Jojen Reed
Jojen Reed, the son of Lord Howland Reed of Greywater Watch, is a boy of thirteen when he first appears at Winterfell, already marked by the burden of prophetic dreams he calls greendreams. Small, solemn, and prematurely grave, he speaks with the weary certainty of someone who has seen pieces of the future and knows he cannot change them. His sister Meera, a capable huntress, accompanies and protects him, but it is Jojen's visions that set their course: he has dreamed of a three-eyed crow waiting for Bran Stark beyond the Wall, and he believes it is his task to bring Bran there.
Greendreams and the Burden of Prophecy
Jojen's greendreams are not ordinary dreams but vivid, truthful glimpses of what will come. He has seen the sea flooding Winterfell, the dead walking, and a winged wolf bound in chains of stone. These visions give him an unshakeable sense of purpose but also drain him of the spontaneity and hope of ordinary youth. He speaks of his own fate with a quiet resignation that disturbs those around him, especially his sister. When Meera asks him why the Three-Eyed Crow cannot come to them, he answers simply, "Until we get there," as if the outcome is already written and his only choice is to walk the path.
The Journey Beyond the Wall
Jojen's physical frailty becomes increasingly apparent as the group pushes deeper into the frozen wilderness north of the Wall. He shivers violently, grows weaker with each passing day, and struggles to keep up even with Meera's help. Yet he never wavers in his conviction that they must press on. When Coldhands, the mysterious ranger, leads them through the haunted forest, Jojen is the one who insists they trust him: "We go with Bran's monster, or we die." His body is failing, but his will remains fixed on the greendream's destination.
The Arrival at the Cave
By the time they reach the cave of the Three-Eyed Crow, Jojen is barely able to stand. He is carried by Meera through the final, desperate ascent under attack from wights, and when they finally enter the cavern, he can only whisper that he has had "the strangest dream." Once inside, he grows increasingly sullen and solitary, spending long hours standing at the cave's mouth staring out at the forest. Meera confides to Bran that Jojen wants to go home but will not fight his fate: "He says the greendreams do not lie." His role, as he understands it, was to guide Bran to this place; with that task complete, he seems to have lost his own reason for continuing.
Thematic Significance
Jojen Reed embodies the tragic cost of prophetic knowledge. His greendreams give him purpose but also consume him, leaving him hollow once that purpose is fulfilled. He is the guide who cannot stay, the seer who sees his own end and walks toward it anyway. In a story filled with characters who resist or misinterpret prophecy, Jojen accepts his with a quiet, fatalistic dignity that makes his gradual decline all the more poignant.
