If Jon Snow comes back, can he have children?

[Lord Varys]

Beric and Mel (whom might have been revived, too, although I doubt it) do eat on occasion but no longer need/crave it. All Mel needs to sustain herself is apparently some water. And I very much doubt Catelyn needs anything.

Thus I'd not hold my breath that Jon Snow returns to life with everything as it used to be.

On another level one should keep in mind that a dagger was buried in his stomach. I'm not anatomist (and neither is George) but I do know that a lot of sensible nerves keeping the whole erection thing going happen to be in that region and could certainly have been severed. I'm not holding my breath for that kind of realism, of course, but we should also keep in mind that we have no reason to believe Jon got only the number stab wounds he consciously witnessed. They may have continued for quite some time after he had lost consciousness.

[Lost Umber]

I'm sure he can have children.  They are an essential part of a well balanced zombie diet.

[bemused]

I'm with Julia...

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister’s son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly’s boy as well.Sam would never need to tell his lie. We’d find a place for Gilly too, and Sam could come visit her once a year or so. Mance’s son and Craster’s would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb.
He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything.

He has already stolen Val by some interpretations... So he's off to a good start.

I know the OP asks "IF Jon comes back..", but I don't think he's dead, and my bet is - all his appendages will be in good working order.

Having scrutinized the assassination scene with my Myrish lens,  I'm convinced that none of his wounds are as serious as it would appear on first reading, and that there are really only two that connected anyway (Wick's and Bowen's).

Some will disagree, but I think George intentionally left the clues and I'm sticking with them until TWoW.

[Lord Varys]

@bemused

Unless we are in for some clumsy Rowling-like Epilogue the story is not going to cover any pregnancies of any main characters. From ACoK to the end of ADwD no year has passed, and somehow I doubt more time will pass will pass in the remaining books, regardless how many that will be.

In that sense the whole thing is a completely academic question.

And Jon's wounds must certainly be very severe or else he wouldn't have collapsed and lost consciousness as quickly as he did. He is a trained and experienced warrior, after all. He should not faint at the sight of his own blood. Either the neck wound or the one between the shoulder blade must have been very severe, damaging either the carotid or the jugular vein.

And the one in the stomach certainly would be lethal, too, at least if we assume that Westerosi medicine isn't better than medieval/ancient medicine which could not tie up injured intestines. You were in for a slow and painful death just as you are today if you are shot in the gut and the wound remains untreated.

Magic certainly can heal severe injuries in Westeros but it comes at a disfiguring price. Just remember how Drogo's breast looked after he was magically healed (not to mention how well his brain worked) and how Victarion's arm is working how that a rather simple festered wound/sepsis was healed by fire magic.

If Melisandre would work such magics on Jon Snow using his member would be the least of his concerns...

[bemused]

@Lord Varys... Well we don't know how much time will pass , could easily be as much as 2yrs (George can set whatever pace he wants)

... and who said we'd have to see the little nippers ? A pregnancy (the promise of a child) would actually be enough to verify the foreshadowing.

1 hour ago, Lord Varys said:

And Jon's wounds must certainly be very severe or else he wouldn't have collapsed and lost consciousness as quickly as he did. He is a trained and experienced warrior, after all. He should not faint at the sight of his own blood. Either the neck wound or the one between the shoulder blade must have been very severe, damaging either the carotid or the jugular vein.

And the one in the stomach certainly would be lethal, too, at least if we assume that Westerosi medicine isn't better than medieval/ancient medicine which could not tie up injured intestines. You were in for a slow and painful death just as you are today if you are shot in the gut and the wound remains untreated.

I don't agree that this is what's happening, and I've debated these points many times. .. I'm sorry, but, honestly, my hunting-and-pecking fingers are too painful, atm, to type a lengthy response.

I think George set the whole "ides of Marsh" scene precisely so that we would jump to exactly these conclusions ,at first. Yes, they're reasonable and rational. But I believe there is a whole elegantly contrived subtext, supported by clues, parallels, etc. (made in other chapters and even in earlier books), that tell a different story. 

So here's a link to my opinion, which you may or may not want to read, including my breakdown of the attack, given in spoiler code to save space -

Of course Jon has some injuries that will need attention, but my bet is, along the lines of the healing that saved Mance - wildling/old gods treatment .

On a side note, I think George has developed Jon's "berserker" attribute to a point where it's ready to be brought in fully. He's just waiting for the right dramatic moment. That might be here, but if not, then I'd say at Jon's confrontation with Ramsay, which I feel is bound to occur.

