Game Of Thrones: 5 Times The Night’s Watch Failed On Their Oath (& 5 Times They Lived Up To It)

“My watch has ended,” Jon Snow said after he was raised from the dead by Melisandre and her Lord of Light. He was the first man in Game of Thrones to say those words for himself because all his brothers of The Watch whose watches ended didn’t come back. He was still the best Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch in eight millennia, as he accomplished the true purpose of The Watch: protecting the realms of men.

While Jon Snow more than kept the vows he made to the Night’s Watch, The Watch wasn’t exactly the best military order in the Seven Kingdoms. Some members of the order broke their oaths, and sometimes the entire watch was led astray, forsaking their vows. While Robert Baratheon was to blame for the short handedness of the soldiers of The Wall, these faults were entirely on The Night’s Watch.

10 Failed: Killing Joer Mormont

Joer Mormont, the 997th Lord Commander, was a strong pillar of the order; strong and faithful to all his vows. He had seen The Watch through tough days of being abandoned by The Crown and somehow managed to keep things going while the rest of the Seven Kingdoms fought in the War of the Five Kings.

His decision to protect Craster was his way of keeping Westerosi law of the Guest Right, and he needed an ally beyond The Wall when the war against the Wildlings came. Killing Joer Mormont left the Night’s Watch, which had just lost over two hundred men, leaderless, leading to the chaos that ensued afterward.

9 Lived Up: Accepting Gilly

Women and children especially Wildlings, were not allowed in Castle Black; that was a rule set by the Black Brothers, but not part of their oath. The Night’s Watch’s fundamental purpose was to act as the refuge of the vulnerable and the abandoned, as Tyrion Lannister confirmed after the Battle of King’s Landing.

After Craster’s death, Gilly, who had suffered abuse all her life, was on the brink of death. If The Watch was required to protect anyone, it was people like her. Breaking the rules to give her shelter was the most humane decision in Castle Black before Jon Snow became Lord Commander.

8 Failed: Sparing Craster

Craster’s Keep was an essential haven for Rangers beyond The Wall, but it wasn’t that useful if Craster would stand by and watch Night’s Watch brothers starve while he kept his grain in the stores. The Night’s Watch also did nothing when Craster gave up his newborn sons to be killed and converted into White Walkers.

Joer Mormont’s conservativeness beat sense when he opted to keep Craster alive for all those years. All the dead sons and the pain suffered by Craster’s wives and daughters can therefore be blamed on the Night’s Watch choosing diplomacy over humanity.

7 Lived Up: The Battle of Castle Black

Wildlings were a threat to the Night’s Watch until Mance Rayder changed everyone’s view of the tribes beyond The Wall. The Battle of Castle Black was their best chance at coming South of the Great Wall and escaping the White Walkers, but it would have left all the Seven Kingdoms vulnerable to the Night King.

Since negotiations had not happened, the Wildlings were enemies and the bravery of the few surviving members of The Watch was incredible. The Watch stood up to the attack, with the most interesting one being the three brothers that stood up to the giant at the gate. It was the only time the Night’s Watch actually defended The Wall in the show.

6 Failed: Allowing Stannis To Kill Mance Rayder

Jon Snow outwitted Mance Rayder in the Battle of Castle Black, but he had lots of respect for the man. Mance was obviously the smartest leader Jon had met since his father and the best option he had of allying with the Wildlings. Stannis was more interested in the throne than the people, though, and the Night’s Watch didn’t do anything to help Mance and his people.

The Watch was bound by its oath to all living human beings and was not supposed to bow to any king, but that day, it bent the knee to Stannis. It was still a wise decision, though, since Stannis had more than enough men to wipe out the entire Night’s Watch.

5 Lived Up: Going To Herdhome To Save The Wildlings

The Hatred between the Wildlings and the Black Brothers was mostly because of a history of hostility and a wrong perception of the people beyond The Wall fanned by years of myths. The Night’s Watch actually needed the Wildlings as they obviously stood no chance against the Night King on their own.

Jon Snow finally understood Mance Rayder’s pain and the needs of the people beyond The Wall. According to Jon, The Watch was supposed to be “the swords that protect the realms on men.” All men included men beyond The Wall who were not monsters as the southerners perceived them to be. Saving the wildlings remains the most humane decision of the Night’s Watch, although it caused extreme division.

4 Failed: The Raid on Craster’s Keep

The Mutiny as Craster’s Keep that got Joer Mormont killed was a big insult on the Night’s Watch that needed a swift and united response. For some reason, Alliser Thorne didn’t like Jon Snow before being elected as the Lord Commander. He managed to convince everyone that bringing the mutineers to justice and avenging Joer Mormont’s death was not a priority for The Watch.

Jon was forced to beg the few volunteers he got to follow him in avenging their former Lord Commander. Although the mutiny was finished, Jon failed to save Bran and his friends because he didn’t have enough men. The Night’s Watch also shamed itself by showing so little interest in avenging Joer, a man that had given his life for all of them.

3 Lived Up: The Battle of The Bastards

Winterfell and The Night’s Watch had always been allies, and the North even donated The Gift so that the Night’s Watch would stay provisioned without relying on any Kingdom. The Night’s Watch was still under no obligation to take part in the battle between the Starks and the Boltons though. It could simply pass as a squabble between houses, and The Watch would work with whoever won the battle.

However, Ramsay Bolton had threatened the brothers of The Watch in his letter, and if they didn’t help the Starks retake the North, the Night’s Watch would never be safe, which undermined the very meaning of their oath. Standing with Jon Snow can best be interpreted as a compromise for the future survival of the Night’s Watch.

2 Failed: Killing Jon Snow

Jon Snow was “the best child that the gods put on this world,” if Tyrion was to use Grandmaester Pycelle’s words to describe him. His noble decision of bringing Wildlings south of The Wall was in the interests of the realm and the Night’s Watch, but Alister Thorne was too blinded by hate to understand this.

It is hard to understand how he convinced little Olly and the others to agree to the plan of killing Jon, but he did, and it was tragic. The Night’s Watch’s biggest problem was their inability to break with the past and the stories they had heard about Wildlings, but they were bound by oath to their Lord Commander, and Jon was that man.

1 Lived Up: The Battle of Winterfell

One of the saddest deaths in the Great Battle of Winterfell was the death of Eddison Tollett, who was the acting Lord Commander of The Watch since Jon Snow became King of the North. Edd was more like Joer Mormont as he always did what was right for the order.

When The Wall fell, the remaining members of The Watch and the Wildlings that manned the remaining castles had the option of abandoning Winterfell to seek safer places, but they chose to fight for the living in the Ultimate battle. It was the final sacrifice and, ultimately, the end of the Night’s Watch’s purpose because their key enemy, the Night King, died that day.

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