Something Really Weird Happened With Jon Snow's Sword on 'Game of Thrones'

Something very strange went down with Jon Snow's sword on 'Game of Thrones,' and we need answers.

Game of Thrones
HBO

Image via HBO

Game of Thrones

Jon Snow's sword is a legendary piece of history, one of the few remaining Valyrian steel swords left in existence. Though he almost gave the sword away to Jorah Mormount on the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Jon's weapon, named Longclaw, will play a critical part in humanity's fight against the White Walkers.

Thanks to some Thrones-obsessed fans, there may be a few Longclaw secrets we aren't aware of yet. Toward the end of "Beyond the Wall," as Jon struggled to pull himself out of icy water, a shot of Longclaw came into view. It looks no different than it normally does, with the wolf handle displayed prominently in the foreground.

longclaw

And then, as Jon begins to make his ascent out of the lake and carve his path toward survival, a funny thing happens: the "eye" of Longclaw appears to open!

longclaw

When you put a comparison of the two side by side—shout-out to Reddit user miba54 for going through the trouble of doing so—there's a noticeable difference between the images. Is Longclaw coming to life, or signaling something else?

longclaw comparison

Since the show has woefully underused the direwolves up until now, some sort of supernatural wolf magic would have been a nice inclusion for fans begging to see them get involved in the battles. Jon's direwolf, Ghost, was even a critical character in Thrones through the first couple seasons, joining Jon in some of his more dangerous adventures. An even crazier theory is the idea that Bran, who is able to warg into other animals, is inside Longclaw and assisting his half-brother.

Before you get too excited, though, it's probably nothing more than an optical illusion. If you watch the scene at full speed, you can see what looks like darkness cover the entire eye as Jon's hand moves fully into the background, suggesting the eyes on Longclaw are just crystals, and we're just seeing through to the other side.

For the optimists among you, there's a slight glimmer of hope that could see Longclaw possess some sort of magical qualities. Nobody knows how to make Valyrian​ steel swords anymore, so the secrets behind the weapons have long since died out, but we do know they're one of the two known materials that can be used in weapons to cut down White Walkers. There's something special about the steel, even if it falls short of magic.

Just try to hold onto that thing at any cost, Jon. Humanity doesn't stand a chance if they keep losing their best weapons against the undead.

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