Mutiny at Castle Black

Template:Massacre

"For the Watch."

―The black brothers who stab Jon Snow.

The Mutiny at Castle Black is an event that occurs during the Conflict Beyond the Wall, in which numerous brothers of the Night's Watch mutiny against their Lord Commander, Jon Snow, and subsequently face the wrath of Jon's loyalists.

History

Prelude

"Lord Commander, it is my duty to tell you I believe this mission to be reckless, foolhardy and an insult to all the brothers who have died fighting the wildlings."

―Alliser Thorne denounces Jon's decision to save the wildlings.

Following the Battle of Castle Black, Jon Snow is elected the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Having spent time with the Wildlings as part of an intelligence mission, Jon grows to sympathize with the Wildlings and realizes that since both the Night's Watch and the Wildlings are Northerners descended from the First Men, the Wildlings have as much right to live in Westeros as the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, as they are Northerners who were merely on the wrong side of the Wall when it was first built. With the coming threat of the White Walkers and their army of undead wights, Jon proposes making peace with the Wildlings, allowing the Wildlings to pass through the Wall and settle in the Seven Kingdoms, in order to have the manpower to fight the imminent White Walker invasion and to keep them from falling into the hands of the White Walkers. With the massacre at Hardhome, Jon is only able to save a few thousand Wildlings, and letting them through Castle Black earns him the contempt of most of the Night's Watch, who lack the same foresight as Jon and see this as both a surrender to their traditional enemies and a betrayal to the Watch.

Events

"Lord Commander, it's one of the wildlings you brought back. Says he knows your Uncle Benjen, says he's still alive."

―Olly lures Jon into the mutineers' trap.

Lord Commander Jon Snow is betrayed by his own men

Shortly after Jon and Davos Seaworth receive news from Lady Melisandre of Stannis Baratheon's devastating defeat at the hands of the army of House Bolton, Jon is left pondering in his quarters what to do next. His personal steward, Olly, bursts into his quarters and announces that they have captured some Wildlings with information on his uncle, former First Ranger Benjen Stark who has been missing since Jon first joined the Watch. Jon goes outside to see, only to be shown a sign with the word "Traitor" on it. Jon is surrounded by numerous black brothers, led by Alliser Thorne, Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck, each of whom stab him in the abdomen while uttering "For the Watch". As Jon falls to his knees, he is approached by Olly. After a tense moment, Olly stabs Jon through the chest and also says, "For the Watch." Jon falls to the ground and his fellow black brothers walk away, leaving him to bleed out and die alone.

Aftermath

"My watch is ended."

―Jon Snow after executing the mutineers.

Jon is revived by Melisandre

Several Night's Watch brothers loyal to Jon are alerted by Ghost's whimpering. Davos, Eddison Tollett and a few of Jon's friends find his body and place it inside his quarters. Though Edd immediately realizes Thorne led the mutiny, Thorne does not hide his treason and manages to win over most of the Night's Watch with his reasoning that Jon was prepared to see the Watch destroyed. Edd leaves to get help from the Wildlings led by Tormund. Jon's loyalists stand firm, and Thorne issues them an ultimatum: surrender or die.

The loyalists refuse to surrender and the mutineers attempt to force their way in, but are stopped when Edd returns with Tormund and the Wildlings, and Wun Wun smashes the door to Castle Black down. After a brief stand-off, the mutineers surrender and Edd orders Thorne, Marsh, Yarwyck and Olly locked in the ice cells for their treachery. In a last ditch effort, Davos approaches Melisandre to ask her about the ability to revive someone from death. Having lost her faith in the Lord of Light, Melisandre nevertheless cleans Jon's body and mutters the incantation that Thoros of Myr used to bring Beric Dondarrion back to life six times. When Jon fails to respond, his friends leave the room one by one, but once he and Ghost are alone, Jon suddenly wakes up, back from the dead.

After recovering, Jon issues the execution of the mutineers' three leaders and of the one who had struck the fatal blow into his heart. Thus Thorne, Marsh, Yarwyck and Olly are all sentenced to death by hanging. Jon oversees their execution and cuts the lever, before leaving Castle Black and the Night's Watch, as his death essentially marked the end of his service.

