TV

Game of Thrones Jon Snow spinoff: 5 things we want to see (and 5 mistakes we want to see fixed)

Published

September 30, 2022

The news of a Jon Snow-based spinoff series to Game of Thrones is in development at HBO came as a surprise to fans. This is considering the fact that the concluding season of Game of Thrones was so critically panned. However, the appeal in George R. R. Martin’s work is far from dead. An outright spinoff series would upgrade these characters into completely uncharted territories. Some are understandably anxious, but others are enthusiastic about its potential. The Jon Snow spinoff has a uniquely massive challenge coming ahead.

Five Things We Want To See Happen In The Jon Snow Spinoff

We want to see Kit Harington and the show creators deliver to fans their best performance. So here we list five things we want to see happen in the Jon Snow sequel.

1) Tormund Giantsbane and Jon Snow alliance

Tormund Giantsbane and Jon Snow Beyond The Wall Game of Thrones

The magnetic charisma that Tormund Giantsbane bled during his time on Game of Thrones is undeniable. Giantsbane met Snow beyond the wall during the finale of Game of Thrones. The likelihood of pairing the two and developing their connection is one that the creators absolutely have to take. We don’t see obvious reasons why Giantsbane’s future couldn’t have a return to Westeros.

Giantsbane is one of the few characters who has the skill at piercing Snow’s gloomy, black shell. Tormund initially started off being hostile and tense when Snow attempted to reason and negotiate with them. But gradually the duo developed into one of the biggest fan-favorite fellowships in Game of Thrones. All the circumstances line up perfectly for the pair to transverse a “beyond the wall” adventure together.

2) Expansion of the story beyond the north

Jon Snow Ygritte Season 2 Game of Thrones

There is no excuse for the Snow sequel to limit itself to the human beings of Westeros. There is a large, unknown world in which the show can set itself. The Snow spinoff will miss a tremendously potent opportunity if they never allow itself to delve deeper into the known world and explore new corners of it. There are many points throughout Game of Thrones that plainly display creative joy. They also have the opportunity and commitment to try to beat their previous efforts.

The Snow spinoff has the potential to play around with new societies and architecture, new spells and gods, and certainly new exotic animals. Snow’s activities after the series finale of Game of Thrones are mysterious. But it is clear enough that he had spent a good portion of time living beyond the wall with the Free Folk. Although there could be things to explore in the North, some are concerned that it wouldn’t make sense to have an entire series devoted to it. The conflict setups in this upcoming series could partially take place beyond the wall.

3) Happiness in Jon Snow’s life

Jon Snow with Daenerys Targaryen Season 8

More than everything else, Jon Snow merits some peace and happiness in his life. The character of Jon Snow has been doing a thankless job throughout the run of Game of Thrones. He received very little reward for his accomplishments by the end. There are a couple of debates to be had about who the greatest hero of the series is. Arya, Samwell, and Tyrion are definitely frontrunners for that title. But not a single character carried an extremely high rate of trouble suffered to heroism achieved anywhere near close to that of Jon Snow.

Jon Snow’s fate is similar to that of Frodo Baggins at the completion of Lord of the Rings. But at least the hobbit is able to spend his final moments at his home. Snow wasn’t even given permission to return to Winterfell despite sacrificing his own life for the cause. This is why, above everything, Snow merits his own incredibly well-earned happy ending. So watching him settle down with a similarly resurrected Ygritte may just be the perfect end to the White Wolf’s hunt.

4) Flashbacks and flashforwards in the plot

Jon Snow shirtless in Season 1

The series runners have two key tools in front of them. One involves looking backward. One of the biggest disasters of Game of Thrones is that Sean Bean had to die onscreen. The Snow spinoff could relieve this tragedy by flashing back to the times of young Snow. They could portray the lessons he learned during those times from Ned Stark, and from his uncle Benjen. Another potential key tool that the Snow spinoff is flashforwards.

Snow’s tales could go swiftly forward into their own mysterious future. That future should be right after Snow’s exile to the North. The new spinoff may transform the already-grim fighter into a more cynical, utilitarian figure. He may not even age at a normal rate anymore considering his magical resurrection from the nothingness of death. The idea of following an elder, torn, eye-patch-wearing Snow as he does what he has to in order to survive in the brutal, frozen North will be interesting.

5) Planning ahead for more games

Jon Snow Game of Thrones Season 4

One facet of Game of Thrones still remains a dark hole in the minds of the fans. It’s the infamous eighth season. The lack of planning on how to execute the finale left a scar on the legacy of Game of Thrones. Of any misstep the Snow spinoff could make, this is the biggest mistake to avoid. Rather than the White Walkers, it may perhaps be an invasion from another land or an entirely new species. This time, however, the showrunners need to plan ahead of time when and where the threat will come from.

