Robb's appearance in COST had followed so swiftly on the heels of Drogo's second death that Jon had always assumed it might be brief and temporary, but it's true that in many ways, it was better than not seeing him at all. Frustrating, too, if Robb's intent was that Jon should have been his immediate heir... had he taken all those knife wounds for nothing?

But if Jon had become King in the North instead of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, he would never have gone to Hardhome. He wouldn't know, he wouldn't have seen. Thousands more Wildlings would be in the Army of the Dead. And that's just the tip of it: the consequences would have been much broader than that.

All it really comes down to is that he's had the chance to see his brother again. Wouldn't some people give everything they had for that?

As Daenerys's fingers wrap around his arm, he gives her a hesitant nod.

"All right. You should sit, if Ghost will let you around."

He moves towards the wardrobe, shuffling around the direwolf in a little dance, and when he gets the door open, he stops in surprise -- then laughs. His gorget and his armored leather tunic sit on the floor, next to a small mountain of furs.

"They've got my armor back to me. After all this."