Chances are we're both pretty firmly entrenched in our opinions but agreeing to disagree is OK, too.

[UnViserion]

Frankly I seems like that would be quite the sexual feat 

[Stormourne]

Am I the only one who wants Jon to actually have a family by the end of this? Even with a bitter-sweet ending, why can't Jon's fate be in the sweet part of the category? :/ He deserves it.

[bemused]

3 minutes ago, Dawn of Fyre said:

Am I the only one who wants Jon to actually have a family by the end of this? Even with a bitter-sweet ending, why can't Jon's fate be in the sweet part of the category? :/ He deserves it.

Quite a few of us think he will, or could have....

[GravyFace]

On June 30, 2016 at 3:42 PM, The Broke Howard Hughes said:

This question boggles my mind ever time I hear it. There is nothing to indicate his body won't work exactly the same.

There should be a price though. Beric obviously suffered physical consequences each time he came back. 

We don't know what the consequence was after the first time Beric was resurrected. It very easily could have been something he didn't notice, like being sterile. It's only until later resurrections that he noticed lake of appetite or need for sleep.

[Lord Varys]

@bemused

Considering that George originally wanted to have the children actually grow up as the story progressed I must say that the idea that George can set whatever pace he wants doesn't work. If he felt he could do that then much more time had passed already.

Besides, a pregnancy isn't a born child. If the story ended with a child in somebody's belly then we didn't know said child would eventually be born and live. A lot of Targaryen children are stillborn or twisted, after all.

As to the other thing:

Sorry, I see no reason in making my wishes the foundation for my interpretation of the text. As of yet George didn't write elaborate and realistic death scenes to convince at that nothing like that happens.

[Julia H.]

11 hours ago, bemused said:

I'm with Julia...

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister’s son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly’s boy as well.Sam would never need to tell his lie. We’d find a place for Gilly too, and Sam could come visit her once a year or so. Mance’s son and Craster’s would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb.
He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything.

He has already stolen Val by some interpretations... So he's off to a good start.

I know the OP asks "IF Jon comes back..", but I don't think he's dead, and my bet is - all his appendages will be in good working order.

Having scrutinized the assassination scene with my Myrish lens,  I'm convinced that none of his wounds are as serious as it would appear on first reading, and that there are really only two that connected anyway (Wick's and Bowen's).

Some will disagree, but I think George intentionally left the clues and I'm sticking with them until TWoW.

Hi, bemused!  It's good to see you.

I agree that "wounded" rather than "dead" still makes more sense story-wise, but if Jon is dead and comes back magically, whatever the price is, it should be related to the magic that brings him back rather than to the wounds.

Whatever happens, I still can't believe that we will end up with an UnJon in the style of UnBeric or UnCat. Beric was never an important character, he had a very minor role while he was alive, while Cat's story was completely finished when she died at the Twins and the author simply replaced her with what is essentially a different character. Jon is not a minor character, and his story (as Jon and not as another undead character) hasn't finished yet.

Besides, we already have a precedent for someone magically surviving something that other characters wouldn't survive: Dany came out of the fire alive and well, and she is definitely not undead. We don't know what exactly happened to her there, only that she was alive at the end of it all and she did not become UnDany. She still eats and drinks and sleeps, and there are signs that she might even be able to have children - a lot of readers think she will have a child in the end, even though in her case the blood magic specifically included child-birth / miscarriage / the sacrifice of a child of her own blood, which could hardly be the case with whatever will bring Jon back. 

8 hours ago, Dawn of Fyre said:

Am I the only one who wants Jon to actually have a family by the end of this? Even with a bitter-sweet ending, why can't Jon's fate be in the sweet part of the category? :/ He deserves it.

Yes, he deserves it. I would love such an ending, but who knows... However, simply having a child of his own doesn't even necessarily mean that he will live happily ever after. The ending could include both the bitter and the sweet for him - like holding a child of his own blood in his arms but not having the time to bring him/her up; or having a child who is born after Jon's death. Anyway, all the denial in the novels that he won't have a family or a child or a crown or lands (or whatever) makes me suspect that he will have at least some of those things. (The same is true of Dany never having a child.) Nothing ever happens in ASOIAF as the characters predict it to happen, and no prophecy comes true the way the various characters expect it to come true. 

