Alliser Thorne's Destiny: Become a Wight/Try to Kill Jon Snow (Spoilers Extended)
The animosity between Jon Snow and Alliser Thorne is well known. It goes back to Ser Alliser being a cruel Maester at Arms when Jon joins the Night's Watch.
That said I don't think the true hatred begins until Jon makes a jape about him (Ghost juggling), resulting in:
Ser Alliser never took his eyes from Jon. As the laughter rolled around him, his face darkened, and his sword hand curled into a fist. "That was a grievous error, Lord Snow," he said at last in the acid tones of an enemy. -AGOT, Jon III
With this in mind, it is possible that Ser Alliser is killed, becomes a wight, and tries to kill Jon Snow
We know that some form of memory remains when a person is changed into a wight. Othor was intent on killing Lord Commander Mormont:
"Can they talk?" asked Jon Snow. "I think not, but I cannot claim to know. Monsters they may be, but they were men before they died. How much remains? The one I slew was intent on killing Lord Commander Mormont. Plainly it remembered who he was and where to find him." Maester Aemon would have grasped his purpose, Jon did not doubt; Sam Tarly would have been terrified, but he would have understood as well. "My lord father used to tell me that a man must know his enemies. We understand little of the wights and less about the Others. We need to learn." -ADWD, Jon VIII
There are also numerous examples of Jon/Ser Alliser getting close to fighting:
Ser Alliser's onyx eyes were fixed on Jon Snow. "It would seem our Bastard is in love," he said as Jon helped the fat boy to his feet. "Show me your steel, Lord Snow." -AGOT, Jon IV
and:
In the blink of an eye, Jon had vaulted onto the table, dagger in his hand. Pyp made a grab for him, but he wrenched his leg away, and then he was sprinting down the table and kicking the bowl from Ser Alliser's hand. Stew went flying everywhere, spattering the brothers. Thorne recoiled. People were shouting, but Jon Snow did not hear them. He lunged at Ser Alliser's face with the dagger, slashing at those cold onyx eyes, but Sam threw himself between them and before Jon could get around him, Pyp was on his back clinging like a monkey, and Grenn was grabbing his arm while Toad wrenched the knife from his fingers. -AGOT, Jon VII
and (Jon is pretty strong for a 15/16 year old lol):
"My lord is wise." Ser Alliser seized Jon by the arm.
Jon yanked away and grabbed the knight by the throat with such ferocity that he lifted him off the floor. He would have throttled him if the Eastwatch men had not pulled him off. Thorne staggered back, rubbing the marks Jon's fingers had left on his neck. "You see for yourselves, brothers. The boy is a wildling." -ASOS, Jon IX
There are also examples of men being sent out beyond the Wall returning as wights. Jon wants to send Ser Alliser on a ranging with Dywen but thinks of this as he does:
It was no easy thing to send men into the wild, knowing that the chances were good that they might never return. They are all seasoned men, Jon told himself … but his uncle Benjen and his rangers had been seasoned men as well, and the haunted forest had swallowed them up without a trace. When two of them finally came straggling back to the Wall, it had been as wights. Not for the first time, or the last, Jon Snow found himself wondering what had become of Benjen Stark. Perhaps the rangers will come upon some sign of them, he told himself, never truly believing it. -ADWD, Jon VI
But the best evidence (at least to me) is in that same passage, Ser Alliser actually comes out and says it to Jon:
Then you could hack off my head, same as you did for Slynt. I'll not give you that pleasure, bastard. You'd best pray that it's a wildling blade that kills me, though. The ones the Others kill don't stay dead … and they remember. I'm coming back, Lord Snow."
"I pray you do." Jon would never count Ser Alliser Thorne amongst his friends, but he was still a brother. No one ever said you had to like your brothers. -ADWD, Jon VI
While reading a few things, this popped into my head this morning. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to let me know your thought and if you liked it/hated it.
I am not sure if I believe it or not, but thought the details lined up well.
TLDR: Ser Alliser is going to die and come back as a wight. His hatred for Jon is going to continue and he will attempt to kill him.
Here are a few quotes, which while not direct evidence, they can be seen as supportive of the argument. Especially thinking about how Alliser's dark eyes would change blue, burying the dead doesn't do anything, etc.
Tyrion had heard a few of those droll names. "I'll wager the lads have a few names for him as well," he said. "Chip the ice off your eyes, my good lords. Ser Alliser Thorne should be mucking out your stables, not drilling your young warriors." -AGOT, Tyrion III
and:
"Ser Alliser Thorne?" Of all the black brothers he'd met on the Wall, Tyrion Lannister had liked Ser Alliser Thorne the least. A bitter, mean-spirited man with too great a sense of his own worth. "Come to think on it, I don't believe I care to see Ser Alliser just now. Find him a snug cell where no one has changed the rushes in a year, and let his hand rot a little more." -ACOK, Tyrion IV
and:
"As you will," Ser Alliser said, displeasure in every word. "I am sent to tell you that we found two rangers, long missing. They were dead, yet when we brought the corpses back to the Wall they rose again in the night. One slew Ser Jaremy Rykker, while the second tried to murder the Lord Commander." -ACOK, Tyrion VI
and:
Titters echoed through the hall. "Lord Baelish," Tyrion called down to Littlefinger, "buy our brave Ser Alliser a hundred spades to take back to the Wall with him."
"Spades?" Ser Alliser narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"If you bury your dead, they won't come walking," Tyrion told him, and the court laughed openly. "Spades will end your troubles, with some strong backs to wield them. Ser Jacelyn, see that the good brother has his pick of the city dungeons." -ACOK, Tyrion VI
Posted Nov 18, 2019, 2:08 PM UTC · edited