Goodbye Ghost

[Astrotherapist]

On 5/6/2019 at 10:20 PM, Green Knight said:

I think that’s a very real possibility for the future, but having Jon leave ghost like he was flushing a dead goldfish down the toilet is still an absolutely ridiculous thing to do. Terrible writing and completely out of character... 

I've watched the scene several times now and I don't see it that way nor think that's what's being conveyed. 

Kit Harrington isn't exactly the most dynamically-expressive actor out there and his emotions are subtle, but they are there, and I think that Jon also deserves the benefit of the doubt here.  He looks at Ghost very sadly.  Here's a gif of that:

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ZMMECH2Jnda2D2gKf3Mtng--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTMzMS40MzY1ODAyMzgyNjIx/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/tZlzSDK0zKhkgu3lbvxHbw--~B/aD03Mzk7dz0xNDI3O3NtPTE7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_huffington_post_584/1c49eba656b21d01a5530568349c4914

That he acknowledged Ghost at all means he cares.   Additionally, and most importantly, the director didn't want a complicated, physical interaction between them because Ghost is CGI as explained here:

Here's Why Jon Snow Didn't Pet Ghost In His 'Game Of Thrones' Goodbye

It also makes sense just from the vantage point of a canine owner.  If you give your dog any kind of encouragement they'll just follow you out the gate!  

Now let's look at the script.

TORMUND: We need room to wander.
I'll take them back through Castle Black as soon as the winter storms pass.
Back where we belong.
JON: It's where he belongs too.
A direwolf has no place in the south.
Will you take him with you? He'll be happier up there.
TORMUND: So would you.
JON: I wish I was going with you.
This is farewell, then.
TORMUND: You never know.
You've got the North in you.
The real North.

Jon is looking out for Ghost's happiness and welfare and that line makes his intention clear.  And it's true, a direwolf would be happier up there.  

If the showrunners didn't care about Ghost (or had no plans for him), they wouldn't have even bothered writing lines about him.  Jon would have said his farewells, there would be no Ghost in the scene at all, and it would just be assumed that Ghost was left at Winterfell with Sansa.  That's been the case in many other episodes where we haven't seen him.  

But this dialogue with Tormund portends that Jon will end up back in the North.  Jon had already expressed dislike for the South, for King's Landing, last season and has no interest in being king --anywhere.  After he loses Dany, after he discovers Sansa's betrayal, he won't live in King's Landing nor Winterfell which leaves Castle Black or the open wilderness beyond the Wall as the only choices left, and that's where his heart is anyway.  My money's on a bittersweet reunion with Ghost.  

[RhaenysBee]

Go and pet Ghost, people