Is Jon Snow the true hero of this series?

[Lady Tippy Wolfsbane]

Just aimed at anyone who's big on Stannis. That he's not a pov so he is hard to make a real judgment on when we see everything on him thru other people.

As someone that is big on Stannis: no, I don't think Apple's statement of "The guy who didn't have a POV?" should be used against Stannis. Her post was in reference to Robb. Stannis is a much bigger character in the series than Robb.

With that said, I still don't think Stannis will be the "true hero" of the series. I feel it is a given that Jon will be the "true hero", otherwise his POV's and character growth will become somewhat pointless. IMO, Stannis will be "a hero" of the series even though he's not a POV character, but not the "main hero".

[Blackfyre the Bold]

Either Jon, Aegon or Danaerys.

Or all 3.

[GarthKITN]

I think when all is said and done Jon will have a massive role (and unlike many I don't think he'll die), but I don't think he'll be the true hero of the series. I think that'll end up being Bran Stark.

From the beginning of the series, Bran's entire wish in life is that he wants to be a hero. That's what he wants more than anything, but he can't be. Just character wise alone, I think it would be mighty cool to have the one person who the world deemed couldn't be a hero turn out to be the one to save them all. As for how Bran fits in with the story beyond the message, I think by the time the final book is written he'll be, by far, the most powerful figure in the series. His powers have already expanded to pretty crazy levels, with some pretty mind-boggling possibilities, and I think that's only going to go further. I think he'll die in the process, but Bran warging a dragon, or warging an Other, seems very likely to me.

At the same time, I think it'll be through Bran that the mystery of Jon's lineage, Rhaegar, Arthur Dayne, Starfall and all the rest finally come out. At some point Jon, Stannis and the rest are going to uncover that Bran and Rickon are still alive, and it'll be Bran who tells Jon (and possibly Stannis too) all he's found out. Who knows, by that point his powers may have developed to the point where other people can see into his visions (I can't see another way, aside from maybe Howland Reed, for Jon to accept that he's Rhaegar's son). I think once the R+L=J theory comes to light (which, and this is just pure speculation of course, will be greatly aided by Stannis, who I think will see Bran's vision of it as well or get it from Bran and relay it to Jon. I thought for a while about why anyone would believe Jon is Rhaegar's son, even if the reader knows it and Jon, Bran and Howland know it. The only logical answer is that Stannis believes it too), Jon will be the one to unite the realm with a grudging Dany, but it won't be enough. My guess is Stannis goes out in the most epic way ever defending Bran. I really think Bran is ultimately going to be the one to save the world from the Others, and be the hero he's always wanted to be.

I think the North will remain independent from the rest of Westeros, and Rickon will most likely reign as King in the North. Meanwhile, Jon will be the one to sit the Iron Throne, even though it's not what he wants. He won't be an oathbreaker as by this point the entire Night's Watch and the Wall itself will have fallen.

Obviously there are a million details that I haven't covered, and that this is very much a broad-strokes picture. I don't know how Tyrion, Aegon, Varys, Arya, Sansa and a million other things factor in. I just have theory, and I think it's a good one, that Bran is the series' ultimate hero, while Jon sits the Iron Throne at the end.

However, as an aside, I liked the poetry of Jon being the "Song of Ice and Fire" through Lyanna and Rhaegar (especially because Rhaegar said as much about Aegon), or the "Song of Ice and Fire" being about Jon and Dany. While I don't really think that's ultimately true, it does fit well aesthetically.

[calo760]

Stannis will definitely be the hero. He has been portrayed as an antagonist practically the entire story up until recent events..like saving the realm from wildling invasions and putting himself in teh vangaurd against the Boltons.. Dany and Jon Snow, however, have always been in a protagonist light..Jons dead..and will stay dead. Dany will turn mad and use her dragons to burn down the world. Thats just the nature of the author. Whoever people think the hero will be..the opposite will be true.

[Lord Orys]

Wait even if he was from the North, if he was AA wouldn't he be considered the "Fire", in A Song of Ice and Fire? (if you were to compare this analogy to Jon). Unless he is both the Ice and Fire since he's from the North and AA as well?

[The Holy Goat]

Jon SNow is the most standardized hero character among the POV's but I doubt that he alone will put everything to rights, even if he happens to be Azor Ahai or something like that. This will all be an effort of many I think.

[Rorey Targaryen]

The beauty of Martin's work is how significant and important all the characters are. The depth of his characters and the story just draws you in to all of them. I really don't think so much about who will be the hero in the end or who will win or live or die. I just love the books and the story. I can't get enough of it.

:agree:

Pretty much this.

