Ygritte, the wildling who knew everything
No matter how many characters George R.R. Martin has already killed so far, you will never ever get used to death in Game Of Thrones. I was just recovering from Oberyn's defeat (and I'm not ashamed to admit I turned away while watching the final moments of the combat) when another amount of dead bodies was put on screen to remind you life is fleeting, especially if you live in Westeros.
Let me say that when one of those corpses belongs to your favorite character it is just heartbreaking. You only want to sit on the couch eating cookies and ice-cream forever and pretend there will be no more episodes without him or her. That's exactly what happened to me with Ygritte. The Wildling portrayed by Rose Leslie had me at the very first "You know nothing, Jon Snow", this one I guess
Now we all know Martin's got a thing with separating couples in the most horrible ways, so I was ready to cry my heart out like I did at the Red Wedding. And the big guy didn't disappoint me.
I'll never forget the look on Ygritte's face when Jon went away, heading to Castle Black and to his previous life as a Crow. Being abandoned should have sounded worse than death to a woman who's not afraid of being killed on the battlefield and yet got trust issues. She was definitely looking for revenge but she couldn't help being in love with Jon, so she didn't kill him when she had the chance.
Has Jon Snow been pretending all the time? I don't think so. Ygritte reminded him all he gave up when he joined the Night's Watch. I guess such a complete freedom scared him away, just like the possibility to be called a traitor by his fellows.
Did Jon Snow deserve Ygritte's arrows? Well, maybe a couple.
Don't you think such a moving yet a bit violent farewell between the two was enough? Well, Martin surely doesn't. I knew something really bad was on the way for the two of them especially since it seems that in GoT two lovers can be more or less happily back together after a separation only if they have the same family name. My fears turned into reality wandering on Tumblr, the most dangerous source of images you may not want to have a look at if you're an unconscious fan of an adapted-from-the-book TV show.
Ygritte and Jon last met during one of the most ferocious battles ever, the greatly anticipated fight between Wildlings and Crows at Castle Black. She was ready to kill him and finally prove to herself and her people she wasn't a weak woman in love with the enemy. She was almost there. And then Jon decided to smile at her. A smile which makes you wonder how in the Seven Kingdoms is possible to have such a perfect teeth bite when you've just got punched in your mouth by a crazy cannibal bald guy. Seriously.
I bet Ygritte was putting her bow down, I know that, but it was too late. That Olly kid who did nothing but shit his pants during the whole battle decided to kill her as his first target. Well done, Olly. Jon holding Ygritte for the very last time while all around them was fire and blood broke my heart.
Losing your favorite female character can be very distressing. I had found the perfect combination of humour, love and independence, all in one woman. Ygritte wasn't all about silk dresses, mean tricks and dictatorial attention-seeking decisions (sorry I'm not sorry, Daenerys). She was just honest and I will mourn her for long focusing all my hopes on Arya Stark, the two badass girls having in common a taste for revenge against injustice. Some may say I like female characters only if they act like men, but that's not the point. I root for girls who fight for what they believe in, no matter how they do it. Ygritte shot arrows and used the spear like a real warrior, yet her fighting skills have very little to do with the reasons why she's inspiring to me. Yes, she was with Jon Snow off and on-screen (which is definitely a bonus), but most of all she was (using the past tense here is killing me) passionate, self-aware and true. She lived as a free woman and that's something you shouldn't take for granted either in Westeros or elsewhere. And she died in a proper castle, not just a tower!
Ygritte, you will be missed.
You can mourn her (and many many others to come) here.
Many of you have no clue who Ygritte was. Have you not read or seen Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette? All other issues aside, that was the story of Jon and Ygritte, set in the GoT universe. It was a beautiful, playful romance with a sharply defined strong woman who went after and got what she wanted. It was tragic that her world and Jon's denied them their happy ending. Ygritte's death was something to mourn, not celebrate. As for Jon Snow have you forgotten his words to her as he prepared to return to Castle Black in response to her You know nothing catchphrase - "I know this, that I love you and that you love me..." Did you not see Jon Snow's face break into a smile as he saw Ygritte with drawn bow in Castle Black and Ygritte's stern visage soften as she realized that she would not kill her lover? Finally, as Jon Snow walked away from Ygritte's funeral pyre, lovingly constructed by himself alone in her native land, he did so with tears in his eyes. Au revoir, Ygritte.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy someone commented on one of my posts finally, but I have to say you definitely missed my point here. We agree on the subject more than you realized.
DeleteDespite being a great Shakespeare fan, I didn't want to draw a very easy comparison between Jon and Ygritte and Romeo and Juliet. Doing so would have been quite trivial, I dare say, especially because Juliet has very little to do with Ygritte, in my opinion. I agree with you that there are some common main themes, but I wouldn't say that a girl waiting for her lover to come back to her and ready to die in a world without him is in any way similar to Ygritte. She wasn't merely waiting for Jon, I'd rather say she was haunting him. She was a woman of action, that's what I liked about her.
As for Jon, I've never said he didn't love her back. I know he did. They would never be my OTP if I didn't truly believe in the love they shared. But he left her, that's a fact. He chose to come back to his brothers, but I'm not assuming he didn't suffer for that. I've spent many many words on Jon's smile as he saw Ygritte at Castle Black that I guess writing explicitly what that smile meant would have ruined the perfection of that sad moment. I was ironic, and I'm sure Ygritte would have appreciated that. Anyway, she's never been explicit in expressing her feelings to Jon either. Her last catchphrase sounded more real and romantic than many "I love you's" and I'm quite sure Jon knew that.
One last thing. I wrote this post to mourn Ygritte as she was and is my favorite character, as I said in the end. However, I think that celebrating the life of such a vital and passionate girl (careful, not her death) like I tried to do here is something as important as mourning her death with words of grief.
I don't think Jon truly ever mourned her passing. Not once do I recall him remembering her....crying. Perhaps it's implied?!?!
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