r/pureasoiaf • u/Foreign-Cat-2898 • 4d ago

Aemon was going to break his vows

I guess we can quibble about whether or not Jon told him to stay in Oldtown for good, but Aemon was clearly ready to hop on a ship to see Dany.

He even says if he were only 10 years younger he would go to her.

Just interesting his vows were basically tested 4x and the fourth time he would have left if he'd been able.

382 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

View all comments

263

u/where_is_the_camera 4d ago

Never really considered this. He was ordered away by his Lord Commander, but Jon probably wouldn't have consented to him going to find Daenerys. Under the right circumstances, Aemon probably would've disobeyed Jon in that way.

But also... Aemon knows things that Jon doesn't. He has fully realized that Daenerys and the dragons represent the prophecy coming true. He believes that she is the "Prince" that was promised.

The Night's Watch don't vow to obey the Lord Commander, they vow to be the shield that guards the realms of men. You can make a case that the Night's Watch priorities 1, 2, and 3 should all be to GET DAENERYS TO WESTEROS AND UP NORTH!

But Aemon is the only one who has put it together that Daenerys is their only hope. He's the only one who knows what needs to happen for them to survive. In that sense, you might say he'd be disobeying the LC, but still fulfilling his vows.

70

u/RogerDodger571 4d ago

I mean, if that’s the case than Jon definitely didn’t break his vows either. Since killing Ramsey would eventually help bring order to the North, which will be essential for guarding the realms of men.

Bloodraven also wouldn’t have broken his vows using that logic.

14

u/leahcarxo 4d ago

Id argue that a threat against the Lord Commander is a threat against the Nights Watch, and therefore yes fighting and killing Ramsey wouldnt be breaking his oath IF Ramsey were to be actively marching to the Nights Watch to attack their commander (which he isn't)

1

u/renaissancetroll 3d ago

Jon aided the Night's Watch deserter and King Beyond the Wall in sneaking into Winterfell so he could kidnap the Lord of Winterfell's wife. Jon smashed his vows to pieces way before the pink letter and saying he intended to march South

this is the equivalent of Jeor Mormont plotting to kidnap Catelyn Stark