As much as I love to see the Stark children reuniting, I had a feeling that Sansa and Jon's latest endeavor was doomed to fail in one way or another. Is Rickon dead on Game of Thrones ? Yes. Yes he is.
Sansa knew that little Rickon Stark was more of a threat to Ramsay Bolton's hold on Winterfell than her and Jon combined. Unless Bran shows up, Rickon was the Lord of Winterfell, because he is neither a bastard nor a girl. Birth rights are ridiculous, aren't they? Sansa warned Jon that something like this would happen, if it hadn't already. In the end, Rickon did get to see Jon again, but only for a brief and horrifying moment.
Before the "Battle of the Bastards" began, Ramsay lured Jon Snow away from the comfort of his army by making a show out of killing Rickon in front of him. He technically set the boy free, but as Rickon was running towards Jon, Ramsay shot him with arrows until he fell. I don't think even Rickon thought he was getting out of there alive, but he gave it his all. The kid did always like to run.
Not to speak ill of the dead or blame the victim, but apparently nobody told Rickon that it's safer to run in an unpredictable, jagged line when you're being chased. Then again, I've never been Ramsay Bolton's prisoner, so what do I know? Perhaps the youngest Stark was already worn down mentally and emotionally.
I don't think that Melisandre is going to be able to bring Rickon back to life, unfortunately. Not to be crude, but his wounds were too great. At the end of the episode, Jon went to bury him in the family sept. Poor Rickon. House Stark may be on the rise again, but his life was the price for it.
Image: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO
