‘Game of Thrones’ season 6: Is Kit Harington leaving for good?

Tonight’s episode of “Game of Thrones” was shocking beyond words. There were many things that we anticipated, and while we thought that losing Jon Snow was an outside possibility, we never quite thought that the chances of it happening were really that enormous.

Then, we got to the end of tonight’s episode when Jon was stabbed repeatedly by members of the Night’s Watch, who blamed him for the deaths at Hardhome and claimed that it was all “for the watch.” This one is going to be incredibly hard to digest; Kit Harington was one of the most popular cast members of the show, and we assumed that he was going to be one of the people still standing at the end. Yet, he was gone in virtually a split second at the tail end of the episode. After the Walk of Atonement, we didn’t think there would be anything else that happens.

So is he really gone from the show for good? At the moment, it is probably much too early to completely speculate, since there is so much that could happen story-wise … but it doesn’t seem to be particularly likely, all things considered. The only thing we could see leading to a Jon Snow return is if Melisandre turns up and does some sort of spell to bring him back and he almost becomes the show’s version of Lady Stoneheart. Death has punishment, and if Jon Snow is gone, he’s not coming back the same game.

Hopefully, we are going to have more to share on the “Game of Thrones” finale soon; for now, just take a deep breath; otherwise, you may pass out. (Update: Harington says he is leaving to Entertainment Weekly; we’ll have more soon.)

Head over here if you want to get our review for Sunday night’s episode! Also, you can sign up now to get some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: HBO.)