Do You Think That GAME OF THRONES Character Will Stay Dead?

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for the season 5 finale of Game of Thrones.

I saw a lot of outrage following last night's episode of Game of Thrones, with people claiming they were done with the show and they wouldn't be watching it again. People were pissed that the showrunners killed off Kit Harington's Jon Snow, one of the ostensible heroes of the series and a character whose fate is left a bit more ambiguous in George R.R. Martin's novels. But do you really think he'll stay dead?

In Westeros, death is far less black and white than it is in our world. We've already seen that Thoros of Myr can use the power of the Lord of Light to resurrect Beric Dondarrion, leading many to assume that Melisandre — who conveniently bailed on Stannis Baratheon and returned to Castle Black just before Jon's assassination — could tap into her powers and bring Jon back next season. The show hasn't really gotten into this too much, but there's a deep mythology in the books about a warrior named Azor Ahai who battled the White Walkers and is prophesied to be reborn. Melisandre believed Stannis was the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, but many have long thought that Jon Snow was the true second coming. (You can read much more about this in this excellent breakdown at Vanity Fair.)

Harington, director David Nutter, and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are all claiming in various interviews that Jon is truly dead. And they may technically be telling the truth...for now. Harington says he won't be back next season, but don't you think he sort of HAS to say that in order for this season-ending moment to have any dramatic weight to it? If he said, "Oh, just wait until next season. We have something awesome planned that fans will be really excited about!" don't you think that would be essentially a confirmation that he won't be staying dead for long?

Personally, I'm not sure if Jon is coming back or not, but if the showrunners actually did kill him off and don't plan on bringing him back, I think they better be prepared to justify that decision by bringing this series to a close in a way that justifies all the time we spent rooting for that character. It's one thing to kill Ned Stark in season one to establish the kind of show this is going to be, but it's something entirely different to spend five seasons setting up a major character only to have him go out with a whimper. What do you all think?

(Apologies for the unrelated Dany header image. I didn't want to put a picture of Jon there and accidentally spoil someone.)