Jon, Dany and the burnt Tarlys...again
So anti- posts seem to go through cycles. One day its the burnt Tarlys, then its the incest aspect (all that 44% and what not etc.), then it’ the “no chemistry” and “Jon never looks at her lovingly, it is only in her mind”, then it’s that Dany is so power hungry that she’ll hate Jon and want to destroy him for being a potential rival to her Iron Throne claim, and so on, cycling back to one of those mentioned above eventually.
Very well, for the burnt Tarlys, note:
1) Jon fell in love with Ygritte and did not stop loving her despite her value system being the opposite of his, and despite the fact that he saw her do horrible things (kill complete innocents).
2) Jon intervened to spare Mance from being burnt by Stannis, but he continued to actively (to the point of breaking his vows) support him as a ruler despite the fact that he knew that Stannis burnt people alive, which was well known. He did not start to hate him. In the books he even sees Rattleshirt burnt alive and continues to support Stannis and hope for his victory.
3) Yes Jon exiled Melisandre for burning someone, but this was because she burnt a complete innocent, not an opponent in war who had been given other choices (I’m sure Shireen would have bent the knee or gone to the Wall if that was on the table). Jon knew quite well that Melisandre had burned lots of people before that.
4) Jon saw clearly what dragons can do in 7x06 and he knows that Dany took Drogon to fight the Lannisters. Unless he is extraordinarily stupid, he knows that many Lannister soldiers etc. were burned. His supposed aversion to burning did not stop him from loving her then.
5) The very same episode in which this happened 7x05 made a point to remind us that terrible things like this can happen in war and are not necessarily an impediment to future cooperation when Tyrion (the one most horrified by Daenerys’ actions) was reminded by Davos that the last time he was at King’s Landing, Tyrion was responsible for burning Davos’ son alive.
6) To think that Jon will be unable to look past Dany’s killing of his best friend’s father and brother due to the personal connection he has with Sam (i.e. the personal injury, not morality) seems to ignore how caring and affectionate he had become towards Olly, who let us remember had killed the woman Jon loved in front of his eyes (something that I doubt Jon would be able to forget).
So I don’t think there is really much reason to expect that this incident provides much support for the ones who wish for Targbowl (and hope it destroys the Jonerys ship).
Moreover Sam’s relationship with his family is extremely strained and difficult. This was a father who literally wanted to kill him if he didn’t join the Watch. Know which other character’s father was offering him a similar choice once? Tyrion’s. We know how that turned out.
That said, while I am quite convinced that this incident creates no insurmountable obstacle for Jonerys, its Chekov’s gun nature, the fact that Sam was shielded from its knowledge, the fact that in the original script outline Jon didn’t learn of it and Dany edited it out, makes me believe that it is there because it will show up in season 8 and probably cause some issues and tension for Jonerys (or, perhaps even more likely, then maybe a rift between Jon and Sam when Jon is shown to either ignore or get over it quite easily). Hopefully it would not last too long.
Finally, I should note that I have very serious doubts that this will happen in the books. Randall Tarly was a Targaryen loyalist who kicked Robert’s ass and was staunchly loyal to the Mad King following the Tyrell’s until the “bitter end and beyond.” I find it highly implausible that someone with that history would hate Daenerys so much.
