Why Jon Snow Was Spotted On The Game Of Thrones Set

Everything we ever thought we knew about reality itself was just turned on its ear, as Kit Harrington was spotted in character as Jon Snow on the Belfast set of Game of Thrones' sixth season. Of course, based on what we saw at the end of season five (hey—spoilers!), Jon Snow is supposed to be very, very dead. Everyone at HBO pinky swore it. So if that's the case, why was Harrington on the Game of Thrones set? Here are some possible explanations.

Well, duh, right? We've been telling you this from the moment season five ended: there's just no way Jon Snow is actually dead. Yeah, Game of Thrones is famous for killing off its main characters, but Harrington is way too dreamy to go out like that. And nobody ever really believed all of those poppycock denials from showrunners D.B Weiss and Dan Benioff anyway. They are lying liars who lie, and these photos of Harrington on set are proof of what we've known all along: Jon Snow is alive.

Game of Thrones got its first flashback in season five (remember Young Queen Cersei and the Creepy Witch Who Sucked Her Finger?), and casting calls for season six have already revealed more flashbacks to come featuring Young Ned Stark. So it's very possible that Jon Snow is dead and they just need Harrington around to film some kind of important Night's Watch flashback—perhaps finally explaining why he was so darn emo all the time.

Dead folks don't just show up in flashbacks; they also show up in dream sequences. Speaking of which, remember Jon's little bro Bran, who was missing in action for the entirety of season five? Well, we know he's going to be returning for season six, and given that his entire schtick is crazy dream sequences, it's very possible Jon Snow's presence is just another hallucination brought on by huffing too much magic tree bark.

Games of Thrones isn't just a TV series, it's a cultural phenomenon. And that means one thing: there's a pantload of DVD extras they need to churn out in order to move product at Christmas. What, you thought all those "deleted scenes" were actually deleted? No, in many cases, those bonus scenes are never intended to air as part of the show at all, but are actually filmed specifically for the Blu-ray release in order to provide bonus content. Since Harrington is still under contract, they might as well squeeze as much juice out of him as they can.

If there's one thing that Harrington has shown in recent months, it's that the dude does have a pretty good sense of humor about Jon Snow's place in pop culture. He's already starred in one internet-wrecking viral video sensation, alongside Late Night host Seth Meyers in "Seth Brings Jon Snow to a Dinner Party." We wouldn't put it past him at all to be on the set of Game of Thrones just to add extra authenticity to some collaboration with Funny or Die or Saturday Night Live. And that would be...pretty awesome, actually.

Yeah, the photos show Harrington in costume, rather than just chilling in his civvies. But it's still possible that Harrington is simply visiting his old Game of Thrones buddies. After all, the guy has spent more than half a decade filming alongside co-stars like Jon Bradley, who plays Jon's best buddy Samwell Tarly. The thought that Harrington might go to Ireland and dress up in his old outfit because he misses his friends? Kind of gives us a bad case of the feels.

Admit it: you've suspected for a long time now that Weiss and Benioff are just trolling us all. Spend several seasons developing a fan-favorite character only to suddenly kill them off for no apparent reason? That's old hat to these guys at this point. So what can they do to up their trolling game? Well, they can start bringing back those "dead" characters for "leaked" photos like this, simply to toy with everyone's emotions. We have a feeling that the folks at HBO are gathered around their computers right now, cackling hysterically as the internet melts down. Another win for the biggest trolls in television.