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In S07E06 Jon Snow wants to give his sword Longclaw to Jorah Mormont. He does so because Jorah would have been the rightful heir, but Jon knows that Valyrian steel can kill White Walkers.

Jorah rejects the sword anyway, but wouldn't be giving the sword away be shortsighted?

He not only would lose the sword he can kill White Walkers with, but also the sword he knows how to fight with.

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    Hmm, and I was expecting Jon to also honor Jorah's father's last wish in that scene, to tell Jorah his father had forgiven him. That didn't happen on-screen (yet?), did it? Or did offering Longclaw imply that? ...I suppose that's another question, right?
    – Mathieu Guindon
    Aug 25, 2017 at 14:02
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    Greetings ladies and gentlemen. I'm working as of now and using Stack exchange for this, and I can't, as many others, watch this week's episode before this week-end. The hot network questions appears on the right of the screen. Since many people loves GoT, you are all asking questions about it that are really popular. Now, could you please consider not to spoil major things in the titles of your subjects, because this one is the fifth spoiler that came this week, just reading the tittle of your posts I already know most of what will happen in that episode... Thanks. - Angry programmer
    – Kaël
    Aug 25, 2017 at 15:30
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    @Kaël if it means that much to you, filter out the hot network questions meta.stackexchange.com/questions/222721/…
    – Gusdor
    Aug 25, 2017 at 16:13
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    As someone wrote in a joke, in a show like GoT the most important spoiler is not knowing who dies, but knowing who survives. This title spoils the fact that those two characters survive at least until S07E06 (well, sort of).
    – Federico Poloni
    Aug 26, 2017 at 10:30
  • @FedericoPoloni <S>Maybe one of them already died and the scene was a flashback.</S>
    – Peter
    Aug 26, 2017 at 13:37

2 Answers 2

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Jon is shown to be an honourable man, he believes the honourable thing is to give the sword back to the house it belongs to, in this case House Mormont. He even says so himself.

Your father gave me this sword. Changed the pommel from a bear to a wolf. But it's still Longclaw. Lord Commander Mormont thought you'd never come back to Westeros. But you are back. And it's been in your family for centuries.
Game of Thrones, S07 E06, "Beyond the Wall"

The reasons for keeping the sword as you've stated are true but Jon believes honour should come first. In any case I'm sure he'd just do a swap with Jorah: two Dragonglass daggers for one Valyrian steel sword.

Here's the scene in which I'm referring to:

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    Also, he know that jorah is a good fighter, so even if he don't own the sword anymore, the swords is still in good hands, and can still be used against White Walkers
    – Kepotx
    Aug 25, 2017 at 12:10
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    I agree with the fact he did it for honor, it was just to say that even if it's not in the hands of Jon, the power of the sword is not lost.
    – Kepotx
    Aug 25, 2017 at 12:14
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    @BrianH. There will no longer be a shortage. i think at the moment there is a shortage.
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Aug 25, 2017 at 12:22
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    @BrianH. They just start to mine the dragon glass, and they need time (and experience, so some try and fails) to make weapons from it, so there is no abundance of dragon glass weapon for the moment
    – Kepotx
    Aug 25, 2017 at 12:26
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    In regards to the abundance of dragonglass, dragonglass seems to be brittle. Thormund's axe is made out of several smaller shards, and we've only seen dragonglass daggers. Unless dragonglass has some magical property we don't know of, given that the walkers can shatter steel, dragonglass may only be usable to kill a white walker, but not engage one in a swordfight (as it could break when used to block an incoming attack)
    – Flater
    Aug 25, 2017 at 14:13
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In addition to honor, Jon has consistently been shown to be something of a diplomat. He purposefully makes gestures and guides very different people into situations where they work together for a common goal, and come to respect one another. He can benefit from being friendly with Jorah in a number of ways:

  • Jorah is an outcast from both his own house (which has historically been allied with the Starks) and Dany's hordes (he was sent away three times), so he has precious few friends and every reason to be wary of Jon. But he has shown himself to be a reformed man, an even-handed advisor, and capable fighter. Jon needs these kinds of people, because Jon is trying to unite all of Westeros together, and needs Jorah specifically to help tame Dany's constant genocidal impulses. After all, there is no more loyal ally than one himself lacking in allies.

  • Jorah has a decent enough right to return to House Mormont (he was pardoned by the crown in s2), maybe not to lead them, but at least be a part of his ancestral home again. This gives him a far more hopeful future to look forward to than he ever had before, and could give Jon more friendly contacts at House Mormont. Again, if ever a King needed more allies, it's Jon Snow.

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