One last Game of Thrones post before the final episode, this one about Jon Snow.
Jon is always saying he doesn't want power, and everyone seems to take him at his word (both the characters in the story, and most fans). But for a man who supposedly doesn't want power, he constantly ends up in positions of power, even when there are other at least equally good candidates for the job available. That suggests he doth protest too much:
He accepts the position of Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, even though there were other plausible contenders. he could have refused.
After his resurrection, he takes the position of de facto commander of the Stark army being mobilised to fight the Boltons, even though there are better commanders available (indeed, given Jon's incompetence as a general, almost anyone would have been better).
He accepts the position of King in the North, even though Sansa was an obvious alternative (and a far more capable ruler). Indeed, Sansa was sitting RIGHT NEXT to Jon when he got chosen; she was clearly unhappy about the situation. He could easily have told the assembled lords to support Sansa instead, and buttressed the suggestion by pointing out that Sansa is the one who actually deserves the credit for winning the Battle of the Bastards. Choosing a woman would be unprecedented, but no more than choosing a bastard (as everyone then believed him to be).
Jon claims that he is loyal to Daenerys and does not want the Iron Throne. But he also blabs about his true heritage to Sansa, with the predictable (indeed, predicted by Daenerys) result that she tells other people and they start plotting to remove Daenerys and replace her with Jon. When Varys suggests such a coup to Jon directly, Jon - significantly - does NOT report him to Daenerys (as Tyrion did when HE found out).
We are, perhaps, intended to believe that Jon does all this out of a combination of duty and naivete. He only takes the positions of power because he feels he has to, and he is too naive to understand the consequences of his actions. But maybe that's exactly what he wants everyone to think! A crafty schemer can be much more effective if no one suspects him, because they think he's a naive innocent! Consider that both Littlefinger and Varys came to grief because people knew they were constantly plotting, and became suspicious. Yet almost no one suspects Jon, thereby showing that he's an even MORE devious plotter than Littlefinger and Varys.
We have direct proof that Jon IS capable of devious deception. Consider how he tricked the Wildlings into thinking he was really on their side. When he kills one of the few who suspected him of double-dealing, he tells him "you were right about me all along." Who is to say he isn't similarly deceiving others?
If this logic is followed through, at the end of the finale Jon will take the Iron Throne (again feigning reluctance). Then, he will finally reveal his true nature and rule as a brutal tyrant! Anyone who dares complain will be sent to the Wall or executed for treason (we know that Jon is more than willing to execute even children for desertion or betrayal!).
Of course I don't really believe this is what the show-runners mean to do. In the books, where Jon is a viewpoint character, the evidence suggests he really is well-intentioned (though that is also mostly true of Daenerys, as well). But on the show, we don't have access to Jon's mind, and therefore the Jon-as-Machiavellian-plotter scenario remains viable - at least for now!