his vows of celibacy with Ygritte and becomes torn between his growing feelings for her and his loyalty to the Night's Watch. After climbing over the Wall with Ygritte, Jon deserts them to warn the Watch of the impending attack. He helps defend Castle Black against the wildlings' attack despite his injuries. Ygritte is killed in battle, leaving Jon stricken with grief. Jon takes over Donal Noye's command of the Wall's defense after Noye is killed. When Thorne and Janos Slynt arrive at Castle Black, they attempt to have Jon executed for desertion. Jon is freed after the judges are convinced of his loyalty but Thorne orders Jon to kill Mance under the pretense of parley. As Jon negotiates with Mance, Stannis Baratheon arrives with his army and defeats the wildings. Stannis offers to legitimize Jon and declare him Lord of Winterfell if he will align the North with Stannis. Though greatly tempted by the prospect of becoming a true Stark, Jon ultimately chooses to remain loyal to his Night's Watch vows. Due to Sam's machinations, Jon is elected as the new Lord Commander in a landslide victory. A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons Jon is not a POV character in 2005's A Feast for Crows, but appears briefly from Sam's perspective as he sends Sam away from Castle Black with the Watch's Maester Aemon and Mance's newborn son to protect them from being sacrificed by the Red Priestess Melisandre. Jon also gives Sam the specific mission of traveling to the Citadel in Oldtown to become a maester, so that he may better understand the threat of the Others and eventually succeed Maester Aemon. In A Dance with Dragons (2011), Jon prepares the defense of the realm against the Others. He attempts to juggle the integration of the wildlings, growing unrest within the Night's Watch, and Stannis' attempts to use the Watch in his war for the Iron Throne, while trying to maintain the Watch's strict political neutrality. When Slynt openly defies Jon's orders multiple times, Jon executes him, which increases tension between factions. Later, he advises Stannis against attacking the Dreadfort. Jon plans to settle the wildlings in sparsely populated regions of the North and allows some of them to join the Watch to garrison the many abandoned Night's Watch fortresses. Many members of the Watch dislike the idea of allowing their ancient enemies through the