Mutiny at Castle Black

Weeks after Stannis Baratheon marched off toward Winterfell, a raven reaches Castle Black carrying a letter signed, it claims, by Ramsay Bolton. The letter addresses Jon Snow only as "Bastard" and states that Stannis has fallen in battle and that Mance Rayder is a prisoner; from there it strings together a list of demands wrapped in threats. Jon reads it with quiet fury, since every line fouls the name of his ancestors' seat.

Rather than lead the planned expedition to Hardhome, Jon announces he will ride on Winterfell instead. He does not order the Watch to follow: he simply asks for volunteers among his brothers, making clear no one is bound to come.

That call, however voluntary, cuts straight across the oath binding the Watch to stay out of the realm's quarrels, and resentment spreads among many of the black brothers. Chaos erupts when the giant Wun Wun kills Ser Patrek; in the confusion that follows, Bowen Marsh and other men in black surround Jon.

They stab him again and again, whispering "For the Watch" with tears in their eyes. From that point, no one knows whether the Lord Commander survived.