The Caesar-like assassination of Jon Snow on the show throws in a few extra characters, but the executive producers did their best to point out young Olly again and again (and again) as being central to the event. The character was invented by the show last season, at the suggestion of then-assistant Dave Hill, to give the peasant victims of the wildlings an identifiable face and voice. So far, so good. However, this season the character has been far and away overrepresented, containing more screen time and lines than the much more formidable Ser Alliser Thorne. It’s not as if Olly’s insights have been particularly deep, revolving entirely around his personal experience. In fact, his arguments with Jon and Sam were almost identical!

On the other hand, the shocking moment in the novels is really about a revolutionary (Jon Snow) attempting to unilaterally drag the Watch into a radical new position (alliance with the wildlings) against thousands of years of institutional tradition. Jon’s urgency as Lord Commander is highlighted, but his high-handed ways with his officers, his refusal to compromise on a very complicated issue, and (finally, and fatally) his attempt to “defend” the Watch by leading an army of wildlings against the Boltons created a perfect storm in which Night’s Watch hardliners could see no way forward but to violently rid themselves of a misguided tyrant.