What Does The Jon Snow Twist On Game Of Thrones Mean?

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON 6 EPISODE 2 “HOME” FOLLOW

Ever since he was murdered in the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, fans have been asking “Is he really dead?” or “Will he come back?” Well, everyone at HBO has been pretty upfront about the answer to the first question being “yes,” and the episode “Home” finally provided the answer to the second question.

The ending of “Home” has Davos giving a pep talk to Melisandre and convincing her to attempt a ritual to resurrect Jon Snow. She remembers that Thoros managed to resurrect Berric Dondarrion so, despite her own doubts, she decides to give a try. When Jon doesn’t immediately come back, she believes she failed, but shortly after everyone leaves the room Jon sits up gasping for air.

So what does this mean for Jon? Well, the only precedent we have is what we know about Thoros’s resurrections of Dondarrion (well, there’s one or two others in the books, but we won’t get into that here). With Berric, he gets to come back to walk among the living, but his scars don’t heal. If he loses an eye, that eye is gone. Presumably, a severed limb also won’t grow back. Wounds carry over, so it’s not like you can just charge into a battle without a care in the world.

For Jon, that means all of those lovely stab wounds will remain on his body as a constant reminder of his the betrayal by his brothers in the Night’s Watch. For the show’s narrative, it sure looks like we’re heading towards a showdown between the Bolton’s and their Northern allies and Jon Snow’s allies in the wildlings and loyal northern houses.

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.