#btw the original quote had king and him instead of queen and her so took some artistic liberty hehe

[thegirlisuedtobe]

“Little by little, the old world crumbled, and not once did the queen imagine that some of the pieces might fall on her.” – Jennifer Donnelly

[thelegendofclarke]

In Roman mythology Janus stands for doors, beginnings, winter, journey etc. He's also double faced (Lord Slynt to the Wall, she had forgotten herself and said, "I hope the Others get him." The king had not been pleased)Janos is singularly important in Sansa&Jon's arcs He also connects them narrativly Since JonSa have a lot of parallels (arc&also personality wise) can you talk a bit Janus symbolism& what Janos Slynt mean for Jon/Sansa 1/2

2/2 Hope I made some sense (Please feel free to put on the shipper goggles) Plz give Napa a hug from me. I love your blog btw

Hey Anonny! That is so sweet, I am so flattered you like my little trash compactor of a blog :)

Ok so I ~might~ be on a bit of a different page than you with this. I definitely agree that the Janos/Janus connection and the symbolism associated with the god Janus is present in Jon’s arc. I also agree that Janos Slynt connects Jon and Sansa’s arcs (“Edd fetch me a block” makes me ~swoon~ every gd time lol). However, I don’t necessarily think that those two things are related or connected in any way, if that makes sense?

I’m going to attempt to explain myself, so hopefully it will…  

Janos Slynt/Janus and Jon Snow

So yeah, it’s like you were saying, Janus in Roman mythology is a two-faced god. Here’s what he looks like for anyone who is wondering…

Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, gates, doors, doorways, endings, and time. He is a two-faced god because he is supposed to be looking to the future and the past. I think Janus symbolism and Janos Slynt’s execution are really important because of when and how they occur in Jon’s arc:

Janos Slynt’s execution is the in same chapter as Maester Aemon’s famous line to Jon, “kill the boy and let the man be born.”

Janos Slynt’s execution is Jon’s first execution and his first major act as Lord Commander.

“You will have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you to do the things that must be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born.“ — Maester Aemon in ADwD (Jon II)

“Kill the boy and let the man be born” kind of becomes Jon Snow’s ~mantra~ for a while after this. To me this was always the beginning of Jon Snow’s transition from a boy to a man and being Lord Commander. It seems like the beginning of a new chapter in his life. So the transition and beginnings symbolism associated with Janus makes a lot of sense here. It’s like the two-faced god is looking backward at Jon’s past and forward at his future.

I suppose there could be a similar theme in Sansa’s arc associated with Janos Slynt and Ilyn Payne beheading Ned. Her father’s death marked the clear and tragic end of Sansa’s life as she knew it, and (understandably) lead to a great deal of disillusionment:

“Once she had loved Prince Joffrey with all her heart, and admired and trusted her his mother, the queen. They had repaid that love and trust with her father’s head. Sansa would never make that mistake again.” — Sansa, ACoK

So I guess you could say that Janos Slynt was also associated with the end of Sansa’s childhood and one chapter of her life. But I think that connection and symbolism is much more prevalent within Jon’s arc in relation to Janos.  

Janos Slynt and Jon/Sansa

So here are those two passages that send every Jon/Sansa shippers’ heart ~*a flutter*~

Frog-faced Lord Slynt sat at the end of the council table wearing a black velvet doublet and a shiny cloth-of-gold cape, nodding with approval every time the king pronounced a sentence. Sansa stared hard at his ugly face, remembering how he had thrown down her father for Ser Ilyn to behead, wishing she could hurt him, wishing that some hero would throw him down and cut off his head. But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes… — Sansa VI, AGoT

“I will not hang him,” said Jon. “Bring him here.” “Oh, Seven save us,” he heard Bowen Marsh cry out. The smile that Lord Janos Slynt smiled then had all the sweetness of rancid butter. Until Jon said, “Edd, fetch me a block,” and unsheathed Longclaw. — Jon II, ADwD

We already knew Jon was a hero. But here specifically, I think that this means he could be Sansa’s hero; and this is significant because Sansa no longer believes in heroes. First, Sansa has pretty much completely abandoned her beliefs in the Knights and Heroes in the songs and fairy tales of her youth, the type of knights and heroes men like Joffrey, Loras Tyrell, and Jaime Lannister were supposed to be. Secondly, her new view on what would be a “heroic act” is nothing like the jousting, hand kissing and flower tossing she used to be charmed by. In fact, her new ideas on what would be a heroic act are far more violent and gruesome, and actually pretty distinctly Northern. 

Compare Sansa’s thoughts: 

“Sansa stared hard at his ugly face, remembering how he had thrown down her father for Ser Ilyn to behead, wishing she could hurt him, wishing that some hero would throw him down and cut off his head.” — Sansa VI, AGoT

to this line by Ned:

“Yet our way is the older way…we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.” — Ned Stark in AGoT (Bran I)

Ned’s beliefs in justice the “old way”/the Northern way are carried on by Robb:

Robb took the poleaxe from his hand and ordered him to step aside. “This is my work,” he said. “He dies at my word. He must die by my hand.”…“Rickard Karstark, Lord of Karhold.” Robb lifted the heavy axe with both hands. “Here in sight of gods and men, I judge you guilty of murder and high treason. In mine own name I condemn you. With mine own hand I take your life. Would you speak a final word?” “Kill me, and be cursed. You are no king of mine.” The axe crashed down. Heavy and well-honed, it killed at a single blow, but it took three to sever the man’s head from his body, and by the time it was done both living and dead were drenched in blood. Robb flung the poleaxe down in disgust, and turned wordless to the heart tree. He stood shaking with his hands half-clenched and the rain running down his cheeks. Gods forgive him, Catelyn prayed in silence. He is only a boy, and he had no other choice. —AGoT, Catelyn III

And then, instead of hanging Slynt like he had originally intended, Jon Snow does pretty much exactly what Sansa wished some hero would do:

If Slynt did not wish to go to Greyguard as its commander, he could go as its cook. It will only be a matter of time until he deserts, then. And how many others will he take with him? “—and hang him,” Jon finished.…This is wrong, Jon thought. “Stop.” Emmett turned back, frowning. “My lord?” “I will not hang him,” said Jon. “Bring him here.” “Oh, Seven save us,” he heard Bowen Marsh cry out.The smile that Lord Janos Slynt smiled then had all the sweetness of rancid butter. Until Jon said, “Edd, fetch me a block,” and unsheathed Longclaw.…“This will go easier if you stay still,” Jon Snow promised him. “Move to avoid the cut, and you will still die, but your dying will be uglier. Stretch out your neck, my lord.” The pale morning sunlight ran up and down his blade as Jon clasped the hilt of the bastard sword with both hands and raised it high. “If you have any last words, now is the time to speak them,” he said, expecting one last curse. Janos Slynt twisted his neck around to stare up at him. “Please, my lord. Mercy. I’ll … I’ll go, I will, I …” No, thought Jon. You closed that door. Longclaw descended. — Jon II, ADwD

I’m not saying that this necessarily must have romantic significance, but I really do think it’s significant. Sansa has been pretty violently disabused of all of her romantic notions and beliefs that there are Heroes or Good Men left in this world. In some cases they were quite literally beaten out of her… Jon specifically did what Sansa wished and hoped a Hero and a Good Man would do. And he is the only character in the series that will have done that heroic act. 

Jon Snow is “some hero.”

It honestly kind of reminds me of Sophie Turner’s quote about how in GoT S7 Jon will “restore Sansa’s faith in men.” If Sansa ever learns about how Jon beheaded Janos Slynt, it could help her believe in heroes again.