They also need to plan ahead a satisfying, fun way to beat it without entirely destroying the show’s realism. Any hardcore Game of Thrones fan is going to be following the Snow series closely. But they don’t want it to finish by being dumped off in a ditch. The Snow spinoff needs to develop its own path for sure. But entirely abandoning what made its original series such a blockbuster hit would be a blunder.

Five mistakes the Jon Snow spinoff needs to fix

Jon Snow’s spinoff will be able to fix the mess Game of Thrones left behind. Let’s take a deep dive below at what needs repairing for the franchise if this spinoff wishes to succeed.

1) The death of Daenerys Targaryen

daenerys, viserys and daemon targaryen

The finale episode of Game of Thrones left a lot of fans unhappy as many felt it contradicts the character’s buildup till then. The finale episode saw Danaerys Targaryen successfully overthrow King’s Landing. It ended with Jon Snow stabbing her to death in the Iron Throne room to stop her from further acts of terrorism. She was more famous than Jon Snow to most fans, making her death all the more tragic. This is why most fanatics perceive her end at the hands of Jon Snow as a big insult.

Daenerys herself may not be able to back anymore. But the Jon Snow spinoff may still be able to resolve her ending. There are still a lot of ways to have her in the series and resolve her untimely death that betrayed years of character development. Although Snow being resurrected paved the way for her potential resurrection, its execution would be risky creatively. It is hard to see how Daenerys could believably be resurrected after her genocide of King’s Landing.

2) The treatment of White Walkers in the finale

white walkers game of thrones

The White Walkers were an old race of formerly-human ice creatures whose origins lie in the far north of Westeros. They are an unnatural menace to mankind who dwell north of The Wall in Westeros. The premiere episode of Game of Thrones began with a pair of men from the Night’s Watch ending at the hands of the White Walkers. Since then, their danger has been slowly built up to be the most crucial one. The battle of Hardhome in the fifth season showed how powerful these monsters were. With all of this in consideration, they should have had a proper storyline as the show neared its finish.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the reality when Game of Thrones completed its final season in a careless tone. The Night King and his troops were quickly dumped after eight seasons of portraying everyone how deadly they are. Kit Harrington’s character returning back from Beyond The Wall explaining what really had happened to the undead would be great. It doesn’t even have to be another huge battle or anything. The Game of Thrones sequel needs to give the Night King and his White Walkers the closure they merit. This comes especially after how the Game of Thrones finale treated them.

3) Too much grandiosity for too little content

laenor velaryon dragon seasmoke

The success of the series indicates that a lot more well-known individuals would be making appearances. Special appearances initially sounded very promising. But it later turns out that the more the plot thickened, the less relevant these guest appearances seemed to be. Another similar mistake in the last seasons of the Game of Thrones was the way its equilibrium between story and action slipped away.

The creators seemed to enjoy showing epic action stunts more than the balance of storytelling and action to which fans had grown accustomed. It seems that much of the existing politics already out were ton down in favour of war. Snow’s spinoff will have to return back to the basics of maintaining a balanced approach between these two aspects if it wants to rise above this.

4) Overlooking major details and bits that don’t lead anywhere

daemon targaryen episode 3

Many TV series stumble when it comes to including what is in each episode. This makes them struggle to balance time progression. A major problem of Game of Thrones is the way they rush through the details to strike plot points. The time period between some decisions and their respective outcomes lasts too long during the final seasons.

This restricts the importance of certain events which had otherwise been more satisfying to watch. Snow was one of the main characters and a source of much supposition concerning his past, present, and future liaisons. Game of Thrones relied heavily on leaving breadcrumbs for fans to follow. But many of them turned out to be dead ends at the end of the show.

5) Overlooking George R. R. Martin’s Original Books

George R.R. Martin at Comic-Con

George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” was the principal inspiration for Game of Thrones. While his consultations had a big role during the early plotlines, Game of Thrones deviated from his suggestions from the fifth season onwards. One thing is clear to most Game of Thrones fanatics. George R. R. Martin himself needs to be a major part of any series based on his books. The difference between Game of Throne’s origins and its polarizing ending reveals a lot of things.

It reveals that basing the author and the original material makes a big difference when it comes to telling a remarkable story. House of the Dragon is already proving this. Another way a spinoff could take advantage of is to include characters that never made it into the original show from Martin’s books. As acclaimed as (most of) Game of Thrones was, not every plotline and character was going to make it into the adaptation.