SPOILERS AHEAD – YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
So, John Snow is dead, and they’re going to throw him onto a fire, just to be safe. That might work out a lot better than anyone imagines.
One of the theories going around for the past year is that John Snow is going to be back brought back by Melisandre. She came back to The Wall after witnessing the downfall of Stannis, after all right? Well, that could just be a case of self preservation more than anything else, because up until now she’s been a true believer in Stannis being the reincarnation of “The Prince that was Promised”, the prince that would be back to lead the people against The Others. Since Stannis is dead, that’s out the window. John Snow’s dead too, so he’s probably not on her list either.
But he should be, not that she’ll have anything to do about it at this point.
So the going theory is this:
We’re not really sure who John Snow’s mother really is. Ned Stark was going to tell John this, but died too soon to tell him. It’s quite likely that this was a secret for a pretty darn good reason; if it had been some random woman, there wouldn’t be much to keep secret in the first place. Chances are that he was doing this to protect him from being killed.
Who would have wanted him killed, if his real mother had been found out? Robert Baratheon! He killed many of the people in House Targaryen and still considered the survivors a threat. Daenerys and her brother were taken at a young age and hidden away to protect them. What if John Snow’s mother was a Targaryen? Wouldn’t Ned want to protect his identity from Robert?
Let’s say that’s true. The legend of “The Prince That Was Promised” he will be reborn again to challenge The Others. Well, to be reborn again, it either has to be done one of two ways… either he was a baby, grew up and then reveals his identity. That’s the Stannis theory Melisandre was working under. It could be that he’ll be brought back from the dead… and that’s where John Snow comes in.
If John’s really a Targaryen, then throwing him into the fight might be the best thing for him. We saw Daenerys come out of the fire with dragon eggs… Perhaps John being set aflame (or attempted to be set aflame) is just the thing to bring him back?
But if he’s really gone, what would come back in his place… well, my guess is that he transitioned into his direwolf Ghost as his body died. When his body is rejuvinated in the fire, he’ll come back out of Ghost into his body.
When this happens, Melisandre will realize John is really “The Prince That Was Promised”. A Targaryen Prince.
Sure wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of John’s wrath when he does come back and confront the people that stabbed him.
Anyway, that’s the going theory. We’ll see what happens tonight on Game of Thrones.
PS. Bet Tyrion is really a Targaryen too, and he’ll end up being King. But that’s another post.