Something’s wrong on the Wall: In Game of Thrones season 5, Jon Snow is now the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. And that’s exciting for his fans, but honestly… and I’m going to get a bit into A Dance With Dragons spoilers here… it’s not actually a good move. Jon Snow doesn’t actually have what it takes to be Lord Commander. And he won’t do a good job.

Game of Thrones Season 5 Spoilers: What’s Going On With Jon Snow?

In the moment, Jon Snow’s nomination to be Lord Commander makes a lot of sense. Alliser Thorne is a terrible choice to be Lord Commander. But so is Jon Snow. Sam puts it in a way that sounds good; he’s a good salesman. It’s easy to forget that Jon is very young. And he has actually spent very little time in the Night’s Watch. A little while training with the Old Bear, and a long time north of the Wall gallivanting with the wildlings. That makes him command material?

Jon has never betrayed the Watch, strictly speaking. But he nearly abandoned them twice: When he went to ride away to join Robb and was stopped, and when he really did, in fact, get a little too close to the wildlings. His return to the Watch after the Ygritte misadventure was by no means certain. He is not super trustworthy. And he’s just plain super green. He doesn’t have enough experience to run the Night’s Watch, not yet. To his credit, he’s open to new ideas regarding the wildlings. But he is not a good decisionmaker. He is too quick to judgment.

Jon Snow would be a great Lord Commander in ten years. But not yet. That’s why I would have supported Denys Mallister to run the Watch. Alas.