JON — Chapter 29

Atop the Wall, Jon orders three small ranging parties into the haunted forest: Dywen, Black Jack Bulwer, and Kedge Whiteye each lead three men, with Ser Alliser Thorne sent despite his open hostility. Jon hopes for intelligence on wildlings and foes, even as reports from Cotter Pyke and Denys Mallister plead for more men Jon cannot spare.

Descending to the yard, Jon drills Iron Emmett’s trainees, stressing unfair realities of war by facing three at once and admonishing them about wights. Rattleshirt challenges him; armored in steel with a greatsword, the wildling proves unexpectedly strong and quick. The duel ends on the ground, Rattleshirt briefly dominant before being dragged off. Jon acknowledges the defeat and restraint.

Clydas delivers a letter sealed with pink wax from the Dreadfort. Jon reads Ramsay Bolton’s proclamation: Moat Cailin is taken; lords are summoned to Barrowton to affirm loyalty and celebrate Ramsay’s wedding to “Arya Stark.” The news pierces Jon, who denies having a sister aloud but privately recalls Arya and feels powerless to help.

That night, stiff and troubled, Jon wanders into the cold with Ghost. In the shadows he mistakes Melisandre for Ygritte before confronting the red priestess. Melisandre claims she has seen Jon’s sister in the flames: a girl in grey on a dying horse, fleeing the marriage and coming to the Wall. She courts Jon to embrace the power at the Wall—and through joining with her—to fight the darkness.

Melisandre then prophesies doom for the nine men Jon sent out: three will die and return ravaged and blind. She urges Jon to remember the cost of disbelief when they come back and to take her hand so she can help save his sister. Jon is left with dread for his rangers and the unsettling lure of Melisandre’s promised aid.