For the first few years of Game of Thrones, I used to prepare for a new season by re-watching the entire series. Now that the show is going into Season 6, that's proving to be a bit more of a commitment, so I'm probably just going to refresh on a few key events. What's the one thing to remember about Jon Snow on Game of Thrones before we give in to the fact that he might be dead? In my opinion, it's all to do with Stannis Baratheon.
Why Stannis? He's not the best Baratheon in the bunch, and plus, he's dead. There was one scene in Season 5, Episode 4 that absolutely proves to me that Jon Snow's story isn't over. Stannis and his wife are watching Jon practice. Selyse refers to him as "the bastard of some tavern slut." "Perhaps," Stannis responds, "but that wasn't Ned Stark's way." Curious. Which part of the "bastard of Winterfell" story is he not buying? Does he think Ned Stark truly fell in love during the war, or does he — like pretty much every Game of Thrones fan — does not believe that Ned Stark is Jon Snow's father.
In Season 1, we learned that Ned Stark brought baby Jon, his bastard son, back after a war in which his sister Lyanna had been kidnapped and raped by a Targaryen prince. Ever since then, that story has been falling apart. Rhaegar, the prince, was a lover instead of a fighter. He and Lyanna may have run off together. The possibility that Ned Stark cheated on Cat is doubted by more than one character. Since Season 6 of Game of Thrones will feature Ned Stark flashbacks, I think we're going to delve even further into the story. That also makes Stannis' comment a verifiable clue.
Stannis isn't the first important player to see something special in Jon Snow. He has been singled out by Mance Rayder, Melisandre, the Night's King, and Tyrion Lannister. Now, as judges of character go, Stannis is probably somewhere between someone as good as Tyrion and as shady as the Night's King. But it's still significant, because his hunches are usually right. Stannis may have burned his own daughter to do so, but there's a reason someone so logical and sound as Davos Seaworth trusted him. He figured out Jaime and Cersei's secret. He also recognized Gendry's parentage instantly. Stannis is a smart dude, almost too smart for his own good. I think this observation is key.
This is why we're so obsessed with Jon Snow being alive over every other character who has died on Game of Thrones. Other characters, as much as we may have loved them, didn't have such huge unanswered questions surrounding them. I feel bad for the actors, who must be jealous of Kit Harrington, but we don't have unfinished business with the likes of Robb, Renly, Ygritte, Oberyn, certainly Joffrey, and even little Shireen. It would be nice if Ned had lived spill his secret, but then there wouldn't be any story. Why include this small exchange with Stannis and Selyse in Season 5 if Jon Snow was really going to die just a few episodes later? Mark my words, Jon Snow is alive on Game of Thrones (or will be soon), and it's little clues like this that prove it.
Images: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO; Giphy (2)
