Is He Really Dead? And Where Does ‘Game of Thrones’ Stand for Season 6?
Is He Really Dead? And Where Does ‘Game of Thrones’ Stand for Season 6?
Spoilers follow for the season 5 finale of “Game of Thrones.” Like immediately.
So is Jon Snow really dead?
Shortly after he met his apparent end in Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” season finale,
fans and commentators headed online to argue that what we saw wasn’t a
death at all, or at least not a permanent one, given that this is a
story that has featured plenty of powerful magic as well as the
occasional resurrection.
Snow’s assassination,
the result of a mutiny by his fellow knights, seemed to close out the
fifth season with one of the most shocking “Thrones” deaths yet. He has
been one of the show’s genuine heroes and, as the only character
actively addressing the coming White Walker apocalypse, seemed destined
for great things.
That said, the scene
was not a shock to anyone who has read “A Dance With Dragons,” the most
recent novel in George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Fire and Ice” series. Snow
meets a similar end in the book but Mr. Martin has yet to complete the
next installment in the series and he has been cagey about Snow’s fate.
Kit Harington, the actor who plays Snow, has stated unequivocally in interviews that Snow is dead, telling Entertainment Weekly
that “I’m not coming back next season.” But what about the season after
that? Bran Stark, another key character, just took off all of Season 5.
The creators of “Game of Thrones” are sticking to the story as well. Dan Weiss, one of the show-runners, told EW, “Dead is dead.”
“We would hope that
after seeing the scene and the way it’s shot that the answer to that
will be unambiguous in the minds of the people watching it,” he said.
Of course, what else is he going to say? And what does “dead” really mean in a world in which a character like Beric Dondarrion can be killed and brought back
at least seven different times? And Mr. Harington and Mr. Weiss seem to
be going out of their way to throw us off the scent, don’t they? A good
conspiracy theory finds a way to leverage or at least accommodate any
evidence stacked against it.
Which doesn’t make it
inaccurate. The case for Snow’s return rests primarily on Melisandre’s
convenient appearance at Castle Black. The red priestess practices the
same form of magic that resurrected Dondarrion and has shown a
fascination with Jon Snow all season; could their fates be intertwined
in some fashion? Other theories involve Snow “warging” his way into his
direwolf’s body — which just seems nutty — or returning as a
wight/zombie.
There are narrative
aspects that suggest Snow has unfinished business. For one thing, the
bastard of Winterfell never discovered the identity of his mother,
something the show has been dangling throughout the show’s run. (Mr.
Martin asked the showrunners their theories about this before he allowed
them to adapt the story for HBO.) There was also Snow’s highly meme-able
confrontation with the Night’s King after the Battle of Hardhome a
couple weeks ago, which seemed to portend another clash to come at some
point.
So is “Game of
Thrones” just messing with us? Consider: this is a show that has
consistently broken the conventional rules of television, from quickly
killing off its lead character to repeatedly subjecting children to
ghastly cruelties. Would it really surprise you if Jon Snow showed up
again somewhere down the line?
Yeah, me neither.
Sunday’s finale was long and full of plot points, so while we’re here, a quick review of where things stand going into Season 6:
In the North
The Boltons easily dispatched Stannis’s depleted and demoralized army and remain firmly in control of Winterfell. But Ramsay lost his lover, bride and whipping boy while he was distracted by battle. Some have wondered whether Sansa and Reek survived their big leap, but I can’t imagine such a key character being killed off in such an opaque fashion. Brienne missed Sansa’s signal as she dispatched Stannis and, once she realizes this, seems likely to re-double her efforts to track her down. Does a confrontation with Ramsay await?
The Boltons easily dispatched Stannis’s depleted and demoralized army and remain firmly in control of Winterfell. But Ramsay lost his lover, bride and whipping boy while he was distracted by battle. Some have wondered whether Sansa and Reek survived their big leap, but I can’t imagine such a key character being killed off in such an opaque fashion. Brienne missed Sansa’s signal as she dispatched Stannis and, once she realizes this, seems likely to re-double her efforts to track her down. Does a confrontation with Ramsay await?
In Essos
In a callback to his days as the Hand of the King, Tyrion is again running a “grand old city choking on violence, corruption and deceit,” and has Varys at his side. That pairing almost makes up for the fact that we’re apparently not done with Meereen. Almost. Daenerys Targaryen, meanwhile, has been flown by her dragon to what appears to some branch of the Dothraki empire. You’ll recall that she began this story as the arranged bride for Khal Drogo, a Dothraki chieftain. Daario and Jorah, her lover and heartsick admirer, respectively, have embarked on what hopefully proves to be a terrifically awkward mission to find her.
In a callback to his days as the Hand of the King, Tyrion is again running a “grand old city choking on violence, corruption and deceit,” and has Varys at his side. That pairing almost makes up for the fact that we’re apparently not done with Meereen. Almost. Daenerys Targaryen, meanwhile, has been flown by her dragon to what appears to some branch of the Dothraki empire. You’ll recall that she began this story as the arranged bride for Khal Drogo, a Dothraki chieftain. Daario and Jorah, her lover and heartsick admirer, respectively, have embarked on what hopefully proves to be a terrifically awkward mission to find her.
In King’s Landing
Cersei survived imprisonment and her grueling walk of shame to land back in the Red Keep, where her weakling son Tommen is still king in name, if nothing else. The High Sparrow and his Faith Militant army still run things, but there is good news for Cersei: Qyburn has succeeded in turning Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane, seemingly mortally poisoned in Season 4, into a fearsome personal warrior. Blood will flow. Queen Margaery and her brother Loras still languish in jail.
Cersei survived imprisonment and her grueling walk of shame to land back in the Red Keep, where her weakling son Tommen is still king in name, if nothing else. The High Sparrow and his Faith Militant army still run things, but there is good news for Cersei: Qyburn has succeeded in turning Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane, seemingly mortally poisoned in Season 4, into a fearsome personal warrior. Blood will flow. Queen Margaery and her brother Loras still languish in jail.
In Dorne
Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes finally got their revenge on the Lannisters, whom they blamed for killing Oberyn Martell. Ellaria gave Myrcella a poison kiss, apparently killing her. The Dorne subplot was arguably the most disappointing of Season 5, but might we be headed back there next year? Jaime can’t let the murder slide, nor can he show his face to Cersei after bungling this mission so badly.
Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes finally got their revenge on the Lannisters, whom they blamed for killing Oberyn Martell. Ellaria gave Myrcella a poison kiss, apparently killing her. The Dorne subplot was arguably the most disappointing of Season 5, but might we be headed back there next year? Jaime can’t let the murder slide, nor can he show his face to Cersei after bungling this mission so badly.
In Braavos
Arya jumped the gun in her House of Black and White training, using the face of a young girl to seek her own revenge on Meryn Trant. The penalty, it seems, was to suffer the same blindness she inflicted upon Trant before she cut his throat. Is it permanent? As with so much else on this show, only time will tell.
PhotoArya jumped the gun in her House of Black and White training, using the face of a young girl to seek her own revenge on Meryn Trant. The penalty, it seems, was to suffer the same blindness she inflicted upon Trant before she cut his throat. Is it permanent? As with so much else on this show, only time will tell.
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