Why We Haven't Actually Seen The Last Of Jon Snow

Jon Snow may know nothing, but there's one thing we know: he'll be back. Oh, sure, Game of Thrones' resident emo hottie certainly appeared to be on the dead side of things after a bunch of jerks used his belly for stabbing practice. And Game of Thrones does have a well deserved reputation for shocking deaths. Still, we're positive that star Kit Harington hasn't moped his way through his last CGI blizzard. Here's why.

Maybe you thought Games of Thrones was an ensemble or something. Well, guess again. Just how central is Jon Snow to the story? When showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss tried to talk author George R.R. Martin into letting them turn his beloved books into a TV show, he had one condition: they first had to correctly identify Jon Snow's mother. So it seems unlikely that they would decide to render the question completely moot by killing him off.

While we're on the subject of Jon's mother, there's another mother we should mention: the Mother of Dragons. You may recall that Daenerys just learned how to ride her boss dragon, Drogon. But she has two other dragons awaiting riders, and seemingly no other Targaryens around to ride them. That's where the leading theory on Jon's bloodline comes in, because it turns out most people believe he's actually half-Targaryen himself—and thus the most likely candidate to fly at Dany's side.

In tennis circles, 2015 will be remembered as the year the infamously staid decorum of Wimbledon was shattered like dragonglass, as a collective fangirl squee arose from the universe itself at the sight of Harrington in the stands—and, more specifically, the sight of his famously unruly mop top. Why does Harington's haircut matter? Because word on the street is that he's contractually barred from cutting it as long as he's playing Jon Snow. The fact that Harrington still hasn't cut his hair even after his supposed "death" is all the proof we need that he'll be back.

Speaking of Harrington's contract, here's an interesting tidbit: he's actually signed through season seven. If paying someone not to appear on a wicked expensive TV show sounds weird, that's because it would be, if the showrunners were doing that. Paying their star to star in the show, on the other hand, makes a lot more sense. And since he's already been spotted palling around with his fellow Game of Thrones actors in Belfast, where season six is being filmed, we think this one is pretty obvious.

Sure, Harrington said in an interview that, "I'm dead. I won't be coming back next season." But the key words there are "next season." Death is hardly permanent on Game of Thrones—see: Beric Dondarrion—and other characters like Bran Stark have been known to skip entire seasons. Then there's showrunner David Benioff, who said flatly that "dead is dead." But even that seems more like a sly in-joke than an actual denial. After all, the first page of the entire series has a character stating "dead is dead" just before an ice zombie rises up and rips his head off. Remember: it's not what they say, it's what they mean.

Winter is coming, and it's bringing a 90 percent chance of zombie apocalypse. But without Jon Snow, there's just nobody left at the Wall to tell that story. The closest thing to a main character left at the Wall is Ser Davos Seaworth, but unless he decides to take the black as penance for his boss being a complete toolbag, we're not seeing it. And with Sam gone off to college, who else really is there? No, as much as we'd love to see Dolorous Edd suddenly rise to claim the Iron Throne, it's clear that the show not only wants Jon on that Wall, it needs Jon on that Wall.

Sure, Jon Snow seemed to be pretty darn dead at the end of A Dance with Dragons, the last book to be published at the time of this writing. But Martin goes to a heck of a lot of trouble to explain how wargs—people like Bran, who can project their minds into other living creatures—can survive death by projecting their mind into a friendly animal. Like, say, Ghost, Jon's direwolf. The show seems more likely to use the altogether too convenient presence of noted witchy woman Melisandre to bring Jon back, rather than explore Jon's latent warging ability, but the bottom line is clear: Jon's coming back in the books, which means he'll be back on the show too.

Finally, there's one big reason why Game of Thrones will bring Jon Snow back to life: because not being shocking is the most shocking thing left they can do. Think about it. After Ned's beheading, the Red Wedding, and Oberyn's head being popped like a human zit, Jon getting shanked by his mini-me is almost boring. The only thing that would make his "death" truly shocking is if he turns out to be the one good guy in Westeros who actually lives. Now that would be a real surprise.