[SPOILERS] For The Watch

Well I've waited until after episode 9 to start discussing this one because again, a lot of things in speculation get muddied when you don't know what the episodes in between are going to show or not show.

Now we know the wildlings and Jon have made it back to the wall and passed through to the other side without incident so far. We know Alliser Thorne gave Jon some warning (again) about his doubts in his leadership decisions, and Ollie gave Jon a serious stink-eye cold shoulder when Jon smiled up at him. We also have the one snippet from the promo of Jon sitting at his desk looking very worried/upset about something and Sam's voice saying "What are you gonna do?" ... The stage is now set.

Jon will probably get the Pink Letter in some form or another, even if it's Davos arriving by magic carpet from Camp Red God (*hissing*) ... so it seems likely that's the tipping point for his decision.

I enjoyed reading past perspectives on this and I have to agree, the dynamic for his decision to abandon the watch to go to Winterfell has changed with Sansa in the role instead of the fArya of the books. It really was a much heavier situation as written though I'd argue what's happened to Sansa has been awful and deserving of serious concern. She's still not the same as Arya was to Jon - they had a special bond which is why Needle is so important to Arya.

Show Ramsay would still definitely write that letter - just as full of hate as the book, with special emphasis on "Bastard" of course. He'll be furious if both his bride-victim and Reek are both gone.

FTW is going to be different - but how different and does it matter? As much as I find Ollie annoying, I don't really care whether or not he's involved or the one crying or saying "For the Watch" as much as others do. I can appreciate having strong attachments to that particular part of the scene and it's significance from the book. It's true that if Ollie takes that role, he's doing it for personal reasons and not really the watch at all. He's holding a life-long grudge against the wildlings and taking it out on Jon. I honestly don't hate the kid - he's just a kid and it's not unreasonable for him to have this immature and strong hatred for the people who murdered his family. They have over-cooked that on the show however. We didn't really need it shoved in our faces every episode or his constant grumpy-cat faces but whatever.

I am starting to think Sam and Gilly will not flee to Old Town until after FTW happens now. There's not really time left and if Jon's attacked by the Night's Watch, Sam will be left with no choice but to flee with Gilly to protect her. We've already seen her threatened and him beat up for that very reason - to set up a reason for him to abandon as well. I know it doesn't jive with the book where he went there by Jon's orders but let's just keep it as a possibility that also might piss people off.

I've come to realize as unsullied from here on out we just cannot cling to those last scraps in the books. We have to let it go, Frozen style and shrug and enjoy the show.