Jon Snow is not dead! Despite what David Nutter says, Jon Snow is not dead.
Ok, so maybe he’s “dead” but is about to be resurrected by Melissandre.
In that case, the show runners can claim they were technically telling the truth, after they bring him back to life.
I’m not quite sure what the rules are regarding books vs. show. So, if you haven’t read the books, and you don’t want to know anything about them, please consider this a warning.
I’ve read the books, and much of what I’m going to say comes from them.
Spoiler Alert!
I firmly believe the R+L=J theory. It makes absolute perfect sense. Remember, the official narrative, that Lyanna was kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen is questioned a number of times in the books. The more likely scenario is that the two ran off together. Of course, after Robert Baratheon became king, it’s not a story he’d want told.
But Ned Stark knows what really happened. In flashback scenes, he talks about the fight against the King’s Guard at the (I forgot what it’s named) tower. After the battle, he climbs into the tower, and finds Lyanna in a “bed of blood”, and talks about a “promise” she extracts from him. What is the promise? Well, if she died in childbirth, the promise would have been to protect her child. Remember, this child - the natural son of Rhaegar - would have the lawful claim to the thrown. Given that Robert systematically kills or tries to kill every Targaryen he can find, the only way to protect the baby would be to keep the circumstances of his birth secret. Thus the lie that Jon is Ned’s bastard is born. It’s the only way Ned can keep him with him, and keep him safe. It also adds an extra layer of reasoning behind Ned’s decision to send Jon to the Wall, because the Wall, by tradition, is a place of sanctuary. The theory is supported by Mellisandre’s extreme interest in Jon. “King’s blood has power.” Well, Jon is - by law, anyway - the rightful heir of the Iron Throne, and he’s the grandson of a king, and the son of a Prince.
Anyway, the point is: this is a huge amount of backstory for a character, just to kill him off midway through the story. And we need to think about the future: the title of the book series is “The Song of Ice and Fire”. The fire, I’d argue is Daenarys. She was “born again” in fire, when her dragons hatched. Who is the “Ice”? It’s Jon Snow. These two characters are going to meet up in the future, and their meeting is going to be epic. He is going to be one of the three that are prophesied (by Rhaegar, if I remember right), and he will most likely wind up as a rider of one of the dragons. The Night’s Watch is not long for this earth, I suspect, and when it’s disbanded/destroyed/whatever Jon will be free from his vows (including the vow of chastity). He and Daenarys will become rulers of Westeros, before the story is over. (There will also be a third, but I don’t know who the third is yet. Remember, though, that the Targaryens have a tradition of both incestuous and polyamorous marriage.)
Furthermore, the Hound is not dead. The books make this almost blatantly clear: he’s “dead” only in the sense that he’s changed his ways and he’s now serving at a sort of monastary of the Seven. Although I hadn’t thought of this until I read it in this thread, the possibility that he’ll wind up fighting his zombified brother makes sense.
I’m not sure about Stannis. The show departed substantially from the books this last season. It’s been clear for a long time that Stannis is not the “one” Melissandre’s looking for (it’s Jon Snow), but it’s entirely possible Stannis still has some part(s) to play, before he dies. From what we know of Brienne, I’d expect her NOT to kill a defenseless prisoner. Also, it’s possible he could be of some use to her: she still has to save Sansa. But I have no idea what the show runners will do.
