Should Jon Snow bend the knee to Daenerys Targaryen?

Game of Thrones season 7 has brought characters together in ways that seemed impossible not long ago. The most monumental of those meetings has been between Jon Snow, the King in the North, and Daenerys Targaryen, rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Break of Chains and so on and so forth.

Dany summoned Jon (on the advice of Melisandre and with Tyrion’s blessing) to bend the knee and accept her as queen. Jon has been reluctant to do that, but should he? Let’s examine the positives and negatives of Jon pledging himself and the North to Daenerys Targaryen.

Jon should bend the knee

On the plus side, bending the knee to Daenerys Targaryen would guarantee her allegiance in the wars to come. Dany might have lost most of her Westerosi allies, but she still commands a horde of cavalry (Dothraki), as well as a large infantry force (Unsullied). She lost some of her ships, but she clearly had enough to ferry the Dothraki to the mainland. With the North’s depleted number of soldiers (ten thousand or fewer, by Jon’s guess), Jon and company could desperately use Daenerys’ help. And let’s not forget about the dragons.

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And Jon needs the help. To the north, they’re preparing to fight the White Walkers, a race of murderous ice creatures. And as Davos so expertly pointed out, fire melts ice. Dany’s dragons, destructive as they are against the living, would be even more effective against the dead. And while dragons are not invulnerable to harm, the wights and White Walkers have yet to show any ability to launch airborne attacks. That allows the dragons to fly safely overheard, torching everything.

To the south, they face the threat of Cersei Lannister, who is making overtures to the Golden Company to “take back some things that belong to me.” We’re not entirely sure what she means, but the odds are good she’s talking about wayward kingdoms like the North. Daenerys could help Jon fight this multi-front war. In fact, he may not be able to fight it without her.

Jon should not bend the knee

On the flip side, there are two very strong arguments against Jon Snow bending the knee. First, as Jon noted in “The Spoils of War,” the Northern lords aren’t likely to accept a southern ruler. Some of Jon’s lords (Lord Glover) are old enough to remember to remember the reign of the Mad King and would likely be unwilling to kneel to his daughter. Others (Lady Mormont) have such a deep-seated independent streak that they would likely be unwilling to kneel to a southern ruler, especially one they do not know.

Complicating matters for Jon is the return of Bran Stark to Winterfell. Yes, the Northern lords were eager to proclaim Jon King in the North when there were no true-born male Starks hanging about. But how long would that loyalty last now that a son of Ned and Catelyn Stark has returned AND Jon declares for a southern ruler? Jon does not have years of stable and just rule to fall back on; he’s still new to the role. Should Jon decide to kneel to Daenerys, he could find his kingship isn’t as stable as it looks. On some level, Jon seems to know this.

Should Jon somehow convince the lords of the North that joining Daenerys is the right course of action, that presents other problems. Thus far, despite sending a raven demanding fealty, Cersei Lannister has largely ignored the North. Cersei’s attention has been focused on Dany, as the North’s has remained focused on the Night King. If Jon were to bend the knee to Dany, suddenly, everyone’s attention would shift. Jon would vault to the top of Cersei’s action-item list, and Jon would have to devote resources away from the war with the undead. That accomplishes exactly what Jon is hoping to avoid: a conflict with anyone who is not the Night King. (Of course, as stated above, he may have that conflict anyway.)

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Recall that the last time Jon did what he thought was right even though his followers disapproved, he got murdered. As when he allied himself with the wildlings, allying himself with another foreign force — Dany — could cause more trouble than it’s worth.

The best solution for Jon, and probably the one he’s hoping for, is for Daenerys to fight the White Walkers with him without having to bend the knee to her. That way, he gets to make use of her impressive firepower and keeps his credibility with the lords.

But can Jon convince Dany to take this course of action? That’s the harder question, and one that will likely take the rest of season 7 or longer to answer.