Binging everything that happened on "Game of Thrones" last season before Sunday’s premiere episode was a wild ride of familiar faces and plot twists.
But one scene in particular had everyone I was watching with convinced that a beloved character could be making a comeback in season six — Stannis Baratheon.
Unfortunately, he’s dead and unlike some murdered characters, there’s no chance of him coming back.
For those who don’t remember, Brienne of Tarth was attempting to save Sansa Stark and was hiding just outside of Winterfell in the season five finale when she happens upon Stannis Baratheon, who is wounded from fighting the Bolton forces in the woods.
This was very bad news for Stannis since Brienne swore an oath to kill him after he murdered his brother (and her sworn king) Renly Baratheon back in season two with the help of Melisandre’s terrifying shadow demon. Brienne was in love with Renly and was a member of his King’s Guard.
Because he died on her watch and in her arms, she was deeply affected by his death and swore vengeance.
She also knew — though no one believed her — that Stannis had murdered Renly with magic. "I was there when he was murdered by a shadow with your face," she tells Stannis when she sees him in the woods. "You murdered him with blood magic?"
"I did," Stannis says. "Go on, do your duty." Brienne obliges and sentences Stannis to death in Renly’s name. She takes her sword and swings it at his head.
The problem was we never saw his death or corpse on-screen — the director immediately cut to a scene of Ramsey. And as all "Game of Thrones" fans know, if you don’t see someone die, there’s a likelihood that character could still be alive.
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But that’s not the case here. Though the audience never sees Brienne’s sword slice through Stannis, HBO has since confirmed that Stannis is really, seriously dead.
Roose and Ramsey confirm Stannis' death in the premiere episode of season six. "Thanks to you, the false king Stannis Baratheon is dead," Roose says to Ramsey. "Do you know who struck the killing blow?"
Ramsey doesn't, but we do — Brienne of Tarth.
Outside of the show, in the HBO book "Game of Thrones: The Noble Houses of Westeros Seasons 1-5," Stannis is said to have been "killed outside of Winterfell by Brienne of Tarth, who wished to avenge Renly's death."
And furthermore, HBO collaborates with the digital marketing agency 360i and artist Robert Ball to put together a series called "Beautiful Death," which chronicles the show's major deaths by turning them into works of art. For the season five finale, the artwork was about Stannis' death and the end of House Baratheon:
And if you’re still not convinced, the season five finale director, David Nutter, also confirmed the character’s death.
"It would have been gratuitous,” Nutter told Variety about why he chose not to show Brienne’s sword hitting Stannis. "You really got a sense that Stannis had nothing else to live for. Brienne’s lifelong mission had come to an end. It’s a situation in which Stannis was ready to die and prepared to die."
He also didn’t mince words at San Diego Comic-Con in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: "From the very beginning, and [through] the script process, that was the intent — he’s dead."
Womp, womp.
But Stannis’ fans can still find him alive in one place — George R. R. Martin’s books. On his LiveJournal back in August, a fan asked the author if Stannis Baratheon was dead.
“In my books? Alive, beyond a doubt,” Martin wrote.
