There were a lot of things that went down throughout the Game of Thrones Season 5 finale. However, the buzziest thing everyone is talking about, by far, concerns the fate of Jon Snow, who supposedly died after getting stabbed multiple times by his fellow brothers of the Night's Watch. (Rude!) Since then, several different theories have sprouted up to help support the claim that Jon Snow is not actually dead — one of which involves the fact that Kit Harington's Game of Thrones contract was extended all the way to Season 7 just last October. And there's no arguing with the sound logic behind this reasoning. I mean, why make him sign on for longer if you know you're not going to use him? However, I think that many people are overlooking the fact that being dead doesn't necessarily mean being gone from the show entirely.
Don't get me wrong, I want Jon Snow to be alive and well just as much as anyone. But there are a few loopholes that the GoT writers can work around that make Harington's contract prove nothing in regards to Jon's odds of survival. Because there's more than just one way to reappear on this show, and you don't necessarily have to be alive and walking around in the present day to do it. For example…
Jon Could Show Up As A Ghost
Season 5 proved more than ever that this series isn't afraid to dive right into the magical side of things what with all the dragons and White Walkers roaming the lands. So I wouldn't put it past them to throw a ghost or two into the mix as well. And given the R+L=J theory that's been floating around for years, I think it's safe to say that Jon may have some very important unfinished business to attend to before truly meeting his maker.
He Could Appear In A Vision Or Hallucination
Melisandre definitely returned to The Wall for a reason. There's no doubt about that. But was it necessarily to bring Jon back to life or allow us to see him through some trippy spells of hers? The former is obviously preferable since that would mean we could expect to see him on a more regular basis, but I suppose a hallucinated Jon Snow is better than no Jon Snow at all.
There Could Be A Flashback Sequence
There haven't been that many flashbacks on this show thus far, but maybe that's because the series was saving it for a special occasion — like to help explain Jon's true parentage or further show what his upbringing was like as a member of the Stark household. This would also be a great way to bring Ned, Catelyn, and Robb Stark back for an episode or two. Just saying!
Someone Could Dream Of Him
Bran's been known to have some pretty prophetic dreams at times. Jon could come to him next season and warn him about the White Walker army. That way he'd still have a vital part to play in saving Westeros, even if he isn't alive to see it come to fruition. Plus, who hasn't dreamed about Jon Snow at one point or another? So, really, this idea is not just totally possible, but highly probable.
So forget about the contract, folks. If Jon Snow is alive, we'll need more evidence than just this piece of paper. And if he isn't… well, after eating about a gallon of ice cream, we can at least take comfort in knowing that there are other ways he could pop back into our lives. And so our watch begins…
Images: Macall B. Polay/HBO; evertheimpetuous/Tumblr; valarmorghulis-k/Tumblr; Giphy; gifhunterress/Tumblr