In the books

Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck and more of the Watch officers, who initially support Jon, grow displeased with his conduct as the Lord Commander. Their main complaint is his decision to bring Wildlings to the Watch. Bowen Marsh states what he and others feel about Jon's decision: "What you propose is nothing less than treason. For eight thousand years the men of the Night’s Watch have stood upon the Wall and fought these Wildlings. Now you mean to let them pass, to shelter them in our castles, to feed them and clothe them and teach them how to fight. Lord Snow, must I remind you? You swore an oath”. Jon explains that it is necessary because the manpower of the Watch has dwindled dangerously as a result of the Great Ranging, and that every wildling to die north of the Wall means one more wight to fight with, but they are not satisfied. They fear that the Wildlings will turn against them, now that they are south of the Wall and greatly outnumber the black brothers.

In the novels, the mutiny at Castle Black is told from Jon's point of view, save for a few minor differences. Throughout A Dance with Dragons, tension grows within Jon as he hears of House Bolton's numerous atrocities, mostly at the hands of Ramsay Bolton, whom Jon learns has married and is abusing Arya Stark, Jon's half-sister whom he loves dearly (unaware that it is actually a disguised Jeyne Poole). Unable to leave Castle Black to rescue "Arya" personally, Jon and Melisandre instead send Mance Rayder (whose execution was faked) to infiltrate Winterfell and get her out. After hearing of the failed mission to Hardhome, Jon decides to go with Tormund and see to it himself, but shortly before he can leave, he receives a letter that was apparently sent by Ramsay, who claims that Stannis Baratheon has been killed, his army smashed, Mance Rayder captured, and Jeyne and Reek (whom Jon does not know is Theon) escaped. In the letter, Ramsay demands the return of Arya and Reek, and Melisandre, Selyse Baratheon, Shireen Baratheon, Val (Mance Rayder's sister in law) and Mance's baby son handed over to him as hostages, threatening to march on the Wall and kill Jon if he does not agree. Finally pushed to his breaking point, Jon decides to ride to Winterfell and kill Ramsay himself, and manages to rally numerous Wildlings to his cause. However, since this is a direct violation of Jon's Night's Watch vows, this serves as the final straw for most of his black brothers. Led by Bowen Marsh, they ambush Jon in the snow. When Jon hears Wun Wun roaring, he comes to calm the giant, and then the conspirators make their move.

The first to attack is the steward Wick Whittlestick, but he only grazes Jon; Jon asks "Why?" and Wick cries "For the Watch" and slashes again, but Jon grabs his wrist and makes him drop the dagger. Wick recoils, his hands upraised. Jon reaches for Longclaw, but for unknown reasons his fingers have grown stiff and clumsy, and he cannot draw the sword. Then Bowen Marsh tearfully stabs Jon in the stomach whilst uttering "For the Watch". Jon falls on his knees. He wrenches the dagger free and smoke emanates from the wound. He whispers "Ghost", overwhelmed by pain. The third dagger takes him between the shoulder blades, and he gives a grunt and falls face-first into the snow, losing consciousness before he is stabbed a fourth time. This is the last seen of Jon in the novel, and it is left unclear if he has been killed or not.

In the books, Alliser Thorne does not take part in the mutiny since Jon sent him earlier on a mission and he has not returned yet, and neither does Olly, who does not exist in the novels. Othell Yarwyck is among Marsh's followers, but it is unclear if he is one of those who stab Jon.

Melisandre has foreseen the assassination and warned Jon "It is not the foes who curse you to your face that you must fear, but those who smile when you are looking and sharpen their knives when you turn your back. You would do well to keep your wolf close beside you. Ice, I see, and daggers in the dark. Blood frozen red and hard, and naked steel. It was very cold.” She advises Jon to keep Ghost close to him all the time, but since one of her visions proved to be wrong (a vision of a Northern girl fleeing Winterfell for the Wall, whom Melisandre believed to be Arya but turned out to be Alys Karstark), he ignores her warning. Thus, when Ghost grows restless after the arrival of a Wildling skinchanger named Borroq and his boar, Jon locks Ghost to prevent a fight between the two beasts.

See also

• Mutiny at Castle Black on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (MAJOR spoilers from the books)

References

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