*This article contains potential spoilers*
Fans of “Game of Thrones” have been going through various stages of loss and grief ever since Kit Harington‘s character, Jon Snow, was fatally stabbed over and over by the men of the Night’s Watch in a shocking end to Season 5. His alleged death death left fans in denial as they became angry at everyone and everything, including Jon Snow.
However, anger didn’t really solve their core problems, turning them into a helpless and depressing bunch of fans. And just as they were about to accept the fact that their beloved character is gone, some casting and shooting info may have confirmed fan theories about Jon Snow’s fate.
When speaking to New York Daily News about his character’s “death”, Harington was quoted as saying:
I’m quite dead. It’s over for Jon Snow — at the very least, he gets to join his family and kin and leave this terrible world behind.
He wasn’t the only one to confirm that he’s gone as the show’s creators revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Jon Snow is not coming back. While appearing on US show People Now, Harington’s co-star Maisie Williams also said, “We saw him get stabbed a lot, I think it’s pretty clear he’s dead.”
George R.R. Martin, who created Jon Snow through his fantasy novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire”, has kept mum on Jon Snow’s fate instead. He refused to confirm the character’s death, but he left an ambiguous response:
If there’s one thing we know in “A Song of Ice and Fire” is that death is not necessarily permanent.
Does that mean Harington will return to reprise his role in the 6th season of the HBO fantasy series? Well, the possibilities are endless, and some fans have proof that he’s still “living” in his character.
Kit Harington is in Belfast AGAIN; plus, Irish actor joins Game of Thrones http://t.co/Ka389PuBzg #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/J9snWHg4bB
— Watchers on the Wall (@WatchersOTWall) July 21, 2015
On 21st July (Tuesday), Lucy, a reader of the show’s fansite “Watchers on the Wall”, submitted a few photos of Harington arriving at Belfast International Airport in Ireland on Monday night. According to Lucy, Tom Wlaschiha, who plays Jaqen H’ghar in the series, was on the same flight with Harington and herself.
Since the show will begin filming its 6th season in Belfast as well, the actor’s appearance in the Northern Ireland’s capital sparked speculation that his character may still somehow survive. He further fueled speculation of his return to the show by sporting a man-bun at the airport. The 28-year-old actor has earlier told Rolling Stone that he really wants to cut his hair after he’s done with his character. So if he’s really, really not going to appear in the show, why is he still keeping the long locks? Exactly.
However, it is also possible that he is returning to the show merely for flashback sequences or funeral scenes.
Meanwhile, the shooting location for the new season may have just confirmed a fan theory that proved Jon Snow’s parentage.
Some fans noticed that one of the newly announced filming locations, the Castillo de Zafra in Guadalajara, Spain, resembles the Tower of Joy from the books. However, the tower was torn down long before the events of Season / Book 1.
In the books, the tower was where Rhaegar Targaryen (son and heir of the mad king, Aerys II Targaryen) absconded Lord Eddard Stark’s sister Lyanna Stark (the betrothed of Robert Baratheon) during a war. At the end of the war, Ned and 6 of his companions approached the tower, but found it guarded by several Kingsguard members. Only Ned and one of his companions namely Howland Reed survived the battle, but when Ned reached the tower, Lyanna was found dying. Before she passed away, Ned recalled her getting him to promise something.
It is unclear what she wanted him to promise, but the popular fan theory known as the “R+L=J” theory suggests that Jon Snow is actually the love child of Lyanna and Rhaeger.
If Jon Snow is really dead, there’s no reason for the production to dig into the circumstances of his birth. Almost all of the characters in the Tower of Joy incident are dead, so why bother digging up his past? Why not just keep him dead so that his true parentage is never discovered?
Thus, Jon Snow may resurface in the new season of “Game of Thrones” (since Howland and himself are the only characters who survived in the incident) if the Tower of Joy is going to appear in the flashback sequences. To further solidate the point, rumour has it that the production is looking to cast an unnamed “legendary fighter” for the upcoming season.
According to Watchers on the Wall, the character is described as follows:
A man in his thirties or forties who is a great swordsman and a paragon of knighthood. He carries a hugely famous sword on his back. The show is seeking a very impressive swordsman for the role- the best in Europe, for a week of filming fight scenes for a season 6 role. His ethnicity/race isn’t specified, unlike many other roles.
If rumours were to be believed, the aforrementioned character could be describing Ser Arthur Dayne, the Kingsguard knights under the Mad King and one of Rhaegar Targaryen’s closest friends. He was considered one of the greatest warriors in the Seven Kingdoms and is known as the “Sword of the Morning” because he carries an ancient sword called Dawn.
As we’ve already mentioned, Arthur was dead long before the events of the show. Should he appear in Season 6, it would mean that he’d most likely be appearing in the flashback sequences then.
What do you think of all these fan theories? Do you think that Jon Snow is really dead or will he somehow, by some magic streak, survive in the 6th season of “Game of Thrones”? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
Source: Time, slashfilm.com.