[bemused]

11 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

@bemused

Considering that George originally wanted to have the children actually grow up as the story progressed I must say that the idea that George can set whatever pace he wants doesn't work. If he felt he could do that then much more time had passed already.

Besides, a pregnancy isn't a born child. If the story ended with a child in somebody's belly then we didn't know said child would eventually be born and live. A lot of Targaryen children are stillborn or twisted, after all.

Naturally, I meant that he could set the pace within reasonable parameters, say, anything from a matter of months to a couple of years. George is God, here; he can do whatever works for him and is capable of making it work for us.

There may be ample time for a child to be born. .. And if the story ended with a pregnancy, it would just mean the pessimists among us would probably predict the child would never survive and the optimists would do the reverse. ( And George would no doubt say "Draw your own conclusions.") This is all rather nit-picky..

if Jon and Dany had a child , there might be cause to worry about deformity, but a child of Jon and Val (e.g.) would have 3/4 non-Targaryen bloodlines. Not much cause for concern.

11 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

@bemused

As to the other thing:

Sorry, I see no reason in making my wishes the foundation for my interpretation of the text. As of yet George didn't write elaborate and realistic death scenes to convince at that nothing like that happens.

Why be sorry? Do you feel this is one of your shortcomings?

If you're insinuating it's one of mine, you're wrong. Rather, I have come to have "wishes" or opinions  based on clues I perceive in the text. ..Could I be wrong about some of them? Sure. Any of us can.

George has written elaborate and realistic scenes (of whatever stripe) that obscure what's really going on - largely the effect of his POV format, and perfectly intentional on his part. (And constructed with really impressive care.)

I happen to think this is one such occasion, but it's really OT for this thread, so I won't go on about it.

On a personal note - we've gone back and forth on other topics, and while we seldom, if ever, agree on all points, it's fun. .. As I said earlier, I am genuinely sorry that I sometimes can't continue at length... On the upside, at my house, someone else always has to hoist and scrub the cast iron frying pan.

(Gee, aint that a shame ? )

8 hours ago, Julia H. said:

Hi, bemused!  It's good to see you.

I agree that "wounded" rather than "dead" still makes more sense story-wise, but if Jon is dead and comes back magically, whatever the price is, it should be related to the magic that brings him back rather than to the wounds.

Whatever happens, I still can't believe that we will end up with an UnJon in the style of UnBeric or UnCat. Beric was never an important character, he had a very minor role while he was alive, while Cat's story was completely finished when she died at the Twins and the author simply replaced her with what is essentially a different character. Jon is not a minor character, and his story (as Jon and not as another undead character) hasn't finished yet.

Besides, we already have a precedent for someone magically surviving something that other characters wouldn't survive: Dany came out of the fire alive and well, and she is definitely not undead. We don't know what exactly happened to her there, only that she was alive at the end of it all and she did not become UnDany. She still eats and drinks and sleeps, and there are signs that she might even be able to have children - a lot of readers think she will have a child in the end, even though in her case the blood magic specifically included child-birth / miscarriage / the sacrifice of a child of her own blood, which could hardly be the case with whatever will bring Jon back. 

Yes, he deserves it. I would love such an ending, but who knows... However, simply having a child of his own doesn't even necessarily mean that he will live happily ever after. The ending could include both the bitter and the sweet for him - like holding a child of his own blood in his arms but not having the time to bring him/her up; or having a child who is born after Jon's death. Anyway, all the denial in the novels that he won't have a family or a child or a crown or lands (or whatever) makes me suspect that he will have at least some of those things. (The same is true of Dany never having a child.) Nothing ever happens in ASOIAF as the characters predict it to happen, and no prophecy comes true the way the various characters expect it to come true. 

Hi Julia, nice to see you too.

Predictably, I agree with all of this.

Yes, I think Jon's transformation (of whatever kind) will reflect the magic, rather than the wounds.

On the possible Dany/Jon parallel - In Dany's case, magic was present in the form of MMD's spell involving her (which demanded a price), and probably some magic innate in Targaryens as well (which doesn't demand a price, but carries consequences that sometimes come to the fore). We really don't know exactly which was stronger, or if both combined to result in her survival.

In Jon's case, magic is present in the spells woven into the Wall (perhaps already involving Stark blood), and in the magic innate in Jon's blood (of both varieties) . I venture to guess the Stark variety is probably more important at this particular time and we don't clearly know what all the consequences of that hereditary magic are, yet. ... E.g., not every Stark has been a warg.. (and being too wolf-like might not be a good thing in the eyes of the populace).

