My first post got removed because I incorrectly used the spoiler tag, so this is a repost.

Recently watched a video called The Importance of Luke Skywalker by So Uncivilized (fantastic video essay by the way, highly recommend), and in the analysis it point out that while Luke is often seen as the hero archetype, in deconstructing him his story becomes a lot deeper and interesting in how his heroic characteristics sometimes hurt him.

Now Jon Snow became the new era’s typical hero, like Harry Potter and others had previously been. But we all know how GRRM feels about tropes, and Jon is meant to be more than just that. More than “the chosen one”, more than “the hidden prince”, more than just “the hero”. At least in how he is characterized.

Book Jon displays this where the show struggled (no hate to Kit Harrington), because where D&D tried to subvert the hero-storyline with their shitty expectation subversion, it’s rather his approach to doing good that sets Jon apart.

He stands up for Sam by threatening violence. Not simply by showing others he is better, he legitimately threatens peoples lives with Ghost.

He goes against his vows and it almost stops being an act, he legitimately loves Ygritte and enjoys the Wildling culture.

He has to combat his brothers distrust and only gets a position of power through trickery, and not even trickery that he was responsible for. Then when he has that position he has to make real decisions that have consequences.

I feel like the reason why a lot of people connect with Jon s because he really feels like the most grounded character, like he feels somewhat normal compared to everyone else. He isn’t super moral or super immoral, we see his internal struggles and questioning of who he is, if he deserves what he’s gotten, if he’s right for the job, and what it is that he wants.

Compared to Daenerys, who sits alone in her position, Tyrion who goes through the struggle of life as a dwarf and deals with politics on a level most readers can never dream of, Arya who goes around learning how to be an assassin, Sansa who deals with a situation of powerlessness that again most people will never experience, Bran who’s got all sorts of cryptid shit going on, and nearly every single other character who lives with some sort of struggle most can’t relate to, Jon is a good connector.

Sure, we don’t have to think about fighting ice monsters or balancing two groups who hate each other, but it’s the way he thinks about these things that make him relatable. He has a big deadline he has to meet, some of his coworkers are POS while others are his friends, he has interests and feelings that he doesn’t fully understand, and overall just wants to do the right thing and discover himself. These are struggles a lot of people go through, and it helps to ground him.

TLDR: Jon may seem like the hero, but I think he is actually the most normal of them all, and just lives trying to balance what he thinks is right with his actual desires.

Anyway, that how I view Jon Snow. What do you think?