Jon Snow's Dead Body Proves He's Not Dead

The newest Game Of Thrones trailer finally showed some actual footage of the show, unlike the vague posters and teasers like the one in the grim Hall Of Faces. The official Season 6 trailer, released last week, shows Daenerys wandering alone, Sansa alive and well, Melisandre realizing she really bungled up her prophecy, and Bran facing the Night's King. But the belle of the ball in the trailer is none other than Jon Snow's dead body. But is he really dead? As avid fans know, nothing on Game Of Thrones is as it seems; in fact, it's not a confirmation that he's dead, but an indication that the entire season will revolve around Jon (and Bran, but I'll get to that).

Harington has insisted over and over, quite maudlin, that he would be playing nothing but a corpse this season. But even that had a qualifier: "I know how long I'll be a corpse for, but I can't tell you that!" Um hello Snow, that obviously means you won't be a corpse the whole time. You are really bad at subtlety.

And even disregarding Harington's comments, the trailer shows so much dead Snow that it's almost overkill. How could he possibly be dead after all that buildup? The first shot in the dark and ominous trailer is an aerial view of Jon's bleeding corpse where it was left in the courtyard at the Wall. We see him lain on a table, and in the final shot of the trailer, we see Ser Davos the Onion Knight unsheath his sword over Jon's body where Ghost is lying over it.

Does that mean he's going to stab Jon, when he's already been stabbed several times? Or is Davos trying to wrest the body from the Night's Watch, either to burn it, or take it to Melisandre? Several speculators have hashed out the permutations and theories about what exactly Davos could be doing, and none of them suggest that Jon's dead forever.

There's also the scene with Bran Stark, in which he meets the Night's King. First of all, welcome back, Bran! I missed you, buddy. Also welcome back, Night's King, you terror, you. Bran Stark has been off-screen training with The Raven, aka Max Von Sydow, and he's back with some magic tricks up his sleeve. In the teaser released in December in the Hall of Faces, we hear a voiceover of an ominous conversation between Bran and the Raven. The Raven says: "The past is already written; the ink is dry," and Bran intones with fear: "They have no idea what's going to happen."

Bran has been learning Greensight, and his tete-a-tete with the Night's King in the newest trailer is likely a vision, seeing what Jon saw as he faced off with the Night's King. Bran is also connected to the past, present, and the future; and in the December teaser, a montage of the show's worst deaths indicated that this season is where past, present and future will collide.

So, if that's "too long, didn't read," then take this instead: Jon Snow can't be dead. At this point, if he were not resurrected, then the resounding reaction would be rage and uncontrollable sadness (or maybe I am the only one?) Plus, Jon Snow really seems like he is the key. If there's one overarching question this season about Jon Snow, it's whether he is dead or not. But if there's one overarching question about the entire series, it's: Who are Jon Snow's parents?

There's the popular R + L = J theory that has spread like wildfire and has all but become canon, suggesting that Jon Snow is not Eddard Stark's bastard son, but the son of his sister Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, who Ned vowed to protect. He was a man of honor, after all, which ultimately was his downfall, but it never made sense with Ned's character that he would father a child with someone other than Catelyn. Or maybe I'm just being sentimental, since they were one of the only couples on the show that actually loved each other and their family. Sigh. If Jon is dead, will we ever know the truth about his parentage? If he is a dragon, could he rise from fire if Davos burns his body?

There's also another theory bouncing around that one particular long-haired horsemen in a battle scene in the trailer could only be Kit Harington, but that's dubious evidence.

And let's not forget that Melisandre fled to the wall after she effed everything up with Stannis, and Davos is there, too. It's possible that these two could form an unlikely alliance to raise Jon from the dead.

In any case, it would just be too obvious to the point of being corny if Jon was simply dead, after the trailer paraded his corpse around so much. That would just make for bad TV, and also just mean. Don't Game Of Thrones fans suffer enough?

Images: Helen Sloan/HBO, HBO (3)