Over ten years ago, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) died on Game of Thrones. Despite the series' reputation for killing off core cast members left and right, this death still shocked many fans, as Jon's storyline had been growing more and more important leading up to his demise, and his plotline left several loose ends hanging.
In contrast, book readers were not surprised to see Jon die on screen, as the character suffers the same fate in the source material, George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Jon's death towards the end of the fifth and most recently published book in the series, A Dance with Dragons, marks the shocking conclusion to his storyline.
However, based on the final few seasons of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow will almost certainly come back to life in the next book, The Winds of Winter. While the show and the books don't always follow the same story, Jon acts as Game of Thrones' main character, so his absence from the latter two books would be too major a departure.
If this is the case and Jon Snow does return in The Winds of Winter, then he may end up connecting with one other character, someone whose relationship with Jon has been messy in the past. As such, this potential dynamic for these two characters would make for some fantastic drama.
Jon Snow and Catelyn Stark
Jon Snow's relationship with Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley), the matriarch of House Stark, has always been rocky, to say the least. Catelyn resents Jon because, as a bastard, he represents the infidelity of her husband, Ned Stark (Sean Bean). Throughout her time on the series, Catelyn regrets not being able to treat Jon with more kindness, but despite her strongest efforts, she cannot bring herself to love the boy.
Eventually, audiences learn that Ned never actually cheated on Catelyn, as he is not, in fact, Jon's father. In truth, Jon is the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding) and Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi), Ned's sister. As both Rhaegar and Lyanna died before the start of the series, only Lyanna's brother, Ned, knows the truth about Jon's heritage. Additionally, as Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) and Gilly (Hannah Murray) accidentally discover, Rhaegar annulled his previous marriage to Elia Martell in order to wed Lyanna, meaning that Jon is actually not a bastard after all, but instead, Aegon Targaryen, the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
Tragically, by the time this new information comes to light, Catelyn has been dead for several seasons. Catelyn infamously dies at the Red Wedding, along with her son, Robb (Richard Madden), daughter-in-law, Talisa (Oona Chaplin), and several important Stark bannermen. Catelyn's story becomes even sadder when considering that she died thinking her husband once loved another woman, when in reality, Ned remained loyal to Cat throughout his entire life.
Could Jon Snow cross paths with Lady Stoneheart?
In the show, Catelyn's story ends at the Red Wedding. The books, however, feature more of Catelyn after her death. After she was dumped into the river, Beric Dondarrion finds her with her throat slit and takes pity on her. Beric, having come back from the dead several times himself with the help of Thoros of Myr, sacrifices his last life in order to bring Catelyn back. She now hunts down anyone involved in the Red Wedding, leading the Brotherhood as the mute avenger Lady Stoneheart.
Martin wrote the character of Beric Dondarrion as a criticism of literary figures, often comic book characters, who come back to life with little consequence. As such, Beric loses a part of himself with each resurrection. This can also be seen in Lady Stoneheart, who barely resembles the Catelyn audiences came to know and love from the first three A Song of Ice and Fire books.
With this in mind, it is likely that The Winds of Winter's resurrected Jon Snow won't fully feel like his old self. In accordance with the rules established by Beric, Jon will be missing a piece of himself when he comes back.
With the (permanent) death of Beric, only one other character (excluding the wights and Others/White Walkers) can understand Jon's situation: Lady Stoneheart. Since the two of them would be the the only known undead south of the Wall, they would have an unspoken connection (literally, in the case of the silent Lady Stoneheart) regarding what coming back to life feels like and what they have lost. Should Jon and Lady Stoneheart cross paths in Winds of Winter, it could allow Martin to re-explore the once hostile dynamic between Catelyn and Jon, and, if R plus L does, in fact, equal J in the books, then maybe Jon and Catelyn could finally bury the hatchet.
For more from the world of Westeros, make sure to stream House of the Dragon season 3 on HBO Max.
Add us as a preferred source on Google