The Betrayals of Jon Snow, Jesus, and Osiris

If you go out on a clear night around this time of the year (December) and look up, you'll see Orion dominating the night sky. The constellation seems to be the main character in many myths and legends. In my previous post, I discussed how the dismemberment and roasting of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars is probably an artistic depiction of the helical rising of Orion.

Star Wars seems to be based primarily on the stories of Osiris, Seth, Isis, and Horus. The scenes, characters, and even terminology of the saga can be mapped to a counterpart in stories drawn from Egyptian mythology. The Game of Thrones seems to be based on a fusion of Egyptian, Christian, and Greek mythology, rather than a single source.

In GoT, the Orion character is Jon Snow. Orion or Osiris is the lord of the winter sky and the king of the dead. Through the 5th season, Jon Snow's wardrobe becomes a visual allusion to the constellation. He wears all black, has a fur cape, carries a long sword and has a studded belt.

If Jon Snow is Orion in GoT, and Anakin Skywalker was Orion in Star Wars, then Jon's father, Eddard Stark serves as the Aquarius/Jon the Baptist/Obi Wan character who loses his head as the wheel of the story spins.

Onorio Marinari, Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, c. 1680

Sansa Forced to Look at Ned's Head

In GoT season 5, Jon Snow follows a Jesus-y trajectory. He is elected "Lord Commander" of the Night's Watch in a way that parallels Jesus's triumphant procession into Jerusalem to be King of the Jews. Jesus, the carpenter, is carried by a donkey, just as Hephaestus (the god of blacksmiths and craftsmen) is carried back to Olympus on the back of a donkey. Jon Snow is carried into office on the figurative back of his comic-relief Sam (cf  Samwise Gamgee).

Lord Commander Jon Snow (Orion)

As with Jesus, Osiris, Orion, or even Baldr (of Norse Mythology) the triumph is short lived. There's a horrible betrayal, and the mighty one is destroyed. In the case of Jon Snow, his confidant and aide Olly plays the role of Judas and tricks Jon into becoming the target of a gang of murderers who stab him over and over in the stomach.

Jon Snow betrayed and Stabbed Repeatedly

Cross shown Briefly on Camera to Underline
Jesus-y Scenario

When the constellation Orion character is betrayed or tricked into his fatal situation, or someone else is tricked into "killing him" as happens over and over again in myths, his studded belt becomes a wound. The murder weapon can be an arrow, a spear, a dagger, a sword, a scorpion sting, or even a sprig of mistletoe (for Baldr).

The next phase of the myth is for Jon Snow to begin his journey into the underworld as King of the Dead. So where Mustafara serves as the visual metaphor for the entrance of the Duat in Star Wars, The Wall in the Game of Thrones serves as the entrance, that is, the horizon.