Alternative ending: Jorah wasn't supposed to die!

[StoneColdJorahMormont]

So with the news that they had originally planned to keep Jorah alive so that Himself,Jon and Tormund would be seen leaving the tunnel and going further north.

Reason behind not doing it would have been how to get Jorah to that point, despite what Dany did they believed he wouldn't turn on her and would not have let it go either.

I don't know... they could have had him witness it, his heart break and then have him be the one to kill her... this would have been a far more satisfying ending for me as I felt his betrayal would have been more significant due to how long her was her closest friend.. but then Jon wouldn't be guilty and sent to the wall... unless he stood by and watched it doing nothing.

What would you have liked to have had happened if they chose to keep him alive. ?

[The Baelish Mockingbird]

My boy Jorah has been treated like a second fiddle for some time now. Honestly, I would have loved the symbolism of Jon and Jorah talking it out, probably with Tyrion and deciding it's the best way to do it. I could see Jorah, being a man from the North, being under the impression that he who passes the sentence should swing the sword and thus deciding to kill Dany himself. It would also be cool if he were to borrow Longclaw, his family sword, and do it as well. The two problems with this however are that Jon also comes from the North and has the same philosophy (if not stronger because he grew up with Ned Stark). The second problem being that some audiences would probably feel it to be underwhelming. I always liked the idea of Jorah ending  Dany's life in such a way (I subscribed to the theory of Jorah being Azor Ahai and Dany being Nyssa Nyssa almost 4 years ago) but I feel most audiences would want the series ending event to be between the two main characters of the show.

[StoneColdJorahMormont]

33 minutes ago, The Baelish Mockingbird said:

My boy Jorah has been treated like a second fiddle for some time now. Honestly, I would have loved the symbolism of Jon and Jorah talking it out, probably with Tyrion and deciding it's the best way to do it. I could see Jorah, being a man from the North, being under the impression that he who passes the sentence should swing the sword and thus deciding to kill Dany himself. It would also be cool if he were to borrow Longclaw, his family sword, and do it as well. The two problems with this however are that Jon also comes from the North and has the same philosophy (if not stronger because he grew up with Ned Stark). The second problem being that some audiences would probably feel it to be underwhelming. I always liked the idea of Jorah ending  Dany's life in such a way (I subscribed to the theory of Jorah being Azor Ahai and Dany being Nyssa Nyssa almost 4 years ago) but I feel most audiences would want the series ending event to be between the two main characters of the show.

But it would also have helped with folks that felt it was a bit sudden and Jon and Dany had grown close but nowhere near as heartbreaking as it would have been for Jorah... I would have loved to had seen his reaction when she torched KL! I guess with him dying before hand he never lived to see her become a monster.

I just liked reading that he was initially meant to have lived and walked with Jon into the real north.

[The Baelish Mockingbird]

2 minutes ago, StoneColdJorahMormont said:

But it would also have helped with folks that felt it was a bit sudden and Jon and Dany had grown close but nowhere near as heartbreaking as it would have been for Jorah... I would have loved to had seen his reaction when she torched KL! I guess with him dying before hand he never lived to see her become a monster.

I just liked reading that he was initially meant to have lived and walked with Jon into the real north.

Oh I agree it would have been better, in fact I prefer the idea of Jorah doing the deed and Jon taking over as King. Then he would start up a new system and give Tyrion leadership or something and take Jorah North of the wall with him. I'm fine with that.

[NonoNono]

Wouldn't be surprised he was the one originally to kill Daenerys, with Heart's Bane.

[Masha]

It would make far too much sense in the series, however at this point D&D decided to stick with GRRM original ending so Jon kills Dany and leaves for the Wall, regardless if it fits or not.

[Bernie Mac]

But Jorah's not a good man, he's a devoted man, a man who is ready to kill and serve others into slavery if it means his loved ones get what they want. He'd not be cheering like the Dothraki over the destruction of Kings landing, but he'd also not be in the same thought process as Jon and Tyrion.

If Dany had made the same speech about bringing 'peace' to the rest of the World as she did to Jon before he killed her Jorah would be on board with that, the chance to serve by her side would be more than enough for him.

Jon has the spent the entire series making decisions between right and love and right has been the winner every time. It was entirely in his character to kill Dany, it would be bizarre for Jorah to do it.

[Faera]

I'm personally amazed that they put that much thought into a secondary character's role in the story and didn't shoehorn him into the ending they'd envisioned originally. A lot of this season seemed like they had an end in mind and worked backwards, rather than organically trying to reach it.

Hearing this I feel that Jorah going beyond the Wall with Jon as a man of the Night's Watch is the sort of ending George would give him. It was Jeor's final wish but in the show Sam "kinda forgot" to tell Jorah his father's final wish (actually, I can't remember if he says it in the show - not got to that part in my rewatch), so, it makes sense. I get why they changed it in the show, though. They were already pushing it with Daenerys BBQing KL without her losing her BFFs - if Jorah were there, and then potentially had to be the one to kill her afterwards, it would have felt like a leap for Dany and Jorah. 

So, yeah. I get why they changed it. Joining the Night's Watch and going North of the Wall to explore the WW-free landscape seems a more fitting end for Book!Jorah than Show!Jorah.