Game Of Thrones: 5 Winners & 5 Losers In 'Oathkeeper'
4. Alliser Thorne
It has come to his attention that Alliser Thorne may need to find a way to get rid of Jon Snow before the election of a permanent Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. As is custom, the acting leader only holds his post until a new Lord Commander is chosen. Alliser will no doubt be a candidate for the job, but as Janos Slynt points out, all the men hate him. Jon is held in high regard by his brothers, and is a potential front-runner for the elections. Thorne knows this, and sees an opportunity to get rid of Snow before he ends up serving him.
As we learnt last week, the Nights Watch mutineers have taken up residence in Crasters Keep, and Jon wants to send a party to deal with them before Mance Rayder gets there first. Thorne eventually supports the action, but will not order anyone to help him: this mission is for volunteers only. Thorne is clearly hoping that none of them will want to risk their necks on a dangerous mission, and that Jon will end up going alone and get himself killed. His plan backfires when several brothers elect to join Jon beyond the Wall. This result is bad for Thorne on two fronts: not only is Jon more popular than he feared, but now he is going to be left with less men to defend Castle Black when the Wildling raiding party arrives.