In the Game of Thrones season 6 finale – spoilers ahead imminently – the vassals of House Stark celebrated Jon Snow and Sansa Stark’s victory in the Battle of Winterfell by reaffirming their allegiance to their old suzerains – and by proclaiming Jon Snow the King in the North. It’s truly a new role for Jon Snow, but it’s one that he doesn’t deserve. First, he is no son of Ned Stark. Second, and more importantly, he is no great commander. Jon Snow is an inspiring man, but he’s wrong more often than he’s right.

Why Jon Snow Shouldn’t Be King In The North

Heritage

There must always be a Stark in Winterfell. Finally, the Starks have returned, but their vassals have anointed a bastard their new lord. Thanks a lot, Lyanna Mormont. Her heart is in the right place, but she should have looked to Sansa—Ned’s trueborn daughter, who bears the Stark name, and who not incidentally actually won the battle for the northerners. Sansa deserves Winterfell—she earned it. Moreover, nobody knows it yet, but Jon isn’t even a true son of Ned—he’s the son of Lyanna Stark, Ned’s sister, and Rhaegar Targaryen. He has both Stark and Targaryen blood—the blood of ice and fire. But he has no claim on Winterfell, and Sansa has a good one.

Leadership

But here’s the real trouble: The lords know Jon is a bastard and proclaim him anyway, which would be fine, if Sansa weren’t a better candidate. But the truth is, whatever his birth, Jon Snow just isn’t that great a leader. He is, in fact, a lot like Daenerys. He has the charisma to command and men follow him easily, but he makes wrong decisions again and again. That’s what led to his death on the Wall – he couldn’t govern the Night’s Watch and didn’t try that hard to rally support among them for his wildling plan. He decided to attack Winterfell with insufficient forces, and all would have been lost if not for Sansa. Now he’s sending Melisandre away, when he should either achieve true justice or overlook her sins for her incredible powers.

Like Daenerys, Jon Snow has made mistake after mistake over his short career in leadership. His earnestness, spirit and charisma make others trust and forgive him, but he is not actually all that good at what he does—at least, not yet. The North has proclaimed as its new king a man who lost the Battle of Winterfell, until his sister rode in and saved him. But Jon Snow got all the credit. He doesn’t deserve it, nor the crown, and there will be trouble from it – either from Sansa, who should deservedly be jealous, or from their future enemies, who will face a commander who can lead men, but can’t win battles. Good for Jon Snow and all, but he has a hard road ahead.