I really can't see Jon as an undead character either, for the reasons you point out.

And yes, too much denial, in this and other cases, I suspect ensures a contradiction.

[Lord Varys]

1 hour ago, bemused said:

Naturally, I meant that he could set the pace within reasonable parameters, say, anything from a matter of months to a couple of years. George is God, here; he can do whatever works for him and is capable of making it work for us.

There may be ample time for a child to be born. .. And if the story ended with a pregnancy, it would just mean the pessimists among us would probably predict the child would never survive and the optimists would do the reverse. ( And George would no doubt say "Draw your own conclusions.") This is all rather nit-picky..

I like the idea of seeing the children of our child protagonists if they have any. But I really don't think we'll get to that in the framework of that novel. But George should lay this story to rest with a brief history written by Samwell (or Mance's son who could have become a maester later on) to actually summarize the lives and reigns of the surviving characters for us. The idea that the most important events of characters like Arya occurred in her childhood are not all that convincing to me.

If you could convince me that Val and Jon Snow are going to begin to try to conceive children immediately in the beginning of TWoW there would be a small chance that the story could cover all the nine month up to the birth. But since I don't think that's the case.

I think there is a chance that we might see the birth of Aegon's son (if he and Arianne begin to sleep with each other early on in TWoW which is a possibility) or the birth of a child of Sansa's (from either Harry, Littlefinger, or whoever else Sansa is going to sleep with in the near future). But that's it.

1 hour ago, bemused said:

if Jon and Dany had a child , there might be cause to worry about deformity, but a child of Jon and Val (e.g.) would have 3/4 non-Targaryen bloodlines. Not much cause for concern.

Genetically Aerys and Rhaella are 50% Blackwood, 25% Dayne, 12,5 % Martell, and 12,5% Targaryen-Rogare. Yet Rhaella still had massive problems giving birth to living children. If they can have their share of stillbirths so can Jon Snow's wife (or Dany, or Aegon's wife). The fact that none of the women Maegor impregnated had any Targaryen blood didn't help him, either.

The general idea that the infusion of fresh blood is a cure for Targaryen madness/other health issues is obviously wrong.

1 hour ago, bemused said:

If you're insinuating it's one of mine, you're wrong. Rather, I have come to have "wishes" or opinions  based on clues I perceive in the text. ..Could I be wrong about some of them? Sure. Any of us can.

I really just don't see that there are any hints suggesting that Jon Snow hasn't been killed.

 

[Lord Varys]

If we assume that Jon Snow is physically dead and has to be resurrected then this in itself is a strong hint that he might not have a future. People who enter into the sphere of demigods by conquering death are usually not destined to stick around on earth to live a mundane life in fantasy literature (e.g. Jesus quickly departs to heaven after his bodily resurrection, Gandalf the White is also only sent back for short while, etc.).

Considering that there are no Grey Havens in Westeros (unless we call the Lonely Light as such, with Gylbert Farwynd as George's Círdan) there is little chance for Jon to live a normal after his ordeals even if we assume that - unlike Beric or Catelyn - is spirit is not going to be damaged all that much. It should be enough that his body is going to change.

If he is going to be the great hero who defeats the evil (or takes the physical part of the great fight) then there is a very good chance that he is going to die in the last battle.

That would be even more fitting if we see the 'the god(s) are not yet done with you' routine as explanation for his resurrection. But when the villains are defeated and the story is over then the gods could easily be done with him, and hence he could die as he should have when he was killed.

I'm not sure what you guys think but I find the idea of some resurrected guy living out a mundane life obscene on a metaphysical level. It just doesn't feel right.

[PhoenixfromAshes]

Depends on his return. It's possible that he can have children. There's more chance of Dany dying than Jon dying again.

Some people refused to see R + L = J because they think it's cliched and doesn't feel right. Still happened.

Some people refused to see Jon Snow returning again because they think it's cliched and doesn't feel right. Still happened.

In a world where magic and stranger things happened, anything is possible. It's going to be hilarious if Jon ends up having children while the other characters who have more chance died.

[Lady Topspin]

On 6/30/2016 at 4:23 PM, norwaywolf123 said:

hopefully not

It depends on how long he stays dead.  The longer he stays dead, the less human he becomes mentally and emotionally.  His body starts to decay, similar to Stoneheart's. 

He swore an oath to never father children.  But he is an oathbreaker so that won't stop him doing what he wants, if he could father children. 

 

[Julia H.]

