And the best part of Game of Thrones Season 5 is…
By Dan Selcke
…Jon Snow’s career as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.
This is what a winner looks like.
Jon won the poll by a long shot, with poor doomed Stannis coming in a distant second.
[polldaddy poll=9104039]
Commenter Snow joke summarized the push and pull that made Jon Snow’s Season 5 arc so tense.
"From the moment Jon became Lord Commander he was doomed. He had too much to overcome. Thorne was waiting for his opportunity and got it the moment Jon left for Hardhome, probably preparing to use Ollys anger and Jons honour against him. I feel that Thorne was hoping Jon wouldn’t come back but planning for when he did. He is a snake in crows clothing."
The goings-on at the Wall were rich in Season 5, arguably richer than they had been at any point of the show, but I suspect that part of the reason Jon’s story nabbed a lot of votes was because it contained “Hardhome,” which seems destined to go down in history as one of the show’s strongest hours. Commenter Susie Daniela put it eloquently, with visual aids:
"Hardhome**** ⛄❄✨ Jon Snow… The land of always winter… Ice cream cones… Ice, winter… You get the idea ❄⛄?❄⛄? the unknown***"
Looking back, it’s pretty clear that the high point of the year was “Hardhome,” and not just because of the massacre that took up the back half of the episode—remember that “Hardhome” also brought us involving conversations between Daenerys and Tyrion and the memorable sight of Cersei slurping water off a dungeon floor. I think Susie Daniela gets at something important when she mentions “the unknown.” “Hardhome” was the first episode of the series that really sat us down and got us acquainted with the White Walkers, who had previously been an almost entirely unknown quantity. That’s still largely the case, but “Hardhome” pointed the way into the future, when we’ll probably get to know them a whole lot better.
That’s bad news for the characters in the story, but it’s good news for viewers at home—if the show can bring us more of the drama it brought us in “Hardhome,” it’ll be must-watch TV. And the first line of defense against the White Walkers is Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch. Jon’s attempts to unite his followers against the coming threat may have failed, but for his willingness to try, he deserves to walk away with the win.