foreshadowing Jon's return as a (sort-of) Wight

[forod]

 

 

"Robb smiled when she said that. "There are worse things than spiders and rats" he whispered. "This is where the dead walk." That was when they heard the sound, low and deep and shivery. Baby Bran had clutched at Arya's hand. When the spirit stepped out of the open tomb, pale white and moaning for blood, Sansa ran shrieking for the stairs, and Bran wrapped himself around Robb's leg, sobbing. Arya stood her ground and gave the spirit a punch. It was only Jon, covered with flour. "You stupid," she told him, "you scared the baby," but Jon and Robb just laughed and laughed, and pretty soon Bran and Arya were laughing too.

This is pretty heavy handed foreshadowing from GRRM, so I'm sure others have picked up on it and written about it. But the first emboldened quote is an interesting one. Will Jon rise again, only "pale wight and moaning for blood." Consider Bran's coma vision of Jon. "...and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him."

Now compare this description with several descriptions of Wights. 

"Only when he grasped the offered hand did he realise that the rider wore no glove. His hand was black and cold, with fingers hard as stone."

"The wolf had something in his jaws. Something Black...That's a hand."

"He turned the corpse over with his foot, and the dead white face stared up at the overcast sky with blue, blue eyes...Jafer's...left hand, still at the end of his arm, was as black as his cloak...his singing days were done. His flesh was blanched white as milk, everywhere but his hands. His hands were black like Jafer's.

So it would seem that Bran is seeing Jon after his death,as the descriptions match, and is observing Jon's body becoming something close to a wight.

As much as emphasising the paleness of wights, I have also highlighted the focus on their black hands. The reason I've done this is the tremendous amount of time GRRM spends describing the habit Jon develops of "opening and closing" his fingers to ensure they remain nimble after he suffers burns. Now, compare Jon's habit with his fight with the animated Othor. 

"He felt something scrabble at his ankle. Black fingers clawed at his calf. The arm was crawling up his leg, ripping at wool and flesh. Shouting with revulsion, Jon pried the fingers off his leg with the point of his sword and flipped the thing away. It lay writhing, fingers and opening and closing.

I really cannot stress how many dozens of times that line is repeated throughout the series, which leads me to believe it is to draw attention to Jon's hands, and his, i believe doomed, attempts to keep them nimble and soft. 

Another piece of potential foreshadowing is found in Jon's parting exchange with Robb at Winterfell. 

"Robb looked relieved. "Good." He smiled. "The next time I see you, you'll be all in black." Jon forced himself to smile back. "It was always my colour."

it may be I've exaggerated the importance of all of this text, or that I'm utterly wrong, but let me know what you think!

 

 

 

 

[forod]

sorry about all the edits

[Roswell]

Jon coming back as a wight, a puppet of the NK, would make him somewhat more interesting. 

[Chib]

Well he is betrayed already and currently dead so this might be the foreshadow of his death. 

[Leticia Stark]

I saw all these hints as foreshadowing for his death. We knew he would die since book 1.

[forod]

2 hours ago, Leticia Stark said:

I saw all these hints as foreshadowing for his death. We knew he would die since book 1.

I would say the fact we have literally seen him rise from the grave is equally strong foreshadowing of his return

[forod]

2 hours ago, The Transporter said:

Jon coming back as a wight, a puppet of the NK, would make him somewhat more interesting. 

I think should Jon return in this manner, he will resemble Coldhands more than a typical wight 

[Scorpion92]

He will be much colder - both physically and personality-wise. His ascension to the title of King of Winter will be a bloody and hard path - he needs to become like that.