14 DAY TRIAL // Last night, the fifth season of “Game of Thrones” wrapped on HBO, with the episode “Mother’s Mercy.” Fans of the hit series, based on George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series of novels, have come to expect the unexpected with each new episode, particularly if it’s a season finale, but this one really took the crown.
Not only did showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have a leading character apparently killed off (again), but they also included several other major deaths in the episode. It was the most shocking cliffhanger possible, and for a show like GoT, that is actually saying a lot.
*Please be advised that this post contains major spoilers, so if you’re yet to see season 5 finale “Mother’s Mercy,” it would be best if you stopped reading right now.*
Could [XXX] really be dead?
On “Mother’s Mercy,” one of the most popular characters on the show, also believed to be a favorite to win the bloody Game of Thrones by the series finale, was killed off. Or so it seemed, based on that final shot of his body lying on the ground, with glassy eyes staring into nothingness.
Indeed, Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) was killed by his own protégé Olly, at Castle Black. With the events in this episode, the TV show and the books have reached the same point in the story, which means readers of Martin’s novels will no longer have the upper hand on fans of the show come season 6.
In the books, Snow meets the same fate, but Martin leaves the door open to the possibility that this might not be the end for the character, who could return in a different shape. The most popular theories are that he would warg into Ghost or that Melisandre and R’hllor would bring him back from the dead.
In the show, there was nothing but a cliffhanger, as producers were careful not to include anything that might lead towards one conclusion or another. So, by the looks of it, yes, Jon Snow is dead and he’s dead for good.
He never got to find out who his mother was and would never sit on the Iron Throne or protect the realm from all kinds of dangers. The Stark curse has finally caught up with him.
Kit Harington speaks
Martin has killed many fan-favorite characters in the novels, and the show based on them plays by his rules, as last night’s episode showed once more.
Fans might want to believe that Jon Snow isn’t really dead, or that his body is but his spirit would return in one shape or another in season 6, but Kit Harington himself says there’s no use in hoping for this to happen: as far as he knows, Jon Snow is dead and done for.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the actor stressed that he knew for a fact he wouldn’t be back for season 6, despite reports saying he had negotiated his salary for it and had even talked about the possibility of extending his contract for a 7th season as well. Those reports are false and misleading for fans because it gives them hope where they should have none.
He also says that he feels Snow’s death was done right. His only regret is never finding out who his mother was.
“Thrones treats drama as real life. And people die and don’t accomplish what we think they’re meant to in real life. And I think that’s one of the powerful things about Thrones. The major loss with Jon’s through-line is he never finds out who his mother is and that’s the heartbreaking thing for me,” he says.
“I’ve been told I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season. So that’s all I can tell you, really,” Harington adds.
If the showrunners and Martin have other plans for his character, he’s not privy to them, he promises.
So, do you think Jon Snow is really dead? Are you one of those many fans who will swear off “Game of Thrones” because you lost another favorite? Do you think Snow’s death was “done right”? Let us know in the comments section below.