Does the Night Watch oath truly end with your death?

Question

The oath:

Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.

And (spoilers for s06e02)

Jon Snow died, despite the fact that he is now alive.

Is he now free of the Night Watch oath?

I'd say yes (and I hope yes), but the writers may have Jon stick to his principles and remain as Lord Commander. — TylerH, May 02 '16 at 14:08
If Mat Cauthon and the Horn of Valere are anything to go by, then yes. — Rand al'Thor, May 02 '16 at 14:11
@Randal'Thor er... Mat Cauthon and the Horn of Valere are from Wheel of Time, are they not? — TylerH, May 02 '16 at 14:20
@TylerH Yep. So it doesn't prove anything about Jon Snow (hence comment rather than answer), just an interesting analogy. — Rand al'Thor, May 02 '16 at 14:25
Considering that comming back from the dead isn't something which happens too frequent in the GoT universe I doubt that there is any precedent for that case. But I suspect that the issue might get addressed when the oath becomes inconvenient for the character from the spoiler. — Philipp, May 02 '16 at 14:42
@Philipp in case you haven't read the books; it is only in the TV series that being brought back to life is so unheard of. In the books it has happened already with another character(s). — Theyna, May 02 '16 at 20:06
@Theyna Beric Dondarrion was resurrected in the tv-series as well. — TLP, May 03 '16 at 00:53
As I've pointed out elsewhere, it seems as though he is, however, we will not know whether this is true or not until it is revealed (either in the show or in the books). — Möoz, May 04 '16 at 00:08

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered May 02 '16 at 14:39

7

There will not be a definitive answer until next episode. That said, obviously this has never happened before and has no precedent. Jon could probably take either path and be able to justify his decision:

On the one hand, by being alive he is still able to fulfill his oath to the watch and remain the Lord Commander.
On the other, the oath is literally It shall not end until my death and he most certainly died. Thorne even admits in front of the whole watch that he killed him.

From a pragmatic point of view, he will be able to better guarantee his safety by surrounding himself with people he trusts (mostly the wildlings) rather than men of the nights watch (there are only a handful that proved absolutely loyal to him). And this is the second case in a very short period of time that a Lord Commander has been killed by men of the Night's Watch. So big changes are coming regardless of his decision.

answered May 02 '16 at 14:39

Justin Ethier

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In my opinion this will be used as an advantage in a political moves , though probably he will stay with the night watch. But we cannot know until the end. – npocmaka May 02 '16 at 14:56
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"has no precedent" - Actually, it might have a precedent? The Night's King was Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and, after "giving up his soul" to a mysterious woman, declared himself king. Of course, whether he was breaking his oath by doing so - whether he in fact "died" by giving up his soul, and whether that death released him from his oath - is just as much a matter of debate as the case of Jon Snow... So that doesn't help resolve matters :) – recognizer May 02 '16 at 21:38
Can you please cite a reference for your claim "Nights King was Lord Commander of Nights Watch and gave up his soul"? – Sorrel Vesper May 03 '16 at 15:35
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@recognizer - According to legend he made sacrifices to the others and ruled as a king for 13 years, but there is no mention that he actually died during that time. – Justin Ethier May 03 '16 at 16:03
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@SorrelVesper It's right there in the books: http://imgur.com/avaVdvm So, not "my" claim, it's Old Nan's claim. I'm willing to take her word for it. – recognizer May 03 '16 at 16:15
@JustinEthier Well, it's really a question of whether one can continue living without a soul :P – recognizer May 03 '16 at 16:16

Does the Night Watch oath truly end with your death?

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