HBO is still getting a ton of mileage out of the controversial (spoiler alert!) presumed death of Game of Thrones‘ Jon Snow (played by Kit Harington). After being stabbed several times in the season 5 finale, the beloved character is ostensibly expected to be dead, but we don’t know for sure. Thanks to a new season 6 teaser, released today, a surge of uncertainty has swelled again.
The controversy over whether or not Snow is dead is not new, of course, with Harington having been photographed on set in September after denying a return, not to mention his image appearing on a poster for the new season. Many fans have been insistent since the final episode of season 5 that he wasn’t actually mortally wounded. (Never mind how he survived so much damage.) The teaser feeds the confusion, dedicating over half the video to Snow’s image before a voiceover from ESP phenom Bran Stark says, “They have no idea what’s going to happen.”
What’s especially frustrating/intriguing is how well the teaser guards any true clues. All we actually get of Snow is a look at him standing still, footage of his brutal stabbing, and then the famous shot of him lying on the ground as a bloodstain spreads across the snow. There’s no way to say for sure if he’s dead or alive which is, of course, exactly how HBO wants it. How can fans not tune in to find out?
The little bit of the teaser that doesn’t focus on Snow provides a montage of gruesome deaths that have occurred over the course of the series, and a shot of Bran with his entranced white eyes. At least there’s one thing we can say for sure: there will be more of that when the bloody show returns in the spring. Until then, we’ll have to put up with HBO’s ongoing torment.
Game of Thrones season 6 will premiere in April.