[Blazfemur]

I still feel Jon will ascend to become the next Night's King. he has reason to hate the watch now, as does the existing Night's King. combine the fact melisandre may or may not sacrifice CRASTER's (not mance's, they were switched, remember?) baby boy to resurrect Jon? it starts to spell something out quite controversial, dare i say, "blasphemous."

[PirateVergo]

Either Jon, Aegon or Danaerys.

Aegon is a not a pov character let alone major pov character, you should never compare him to the likes of Jon/Dany/Tyrion, they're 10 times more relevant than him in the story.

[Equilibrium]

Death is the real hero of ASOIAF

[The Wolves]

There are no such things as a hero in ASOIAF so no I don't think Jon is it.

[Mithras]

Yes. Jon is the one true hero of the story. There can only be sidekicks to him. He will lead the men in the Battle for Dawn. He will bring the light back.

The hero who fought the Others and ended the LN does not have a name. He is remembered as the Last Hero although it is 99.9% possible that he was actually Brandon the Builder. The last hero was a Jon Doe. Even his weapon does not have a special name. It is known as dragonsteel.

[Ser Wilfred]

I still think Bran will have as much importance as Jon in the end; albeit, in very different ways, but he is poised for something MASSIVE!

[iDooom]

Is Jon Snow the hero of asoiaf? Well, if he is, then Westeros is pretty much screwed. As a leader, Jon doesn't listen to anyone's advice and lacks communication skills, leading to his stabbing. Quite a few of his decisions (including Alys Karstark and the Mance mission) are driven by his "hero's instinct" and emotions. Yes, these are the morally "right" decisions, but much like Ned informing Cersei to save Myrcella and Tommen, they are highly impractical. Jon also shows great hypocrisy with the Mance mission, knowing that he is breaking the vows and that he would not let any NW man do the same. Nevertheless, after realizing his hypocrisy, Jon goes ahead and does it anyway because he is LC and he can. In short, I see no reason why you'd want Jon Snow to be the hero. And if he is the ultimate hero, he'll probably end up dead (again).

Eddard Stark and Robb Stark happen to be the previous two "true heroes" and "MAIN CHARACTERS". Funny that no one considers them important anymore. Where are they again? Oh... their heads got chopped off. Such a shame. Now, under an objective view (which it may be hard for many posters to take), Jon Snow is about 90% (or more) the same as Ned and Robb. All of them pretty much have the typical icy Starks personality and beliefs. In fact, if we look at Jon Snow's character development from AGOT to ADWD, we see... practically nothing. Yes, there was Jon's epic slide down the slippery slope from "paper shield" to WAR, but that's hardly positive. Oh, Jon got less arrogant. *clap. Oh, he made one "tough" decision with swapping Gilly's child (that doesn't even fall on the same difficulty scale as what Arya/Bran/Dany/Jaime/Sansa/Tyrion/any other important character including Stannis and Theon faced). *clap. *clap. Jon was also handed a bucketload of plot gifts and "coincidences" with no strings attached that (in volume) exceeds that of any other character. And the end result... is that he failed. If you happen to think that Jon Snow is a tragically inept hero who !@#$s everything up, I could see that. But the hero who the whole story and the upcoming War of the Dawn centers upon and to whom all other characters are expendable? Definitely not.

[TheNinjaDC]

I think Jon is being set up as GRRM's version of the hero archetype.

That does not mean it is his "sole" story, or he's the main protagonist the world revolves around.

He just fits the hero mold GRRM appears to be crafting more than any-other character, specifically the monomyth hero.

For example, Tyrion is much more the trickster, or tragic hero figure.

[Mithras]

I think Jon is being set up as GRRM's version of the hero archetype.

That does not mean it is his "sole" story, or he's the main protagonist the world revolves around.

He just fits the hero mold GRRM appears to be crafting more than any-other character, specifically the monomyth hero.

For example, Tyrion is much more the trickster, or tragic hero figure.

He is the hero who will save the world while other would-be heroes have been and will be fighting themselves and wasting each other. The war for the IT is a different story than Jon's. It is Jon's story that matters in the end.

[A spoon of knife and fork]

There's no single hero. Bran, Tyrion, and Dany are of equal importance to Jon (though I'm ambivalent about Bran after adwd - BR and that whole situation in the tree is just so creepy... I can't help but worry that they are planning to turn Bran against humanity somehow).

We probably won't even know who among them is "AA" or "tptwp". They will all fulfill parts but not all of the prophecied elements.

[BRANDON GREYSTARK]

Jon Snow is one of five . Danerys, ,Brandon ,Arya ,Stannis .

[Jon's Queen Consort]

is just a support to Frodo.

Who is just a support for the chief hero aka Sam.

[King Gendry Baratheon]

Jon is the hero Westeros needs, but not the hero Westeros deserves.