11 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

I'm not sure what you guys think but I find the idea of some resurrected guy living out a mundane life obscene on a metaphysical level. It just doesn't feel right.

I agree with the bolded. (Yes, I do.)

If you want to know what I think, here it is. Read it if you are interested.

I will start by stating the premise that my thoughts and conclusions are based on, which has two parts:

A. The author of ASOIAF operates within the  general framework and conventions of literary traditions. Yes, he can modify some tropes, mix some genres and surprise us here and there; but ASOIAF is not the equivalent of a blank white canvas in the fine arts or noise in symphonic music. ASOIAF adheres to the basic rules that have governed narrative literature for centuries. Thus it has a plot with a tight structure, a story with a beginning, conflicts, and - hopefully - with an ending (it hasn't been written yet, but let's assume it exists in the author's head); and it also has major characters and minor characters. 

B. ASOIAF is a story about the dichotomy of right and wrong (or good and evil), which is highlighted by the recurring and difficult moral dilemmas that the various characters face - the real focus of the story, where the magical elements and the monsters are just part of the fantasy setting. Thus the story has heroes and villains. The heroes may be flawed (the villains are also of a human scale), but that is not exactly a novelty either. The "fight for humanity" aspect of the story is not restricted to magical monsters versus human beings, but it has to be won in the human soul as well. As a result, the richness and the boundaries of human existence are of paramount importance here, just like in thousands of previous stories.   

With the above in mind, I will examine the theoretical possibilities the author can choose for the character of Jon Snow after the point where we last saw him in ADwD.

1. Jon Snows dies like Robb or Ned, and that is the end of his story. 

This is a very unlikely choice (as you will probably agree) because Jon Snow's story (unlike Robb's story or Ned's story) isn't finished yet. He has been built up to be part of the impending major conflict (humanity versus the Others), which has barely started to unfold, and he is also surrounded by a secret (or maybe several secrets) which he has to discover - according to the logic of the narrative. Jon is a major character in the story - letting him go at this point in the narrative would be a waste of hundreds of pages. 

2. Jon Snow dies and returns as UnJon. 

This is a solution we have seen with other characters, like Beric and Lady Stoneheart. They have given us an idea of what "unlife" is like - these characters do not function as normal, living human beings. We have a reason to suppose that they don't need food or sleep and we have also noticed that their personalities are extremely limited. Beric, for example, gradually loses his remaining human aspects, such as his memories - and he keeps focusing on a single goal. With Beric, we also learn that they have a very special relationship with death. The fact that he dies and gets resurrected again and again takes away from the value of the sacrifice and when he ultimately chooses death, the reader doesn't really get the impression that he has given up something valuable, but rather, that he has finally accepted the inevitable and done the right thing - except perhaps that he has also created another unlife in the process. 

If we examine the genesis of these characters, we can see that Beric is a very minor character, and as UnBeric he has gained significance in the story rather than lose it. Lady Stoneheart may seem to be at first sight the same character as our well-known Catelyn, but it is only an illusion. Catelyn died with her story arc  finished and her job done, Her exit was cleverly used by the author to introduce a new character, undead Lady Stoneheart. Yes, she is related to Catelyn and she has (some of?) Cat's memories, feelings and loyalties, but she is not Lady Catelyn Stark. This is made evident by her loss of POV and her new name. She functions as a mythological, single-minded goddess of revenge with none of the complexity of a real human being. I suspect that the main reason why we don't have her POV is that it would be very boring and one-dimensional. 

Jon Snow is not a minor character like Beric. He is a major character, moreover he is one of the heroes of the story. His story is not finished like Lady Catelyn's (as I explained above). If he returned as UnJon, he would have to lose his human complexity just like Lady Stoneheart did and become essentially a new character, while the original Jon character would be lost (almost like in Nr 1 above). This new character could fight the Others, but it would still be a new character, not an organic development of the living Jon Snow. 

Why would it be a problem? Beric and Lady Stoneheart may fight the enemy all they want to, they will never be heroes. A hero is a hero because he is willing to sacrifice something that most human beings hold dear, which is very often (though not always) life itself, the ultimate sacrifice. What makes human life valuable? Basically, everything that these undead characters lack. A hero can only be a hero if he has a choice between making the sacrifice or not making it. A hero that human readers can relate to needs to understand and value what they give up when they choose the interests of other people over their own. They also need to understand that the sacrifice is final. Those are the reasons why UnBeric's repeated deaths lack true heroism. He can still be a tragic character, but not a hero. 

