What makes Jonathan Sims such an interesting character to me is that, if he could go back in time and relive the series again knowing how it all turned out, I think he’d still end up in the same place at the end.
Not on purpose. I think he’d try to try and change things, and I think those attempts would be genuine. But Jon’s fatal flaw is that he can’t look away from anything. And that trait isn’t just a tiny flaw, rather it’s a large part of what makes him who he is.
Jon, fundamentally, is a watcher. If he could do it all again I don’t think he’d be capable of saying “I’m going to turn a blind eye and walk away.” Instead, I think he’d try to fix everything by attempting to apply the forbidden knowledge he has in a different way and hoping that would change the outcome…but that’s exactly the thing that would make sure the outcome was very-close to the same even if the journey to get there was a little different.
It’s usually super interesting to think about what a main character would do if they could relive their series again because it’s fascinating to think of what all they would change. But what I think makes Jon interesting is the fact that I think he’d inevitably fall into the exact same pitfalls that get him in trouble in the series. Not because he’s a bad person, or a stupid person, or anything in-between. He just can’t seem to help himself. And that makes his writing SO GOOD to me.