Jon, now working undercover amongst the wildlings, is taken to meet Mance Rayder. At first I think Mance Rayder is being far too freindly. Shouldn't he be throwing Jon in a cage and interrogating him? Or at least not so immediately inviting him into his house and introducing him to his pregnant wife?
But then I start to realise I've got Mance all wrong. He's not some ruffian, scoundrel, raider (despite the name). He's not even a Westeros-style lord who might very likely treat prisoners only as well as it suits.
Mance is civilised and has manners. He is not a ruler: the wildlings associate with him voluntarily. These are free folk, and Mance means it, unlike Craddock whose idea of freedom is the freedom to abuse his daughters. For Mance, freedom is for other people, too. And so Jon is a free man who he invites onto his property to share his food.
As Ygritte says when Jon asks if he will be free to leave, "Sure you will. And we'll be free to kill you. It's dangerous being free, but most come to like the taste o' it."
This is better than it sounds, their interest in killing Jon is only so far as it is necessary to protect themselves.
Mance explains why he left the Watch: "...for a place where a kiss was not a crime, and a man could wear any cloak he chose."
My prediction then, is that Jon is going to go too deep under cover, and come to like the taste of freedom, and realise that a better world is possible than the backwards, medieval society of Westeros.
