It was the biggest twist of all, which almost nobody saw coming. Well, unless you have a third eye or a handy pack of ravens. Bran Stark was elected King of Six Kingdoms. Yes, they were a kingdom short since Sansa staged a sneaky coup and snuck off with The North, restored once more as an independent state. At her tearful (and slightly guilty) farewell with Jon Snow, she expressed her regret for many things, not least that the North could not have its rightful king. She was wrong. The script to the final episode shows that there were three kings and queens established, after all. The Starks took it all.
The script has been published online since it is nominated for an Emmy Award. During the family farewell on the quay at King’s Landing, Jon tells his sister: “The North is free thanks to you.” Sansa replies: ‘But they’ve lost their true king.”
Firstly, she is wrong on a purely technical point. If Jon was the acknowledged Targaryen heir, he would legally be King of all Seven Kingdoms. But he was not and now The North is no longer part of that throne, anyway. The North has reverted to the Stark line.
Eddard Stark’s children are the heirs to the North and Jon, everyone now knows, was not his illegitimate son but his nephew. Sansa is the eldest legal Stark, discounting Bran.
But everyone is overlooking a major plotline. Jon was also heir to another ‘kingdom.’ It is the scene descriptions and script notes which make this clear.
When Jon linked up with Mance Rayder, the wildling leader was commonly referred to as The King Beyond The Wall. And he clearly saw in Jon a potential and worthy heir.
Jon may have been sent back to the Night’s watch and the Wall, but the final shot of the entire show makes it clear he is not staying there. And the script makes it even clearer what his destiny is. Where he has always belonged.
Jon is riding north, beyond the Wall. He looks back over his shoulder at his past, at everything behind him. What lies ahead is his future.
The script hammers it home: “CASTLE BLACK MAIN COURTYARD – DAY. Jon walks down the last few stairs to the ground level, where the last of the Free Folk await him… Jon steps forward into the sea of waiting faces. There is no suspicion in those faces, no awe. Only trust. The Night’s Watch used to hunt them, but they will follow this Night’s Watchman.”
What lies out there is Jon’s now. There is no Night King, no other king human or not. There is little need for a Night’s Watch, whatever Tyrion’s flippant comments may say. And Jon, it appears, is done with listening to everyone else. He is still a Night’s Watchman because that oath is for life (and life after death) but he will forge it into something new.
With a direwolf by his side and Tormund and the last remaining wildlings, Jon has effectively become the King Beyond The Wall. He never wanted a traditional throne but his a born leader and will accept his duty and destiny, finally where he belongs.
Effectively, the Starks now rule all three parts of Westeros – The Six Kingdoms, The North and The Lands of Always Winter.
Somewhere, Cersei is rolling in her grave…
