Warning: The are spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season six.
On July 12, 2011, George R.R. Martin's fifth novel in his "A Song of Ice and Fire" series was published, setting the most fervently debated character death of the series to date: the murder of Jon Snow.
Now, five years later, fans finally have confirmation that his fate was not as permanent as many hoped and believed over the years. The Jon Snow truthers can celebrate.
Jon Snow has returned.
After months of debating over semantics and reading between the lines, we finally watched Jon Snow get resurrected by Melisandre using power from the Lord of Light, just as many had suspected.
After Edd had returned to Castle Black with Wun Wun the Giant and a band of loyal wildlings, Davos motivated Melisandre to test her powers on Jon. With a group of people watching, she bent over his body and spoke the words of the Lord of Light, of her god R'hllor. When nothing immediately happened, the room emptied, and Melisandre looked defeated.
But Ghost stayed behind, curled on the ground. Then, moments later, Ghost's ear perked up. The camera panned over Jon's body, and suddenly his eyes burst open. Jon gasps, looking panicked, for a couple seconds. And then the screen went black.
So how was this possible?
Back in season three Melisandre met up with the Brotherhood without Banners, a group of justice-seeking fighters led by a man named Beric Dondarrion. Before his execution, Ned Stark sent Beric out to the riverlands to try and prevent the Lannisters' men from pillaging and murdering the smallfolk.
Another service member of the Lord of Light was with the Brotherhood — a man named Thoros of Myr.
When Melisandre met Beric and Thoros, she immediately recognized that Beric was no ordinary man. He had been resurrected, brought back from dead, six times. Melisandre was clearly stunned at Thoros' ability to do this, and asked how it was possible.
Thoros explained that he wasn't a true believer in the Lord of Light, not until his good friend and leader Beric was killed in a fight. When he saw his friend die, Thoros turned to the only thing he knew: his former religion.
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"I knelt beside his cold body and said the old words," Thoros told Melisandre." Not because I believed in them, but … he was my friend and he was dead and they were the only words I knew. And for the first time in my life, the Lord replied. Deric’s eyes opened, and I knew the truth. Our god is the one true god."
This scene was clearly an early set-up from the showrunners, establishing not only the "Game of Thrones" universe's precedent of resurrection, but providing Melisandre with the tools to do so herself.
For Jon's resurrection, we saw a similar set of circumstances that parallel Thoros and Beric's relationship.
Melisandre met Jon Snow in season five, and took a clear interest in him. She recognized a power in him, and even attempted to seduce him (perhaps to make more shadow babies the way she did with Stannis). Though Melisandre was always a believer, unlike Thoros, her faith was shattered when Stannis did not live up to the visions she saw in the flames.
For most of the series, Melisandre has touted Stannis as Azor Ahai, a prophesized hero born amidst salt and smoke who wields a fiery sword called Lightbringer. Azor Ahai is meant to be the one who will fight against the threat of a Long Night and the Others/White Walkers.
But, as we saw in season five, Stannis wound up being none of those things. Most of his army abandoned him after Melisandre scarified his daughter Shireen in a ritual burning. Stannis' wife, Selyse, hanged herself out of guilt for allowing Shireen to die. And then, Stannis was defeated by the Boltons and ultimately executed by Brienne of Tarth.
Melisandre returned to Castle Black — the nearest shelter and (conveniently) home of Jon Snow. She was morose and disillusioned.
Last week the series revealed Melisandre's true form — an old and wizened woman. The scene established how Melisandre was at a very low point in her long life. With her belief in the Lord of Light shaken due to her misinterpretation of the fire visions, Melisandre was having a crisis of faith.
Sound familiar? This was the set up for Melisandre to have her own Thoros-moment.
After the fighting over Jon's murder was done, and everyone had time to take in the loss, Davos reminded Melisandre of the powers he's seen her wield. With the room of hopefuls looking on, Melisandre worked magic she had never tested before.
The episode concluded with Jon's eyes opening as he took panicked, gasping breaths. We will have to wait until next Sunday to see if there are any side-effects from his prolonged state of death. Will the hours that passed between his murder and resurrection matter? Will he be the same Jon we've grown to love, or will the process have changed him? Beric Dondarrion was always resurrected almost immediately following his death, but in the books he notes that a small piece of him was gone each time he came back.
What will happen to the Night's Watch? We personally believe this is the end of the Night's Watch as most of Westeros knows it. Jon's vows to the order start with this important line: "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death."
Well, he technically died, which means his watch has ended. If Sansa gets to Castle Black, and Ramsay's threats on the North reach Jon's ears, his desire to see the North back in Stark hands will likely override any loyalty he feels to the dying order of the Night's Watch.
Since there aren't many men left in the Night's Watch anyways, they may all decide to abandon their posts at Castle Black and go with Jon to rally the North. It will take more than the remnants of the Night's Watch to fight against the White Walkers, so combining the men who took the black with the regular people of Westeros could make sense.
And finally — this resurrection could confirm that Jon Snow is Azor Ahai, the promised hero Melisandre was trying to find in Westeros. We've already seen him go up against a White Walker and win (with the help of a Valyrian steel sword). It's looking more and more likely that Jon will be the one to unite the Seven Kingdoms in the ultimate war against the White Walkers and Night's King. Melisandre finally found her person.
No matter what Jon's next moves are, you can be sure he's just getting (re)started.
