honestly, I think he's really pitiful, but I'm not exactly sorry for him. I think he has blinded himself into believe Aegon is real, even though deep down he probably doesn't. I don't really envision any kind of 'good ending' for him, as I think he will die long before the greyscale can kill him. I would be interested to see his reaction to R+L=J, but I don't think we'll ever get it, unfortunately.

[The Dragons Hand]

Connington recently gained more interest with me just because of how well he knows the most nebulous character in the series: Rhaegar.

He remarks upon how "Even Rhaegar saw Aerys's madness in the end" which leads me to believe Rhaegar had a habit of making himself willingly ignorant to things that were unpleasant.

[The Dragons Hand]

I did get the feeling that JonCon feels for Aegon the Unexpected *Best name, 2014*, when Aegon mentions how "Yollo" told him to trust no one JonCon briefly coaches him through it to a logical level of mistrust.

1. He's the most romantic character of the whole bunch.

2. Aegon is Jon's plot device, sadly. He will head North to Jon. (the OtherJon).


Feelings or not, he's as much Aegon's father as Ned is Jon's. He raised him for the last 12 years.

Interesting prospect, I've considered the idea of Jon Snow being named after JonCon, but not their meeting.