(This post is spoilers.)
A week ago, the worst-kept secret in television history came to an end when Jon Snow took two big ole gulps of air. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are in many ways George R.R. Martin’s opposites: they’re ruthlessly efficient, and Snow’s resurrection was in keeping with the show’s style. Ever since Snow was stabbed to death in A Dance With Dragons, which came out in 2011, fans have been coming up with theories about how he would return. While I think that Martin’s Snow resurrection will involve warging, the show resisted theorists’ more fanciful ideas, which involved all kinds of crazy crap, like White Walkers and Bran. (I personally believed that he would be resurrected on his own funeral pyre.) But Benioff and Weiss kept it simple; he came back the way most people thought he would, with Melisandre’s help. And in doing so, they answered one of the books’ biggest mysteries: Is Jon Snow dead?
On Sunday, in episode three, they may answer another. Now that we know that Jon Snow is alive, we may finally discover who he really is, via one of Bran’s tree flashbacks. Trailers tell us that we’re definitely going to the Tower of Joy, where Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark met their end and probably conceived Jon Snow. Whatever else happens, we’re likely to finally find out if R + L truly equals J. Which means that fans of the books have lost two of their favorite things to speculate about. Thankfully, we should have Azor Ahai theories to mull for another season or so.