An undead character who is not properly dead just because he still has something to do is like a magically operated robot. His eventual death is not a human sacrifice, but the inevitable "return to normal" - the robot is switched off when the job is done. There are such characters in literature, but they are not main characters or heroes. Changing Jon into such a character would mean to exchange a carefully built up hero character for a minor character, who is not even unique in this particular story. Whatever he does to defeat the Others, it will not have the same impact as the heroism of a human who has the full range of human feelings, including the fear of death. 

We also know that Beric has forgotten his mother's name. That's indication to me that Jon would not be much affected by finding out who his mother was - he might not even remember that he didn't know it. That would waste a lot of story potential.

Yet another aspect is the lack of character development in the case of undead characters. I won't believe that a character that doesn't even have basic vegetative functions could display any meaningful character development. (Just to  make it clear: Lady Stoneheart's sinister attitude to all things Frey is not character development. The stone in her name signifies immobility, an unchangeable, fixated state.) Yet, Jon is all about character development (kill the boy and let the man be born), difficult choices and conflicts of the human heart - the total opposite of a single-minded magical robot with fixed convictions. Even if the author wants to make him develop in a darker direction, a psychologically believable development would be much better than making him turn dark by magic, as in the case of Lady Stoneheart. Actually, due to Lady Stoneheart, such a move wouldn't even have novelty value.  

UnJon could not be a hero of the story for the additional reason that the fight for humanity must be won by human characters, fully human ones, otherwise the plot becomes a horror story of undead against undead. GRRM would need another human hero to replace Jon with (someone that UnJon could assist), and such an exchange would be pointless and altogether a bad and not at all satisfying bargain. It is not something that good authors do. 

By the way, I don't buy arguments such as "he will only spend a short time dead, so he won't be quite as bad as Lady Stoneheart" or "it will only be his first resurrection, he won't be like UnBeric". Undead is undead with all the implications.The main dividing line is between fully alive and undead, between fully human and not fully human; the rest is just degrees of horror. 

Turning Jon into a direwolf forever would be just another version of subhuman Jon, with all the disadvantages listed above, so basically the same thing with minor differences.

3. Superhuman Jon

Let me mention the idea that I've read on this forum, which says that Jon returns as a sort of god, as an absolutely superhuman character. This solution would have almost the same flaws as subhuman Jon. The story would still need a human hero, and the original character with Jon's human complexity would still be lost, and the new character would still be much less relatable and satisfying.  

4. Jon Snow survives

The next solution that presents itself is keeping Jon alive somehow. That can be done by simply having Jon heal in a more or less in-universe-natural way or with the use of a little(?) magic. Yes, I know of all the wounds, still I don't think it would be technically more difficult (for the author) than bringing him back from actual death with magic. (The greatest magician is the author himself.) The other solution is providing magical circumstances that make Jon special and saving him from dying in a situation where he would be expected to die. We have seen GRRM do something like that: Dany walked into the fire and survived. We don't actually know what happened between the moment she disappeared among the flames and the moment when she was found again (except that the dragons hatched), but she was in a situation where she should have died and yet she survived and did not become UnDany. She still eats and sleeps, has sex and she still has human feelings and is still capable of character development. 

I don't really care whether GRRM chooses the "not dead, only wounded / in a coma" solution or another grand, unique magic as in the case of Dany. I believe that both roads are open and both make it possible to keep the original character with all the potential the original character has.

Whatever happens, the assassination must have a narrative purpose. (As you may have guessed, I don't really see the narrative purpose of UnJon). In the first case, while Jon is ill, he could develop his warging abilities or - if in a coma - he could be "forced" to see his crypt dream until its end, which is a motif introduced and developed over several books. In the second case, the "grand magic" could parallel Dany's magic and reveal the presence of some not yet discovered magic. It would be the ice equivalent of the grand fire magic. (For example it could explain why Jon felt "the cold" - it would be very GRRM-esque to make the reader think it was the cold of death when in fact it was the cold of ice magic. Both instances would involve magical pets, dragons in the case of Dany and Ghost in the case of Jon.) Jon would end up quite special but still human, as the magic would be unique, and yes, there would probably be a price, too. These are just ideas, of course, not theories. 

Only GRRM knows how he wants to solve this problem, and I totally trust his writing skills, and I'm confident that he will find a satisfying solution. However, I really believe that he is not going to waste a complex hero character in exchange for another undead robot with all its one-dimensional predictability.