'Game of Thrones': What a new poster might tell us about Jon Snow

'Thrones' network HBO recently released a poster that may reveal some clues about the fate of character Jon Snow (Kit Harington). The new poster also showed that the new season of 'Thrones' will debut this April.

|
Helen Sloan/HBO
'Game of Thrones' stars Kit Harington.

Will Jon Snow return on “Game of Thrones”?

HBO, the network behind “Thrones,” recently released a poster for what is presumably the next season of the show. The poster reads only “April” (the month in which the past seasons of “Thrones” have traditionally debuted) and features supposedly deceased character Jon Snow front and center.

Jon (Kit Harington) appeared to be gone for good after this past summer’s season finale. Jon had become the leader of the military group the Night’s Watch but after he put various controversial rules into place, some of his men attacked and appeared to kill him. 

Harington himself said of his character’s fate in an interview following the season finale, “I’ve been told I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season.” (Back when the book in which Jon apparently meets his end, “A Dance with Dragons,” was published, “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin gave a slightly more ambiguous answer. “Oh, you think he’s dead, do you?” he asked, then said, “I’m not going to address whether he’s dead or not.”) 

So the poster seems to indicate that Jon will be involved somehow in the upcoming “Thrones” episodes, either as a character who is still alive or perhaps in flashbacks of some kind. 

“Thrones” is by now a cultural institution as it heads into its sixth season. It has become HBO’s most popular show of all time, surpassing early hits like “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City,” and “Thrones” recently became the first fantasy series to win the Emmy Award for best drama series. 

However, “Thrones” has had its troubles. There were always complaints from viewers over the show’s depiction of some female characters and of sexual violence, but the complaints increased even more last season after a plotline involving sexual violence that many found troubling was included on the show. Some said they were finished with "Thrones."

Unlike past seasons, viewers don’t know what’s ahead. While those who had read the books knew ahead of time what stories would be told in upcoming episodes – and whether they were stories that would be disturbing to viewers – the fact that the show has reached the end of Martin’s written material means the story is a mystery to everyone. The show will be able to truly surprise everyone for the first time, but viewers will no doubt be wondering what kind of stories those behind the show will choose to tell following last season’s episodes.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'Game of Thrones': What a new poster might tell us about Jon Snow
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2015/1124/Game-of-Thrones-What-a-new-poster-might-tell-us-about-Jon-Snow
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe