After the "Game of Thrones" Season 5 finale, you probably stopped speculating over one of the show's biggest mysteries. But wait, don't give up just yet because it might finally be revealed.
Spoiler alert for "Game of Thrones" Season 5 and the books.
Since Jon Snow's shocking death in the final moments of the Season 5 finale, fans have theorized if it was really a death, whether we can expect to see Kit Harington again and if so, how. If Jon was actually killed off with no intentions of returning, that would likely mean "Thrones" wouldn't waste time revealing his parentage, which continues to be one of the biggest questions in both the show and George R.R. Martin's books. Thanks to some new casting information for Season 6 though, we may finally find out who Jon's mom and dad are next year.
In addition to the Season 6 casting info revealed last month, Watchers On the Wall has obtained more details behind the new characters HBO is looking to cast. According to the fansite, one casting description in particular hints at a book character who may be associated with Jon's origin story. The character name is "Legendary Fighter" and is described by WotW 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."
As Vanity Fair and Redditor TheWarPelican both speculate, this could be Arthur Dayne, a character from Martin's books who has long been dead by the time the series starts. In the books, Dayne was a famed sword fighter and member of King Aerys II Targaryen's Kingsguard. The warrior was dubbed Sword of the Morning for carrying the great sword Dawn on his back. But how does this relate to Jon Snow?
If Dayne is in fact included in Season 6, "Thrones" could flashback to his battle against Ned Stark at the Tower of Joy. In the books, Dayne was a friend of Rhaegar Targaryen and helped him "kidnap" Lyanna Stark, Ned's sister -- you may remember Sansa and Littlefinger discussing them briefly in Season 5. Later on, Dayne and two other men of the Kingsguard stood outside of the Tower of Joy, where Lyanna was being held and slowly dying.
When Ned and a group of men arrived to rescue her, a battle broke out, leaving Dayne dead. Once Ned reached his sister in the tower, he made her an unspecified promise before she died. While no one knows what exactly that promise was, proponents of the R + L = J theory believe that Ned found Lyanna dying with her baby, took the child and promised to protect it. According to the theory, that baby was Jon Snow, son of Rhaegar and Lyanna. If "Thrones" is casting Dayne, we may just get a flashback to this battle scene, which would also mean the return of Sean Bean (which the actor has often teased).
Beyond this, the series also hinted at Jon's mother and father in Season 5, which would prove futile if the story is never revealed on screen. In Episode 4, "Sons of the Harpy," Jon's history is alluded to multiple times when Sansa and Littlefinger discuss Lyanna and Rhaegar (as mentioned above), when Stannis shows doubt that Ned slept with a prostitute, hinting that Ned may not be Jon's father after all, and when Melisandre alludes to the possibility of Jon having King's Blood.
Yet still, what does this mean about Jon's fate? Will Harington return?
A few more clues seem to point to this possibility. One, which we already covered in depth, is that Jon's eyes may have flickered colors during his death scene, possibly hinting at him warging out of his body. Another is the cast members that have been announced to appear at the "Thrones" Comic-Con panel this year. Oddly enough, showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff are not expected to make an appearance and, less surprisingly, neither is Harington. Are Weiss and Benioff opting out of the convention to avoid questions about Jon?
Another hint is the final Beautiful Death poster, artwork that HBO commissions to depict the major character deaths in each episode. The last one released was of Stannis' death, however there wasn't a poster made for Jon Snow. This may be HBO's way of sneakily hinting that Jon isn't truly dead.
If you're still not convinced Harington might return to the show, one fan from Ireland may change your mind. Redditor AnakinGabriel found a post in a Song of Ice and Fire Facebook group from a fan claiming they recently ran into Harington in Belfast. When the fan asked for a picture, Harington reportedly said he was forbidden to take pictures since the media can't know he's in Belfast, where "Thrones" is filmed. Was Harington just hanging out in Northern Ireland for fun, or is he secretly filming more Jon Snow scenes? The truth is, we know nothing.
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