A new show has been announced, starring Jon Snow…
Not much is known about it beyond the fact that it is supposed to be a continuation of Jon Snow’s story after the events of season eight somehow…
I don’t know anymore than anyone else, but I’m allowed to speculate wildly.
Personally, I think that watching Jon Snow patrol amongst the few surviving wildlings whilst traveling across vast areas of abandoned land could probably induce depression in its audience, albeit in a scenic way.
I don’t quite see how any show with such a limited scope would fit within a series that has always been so focused a politics on a greater scale as well the perspectives of many conflicting characters. It would only work if Jon Snow takes his wildlings South to bring down the wall, but that should probably already have happened within the main series.
And if the white walkers were to trouble Jon Snow again, this would carry dark implications about Bran. After all, if he told the truth about their motivation, any surviving Ice person would be compelled to hunt down Bran. In which case they can just walk through the giant hole in the wall in secrecy, bypass the whole north, and build a zombie army once they are near the ruined remains of King’s Landing, climb through more holes and deal with the king directly. Maybe they’ll have to wait for colder weather, but that shouldn’t be so hard. And if the king is so all knowing, he’d know about this threat too.
My weird next option is based on my previous post (that you may have to read because otherwise things won’t make much sense), that revolved around something being very off with Bran. To summarize it there may be multiple explanations to this. King Bran having usurped another, more suitably kingly body such as Jon Snow (dark, I know, but it would certainly explain why his character seems to be not quite there in later seasons) and the season finale being based on Bran’s self-serving interpretation of a vision/dream/prophecy (which would explain the complete lack of any sense or politics) are among them. A combination of these two is also possible. The others being Bran’s tools/allies is also part of it.
Should these scenarios apply, Snow would not really be a continuation to season 8, but a reset to whenever Bran’s plans fall apart or are otherwise revealed. This could be the Hodor moment or Jon Snow’s re-aliving. Or both simultaneously. Would that mean that much of the later seasons would have to be repeated with a mildly different spin? Not necessarily. Flashbacks are a possibility. At the very least, there would be much more politics. And Queen Cersei never made any sense whatsoever…
We don’t know how much information Bran truly has about the future. If he only has prophecies and songs, it won’t be much. Even if Bran truly has access to all information past and future simultaneously, he’d still have to digest all that information, sort through it draw his own conclusions. That takes time, and he might not have it. Not if the children of the Forest are his true enemies.
If the later parts of the show truly represent Bran’s interpretation of a vision/prophecy, it will probably turn out mostly wrong as there is no reason to assume that a young boy would not be fooled by something that seems to fool everyone, especially Melisandre. Interpreting these visions in a way that revolves around themselves, their fears and desires, seems to be a common theme.
The books seem to differentiate between at least two or three types of true (or false) visions. First there are greendreams or dragondreams, both of which seem to include symbolic imagery. Targaryens usually see dragons instead of their human counterparts, while Jojen Reed described his vision of Bran as Winged Wolf. If this was Bran’s vision type, he could have seen a winged wolf on the iron throne and assumed his own victory. But of course, if Jon is half-dragon, he too could fit the description. And Sansa is also associated with Birds/wings…
Melisandre’s visions seem to include real faces as well as symbols, but she too seems to fail at correct interpretations, regardless. We have no way of knowing if these visions were sent by the red god in answer to her questions or by another mage who is trying to guide her somewhere for his own purposes. For all we know these dreams could just be random ripple effects in the planets magical field (not the force, that name is already taken), caused by drastic events or magically powerful people, and received by those who are magic-field sensitive and/or have glass candles.
The third type of sight involves warging into an animal and seeing through its eyes. There may be implications that this can work across vast physical distances …and time too? Though maybe that only works if those animals were connected to the weirwood.net…
Of course, I don’t know what type of vision show-Bran’s journeys to Winterfells past and the tower of joy are supposed to represent. Warging into a past animal and ignoring it to save CGI money???No clue.
If Bran clearly saw a person upon the iron throne, this carries even darker implications, as he might not have seen his own body (that thing is too broken for the heroics he desires) but have simply assumed that it is a body he could take over at some point.
From a storytelling perspective, there are numerous reasons why a rivalry between Jon and Bran would fit. The first outline of the story supposedly already included it, but it was scrapped (are we so sure about that). Think about it. Bran is the boy who would love to climb the wall and fight great battles, and Jon is the one who actually gets to do that. Jealousy could certainly be a factor. Jon is also the one who stays at the wall while his family is out there dying (not exactly his choice, but still). And he’s also said this:
“I have no sister. Only brothers. Only you.” Lady Catelyn would have rejoiced to hear those words, he knew. That did not make them easier to say. His fingers closed around the parchment. Would that they could crush Ramsay Bolton’s throat as easily. – A Dance with Dragons Jon VI
As Bran is apparently a creepy stalker through time, there is no reason to assume he did not hear that. I know that many assume that it is Bloodraven who is spying through the raven, and that may be true, but this doesn’t exclude future Bran. Jon is trying to show a tough facade to his subordinates and trying to hide his doubts. Bran could believe his words, though. There is also that weird conversation:
“Oh, yes. Even a stunted, twisted, ugly little boy can look down over the world when he’s seated on a dragon’s back.” Tyrion pushed the bearskin aside and climbed to his feet. “I used to start fires in the bowels of Casterly Rock and stare at the flames for hours, pretending they were dragonfire. Sometimes I’d imagine my father burning. At other times, my sister.” Jon Snow was staring at him, a look equal parts horror and fascination. Tyrion guffawed. “Don’t look at me that way, bastard. I know your secret. You’ve dreamt the same kind of dreams.”
“No,” Jon Snow said, horrified. “I wouldn’t …”-A Game of Thrones Tyrion II
If Bran was listening to this, he may have believed Tyrion, especially if his resentment towards Jon was already strong. It could also explain show-Bran’s bizarre trust in Tyrion, of all people. At the very least, he would have considered him to be a useful ally in the destruction of house Lannister.
A weirwood.
It seemed to sprout from solid rock, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender compared to other weirwoods he had seen, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother’s face. Had his brother always had three eyes?
Not always, came the silent shout. Not before the crow.
He sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs. Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him. –A Clash of Kings Jon VII
We don’t know what timeline version of Bran is contacting Jon here. On the surface level he seems to help Jon build his warging talents. There is no reason to assume that any version of Bran would not want to give Jon the option of a second life. It must be noted that the death smell here could indicate that this Bran may be at the edge of death, and would therefore try to hatch any plan to give himself another chance at life. And that may require a connection with Jon and/or his body.
Another thing to consider is that Ghost differs from the other direwolves. Jon could hear him at their first meeting despite Ghosts apparent absolute muteness. As many across the internet have speculated, this could indicate him being the direwolf-warg equivalent, in which case Jon may have the option to return to his (hypothetically) re-alived body. (Don’t ask me how, the internet is full enough of theories).This could be the thing that Bran didn’t expect. Ghost’s strong negative reaction here could also foreshadow a conflict between the three of them.
No matter whether Snow takes place in the future or resets to a past moment, I do believe the conflict between Bran and Jon has to be at its center.