Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for any previous episodes and published book content. If you are not caught up, this is your warning.
So this is bound to be a bit controversial, but what the heck; I like me a good conversation. I was talking with Jessica (the Lady of the House) and we wound up on opposing sides. So, like a good husband and fan, I'm taking it to the interwebs (lol).
Now, I hate Alliser Thorne (yes, there is no T in his name; it's pronounced Al-ihs-er) as much as the next guy, but GoT Season 6, Episode 3 got me thinking.
At the close of Season 5, Jon is lured out and assassinated by Thorne, Othell Yarwyck, Bowen Marsh (and Olly). Assuming one only watches the show, there's no way to know Jon is coming back (there are reasons to think he could, but no way to know). That is infinitely true for the characters participating in the assassination. They think a dead Jon is a perma-dead Jon.
Looking back at Thorne and his career in the Watch, this is a guy who really did live for the Watch. He took his oath seriously and, even if he was a major asshole, he did it to better the Watch. He didn't put on kid gloves and everything he did was to make the other men colder, harder and stronger.
Every time he was given an order by a ranking officer, he followed it, even insofar as stepping aside when his buddy Janos Slynt was being hauled to the block. There had been multiple times where Thorne could have rebelled, could have flown in the face of Jon, or even Mormont, and didn't because generally it seems like he respects authority. He may not *like* the person in charge, but he follows orders.
Thorne is a man serving in a time when the Night's Watch is at the lowest it's ever been (save, perhaps, during the Night's King's reign?). They have a massive shortage of truly capable men and with Mance Rayder massing the Wildlings north of The Wall and the disappearance of their First (and best) Ranger, Benjen Stark, they are in a particularly bad way.
Moving forward, he witnesses a few decisions that are decidedly ill advised. Mormont takes the main body of the men at Castle Black and goes on a ranging beyond The Wall, to find Benjen and also see if they can't learn more about what's up with the Wildlings. When they come back, many are dead. Also, Jon is gone and Qorin Halfhand (one of the most renowned Rangers ever) is dead at the hands of Jon Snow, who went off and joined the damn Wildlings. He broke his vow many times over, killing a commanding officer, joining the enemy, and taking a Wildling girl too. Thorne doesn't know, or have much reason to believe the particulars of the actual story; for all he knows Jon is just full of crap and trying to get them to not kill him.
Jon, as a leader, has many great qualities including martial prowess, strong loyalty of some few of the men, a noble upbringing and affiliation with a great house. All these things also earned him the image of being a privileged lordling who doesn't know what it is to be like everyone else. Thorne absolutely exacerbates this out of his own personal bad attitude.
Once Jon is taken under the Old Bear's wing (paw?) I believe it only makes this image worse for some. Jon keeps rising and, after Mormont is killed, they elect a new Lord Commander. Thorne and Jon are dead-tied and only Maester Aemon's vote swings it. We have to remember that Thorne was *literally* ONE vote shy of the biggest seat at the table.
After all this, Jon takes many actions which most of the Watch view as unorthodox at best and something like heretical at worst. He works with the Wildlings, allows them through The Wall to settle south of it on the land gifted to The Watch for farming in perpetuity. He gives room and board to Stannis and his men, acting in some ways that appear very much like "taking part" even though his vows say they should not. He even enacts a mission to Hardhome, using many resources out of their already short supply, to rescue Wildlings, all to stop a fairy-tale story only some of the men truly believe anyway. Jon sees the Free Folk as people and there's the problem.
The crux of my argument is how the men of The Watch see their purpose and how they view themselves. We know that in ages past, The Wall was built to stand against The Others (the White Walkers) but they've been gone for centuries and have receded out of living memory. In that time, The Watch forgot about their original purpose and began thinking they existed to protect the realms of men from the fur-clad barbarians, not grumpkins and snarks.
To me, Thorne views his duty (and that of the rest of the Watch as well) as stopping the Wildlings; protecting the women and children of the Seven Kingdoms from the savages. The more he followed orders, the more he failed in his duty. The more he went along with Jon's plans, the worse things got for the Watch. They were dying. In the end, I believe that Thorne's sense of duty to the Watch overtook his sense of propriety and his view of the chain of command.
I believe that, in his heart, Thorne was being utterly true to his vows. I think he didn't like Jon, but showed he was capable of supporting him or at least just following along if it's what was needed. I don't think his personal feelings entered into it in any driving capacity. I think orchestrating Jon's death was his last ditch, drastic measure to try to save the Watch from someone seemingly hell bent on dismantling everything they've ever fought for. I think Thorne legitimately thought he was doing the right thing and making the hard call that no one else could.
If it was personal, he could have just done it himself but he even got the other top-ranked men of the Watch to agree that it must be done "for the Watch".
The problem is that the Night's Watch has lost sight of its true purpose and Jon failed, as a leader, to adequately communicate what it really is. He failed to recognize that spending time building allies amongst your "brothers" was invaluable instead of just dictating to them and expecting them to fall in line. It was almost the same thing that did in Ned: refusal to play the game.
My ending thought is that we assume that since Jon hangs Thorne and the rest in his official capacity as Lord Commander, that he does so because Thorne broke his vows. Given the above stated circumstances, Thorne's record and what Jon represented to those who couldn't fully understand the end goal, I don't think Jon should have executed him. I think that Thorne truthfully was honoring his vows and protecting the Watch the best way he knew how.
Think about it like this: Jamie Lannister saved a city full of people by putting his sword through the back of Aerys Targaryen. He actually *did* break his vows and the worst he got was a semi-cool-but-dishonorable nickname. He even got to keep his job and even wound up becoming Lord Freaking Commander of the Kingsguard (granted, this is due in no small part to varying degrees of nepotism, but still...)!
I think Thorne stuck to his vows and thought he was protecting them all. You can only honor your vows as you understand them and on those grounds, he should still be alive. Kill him for having killed *you*, sure (not many get that sort of opportunity). That's revenge and a primal thing that's at least understandable if not *right*, but at the end of the day, I simply say this:
Ser Alliser Thorne was not an oathbreaker.
No comments:
Post a Comment