Changing my mind (Theory #1) in the 11th Hour!

I hope that happens. I like the idea of Melisandre as an utter and complete failure

With only 7 days remaining in the countdown, it would seem we all have our predictions well in hand. I've notoriously been a 'fence-sitter' about a lot of things because I find merit in the compelling arguments on both sides of a debate so I have a hard time deciding.

Well today I had a small epiphany while feverish and sick. Maybe it's because I'm a little drugged on flu medication since I've been in bed all day  - what a great waste of my Saturday off! I was so sick most of the day I couldn't even sit at my PC so I've been watching tons of videos and listening to podcasts in bed on the iPad and actually took the time to listen to some compelling arguments I hadn't examined closely enough but that a few of you here have brought up in speculation threads of the past. 

I've come to the conclusion about two things. I'll link the videos at the end that were the final ones to convince me after watching a few others too (and made a separate thread for my 2nd theory change of heart about Tyrion). 

My first change of prediction/theory:

Melisandre is most likely NOT going to resurrect Jon.

Yes he is going to come back from the dead, but not by Melisandre's powers. I think she is going to try and she will fail. I think that's why they are focusing on her backstory and her "lies" as she calls them. This will be a big shock to her and to the audience who expects her to succeed. After Carice gave some fairly blunt clues in recent interviews, I started having niggling questions about this as I believe it's easy for Kit to say all the misdirection (white lies) he's been giving but for Carice to say outright that those waiting to see Mel resurrect him will be disappointed was pretty shocking. That's when I started thinking about the evidence we've been given in the show pointing to Jon coming back and the significance of his heritage. 

Being a huge fan of ToJ and R+L=J theories it was awesome to see it featured in the trailer. I realize now that time is very precious to the show creators and they only ever include side stories that are pertinent or related to one of the main show characters immediate or future plot. The biggest clue that Jon is coming back, to me so far, has been the inclusion of TOJ as a flashback for Bran. There's no reason to include that story from the books if it's not somehow important to Jon Snow's future. 

That's where this gets good. IF in fact the Tower of Joy is so very important to reveal Jon's lineage then the fact that he carries Targaryen blood bears some significance to the end-story overall. But why? Lots of nobles have Targaryen blood but that doesn't mean they could just walk out of a fire unharmed or ride a dragon like Dany, right? If Jon is Rhaegar's son and Rhaegar was the insightful prince that he was (scholarly before he was knightly) then his family are important to the three headed dragon prophecy.

And here's the kicker that's changing my mind:

If Melisandre were to resurrect Jon, it would make him the man she has sought as the true prophecy of the Red God religion. But this just never sat well with me. Jon Snow won't follow R'hllor any more devoutly than Stannis since Jon believes in the old gods of the North. I believe showing his lineage is a clue as to why it's important Jon be resurrected by long believed Targaryen powers and not Melisandre or Red God powers. Targaryens long believed they harnessed the power of fire and the dragons. Daenerys certainly proved it was real when she walked out of a fire unscathed with three baby dragons. GRRM has said that was a 'miracle' type thing and not all Targs are immune to fire. I believe him. But I also believe he was omitting that it could happen to others as well in different ways

And so with much careful thought with what remains to us of the story and the fact that things from here on out are going to start moving much more quickly to come to the pinnacle of the entire plot ... I think Jon Snow will in fact rise from the dead of his own accord in the funeral pyre to parallel Daenerys doing the same though where she walked into the fire alive, he will instead walk out of the fire, alive. 

I also think this is going to happen in front of Davos and the Wildlings because I think once they rescue Jon's corpse from Thorne and the Night's Watch, they will take him to Tormund and the Wildlings who will want to give him the respectful funeral on a pyre the way Jon did for Ygritte. They will consider him an honorary champion of the Wildlings and honor him in death. 

With the wildlings and Davos as witness, Jon will walk out of the pyre with Longclaw in his hands and they will bow down to him (though I know Wildlings don't kneel, they will cheer!) ... much as the Dothraki bowed down to Daenerys. Again, another parallel of their rebirth and the 'belief' system that many skeptics have changed to (Jorah explaining it to Tyrion was a good clue) when what they thought impossible happened before their eyes. 

For Jon to have the most impact on the future, he needs to have a similar powerful "rebirth" as Daenerys. This will forever change the allegiance of the Wildlings and for Davos and whoever else from the North is there to witness it. 

I used to think it would just be Melisandre, maybe Davos or Tormund or Edd there when she gave him the 'kiss of life' but now I think that would be all wrong. It wouldn't be significant for Jon's Targaryen lineage and that seems to be the bigger thing they are focusing on overall with all the clues we had in seasons past so far. 

I think we will see Jon's funeral in episode 3 or 4 (4 being a longer episode by time I think?). I think they are going to seriously rile up the audience by having Melisandre fail to resurrect him. She was, in fact, a "red herring" after all. 

I'd like to thank @moiaf for being the ever present theorist who has over time molded my firm belief in the parallels of Dany and Jon as being the real "song of ice and fire" because once I really started examining things, I realized that in order for Jon to have the most impact with his resurrection, it needed to be really big and in a spectacular way which ties him directly to the prophecy of the Targaryens. 

This guy is really the final youtuber theorist who sealed the evidence for me. He's not one of the famous ones and deserves a lot more recognition on his channel so check this out: