In this thirty-ninth episode of Learned Hands, the Official Podcast of the Westerosi Bar Association, Merry & Clint ask: Did Jon Snow's choice to ride south to Winterfell kill the Night's Watch? What responsibility, if any, does Jon have to maintain constitutional norms and structures?

Our analysis this episode includes:

• We go back to the Wall to discuss what unmakes a government!
• Discussion of whether Jon's breaking of Nights Watch norms constitutes a crossing of the Rubicon.
• A dramatic reading of the Shieldhall Speeches with musical accompaniment courtesy LittleWolfBird (find her patreon here)!
• Merry talking at length about her favorite doomed sad boi and why the show's treatment of the moment was not actually bad.
• Your Hands debate whether law can be used as a tool to change broken institutions.
• Clint does some stupid accents and talks about how the Senate sucks (rinse and repeat).
• Much discussion as to whether or not the Night's Watch was gonna die, and whether they had it comin'.
• We announce our 2024 dues drive and call for Amicus Curiae!

Supplemental reading:

• Merry's essay: The Last Temptation of Jon Snow Pt. 1, Kill the Boy
• Merry's essay: The Last Temptation of Jon Snow Pt. 2, The Choosing
• Adam Feldman's essay: Jon's Noble Heart and Greater Duty
• Why are men obsessed with the Roman Empire?
• A Lawyer's Role in Contemporary Democracy, Foreward

Bumpers by Dr. Kavita Mudan Finn. Extensive audio engineering by LittleWolfBird. Intro & Outro music courtesy Sid Luscious & The Pants. None of this should be construed as legal advice OBVIOUSLY. 

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