Kit Harington, the actor who portrays the loyal member of the Night's Watch Jon Snow on HBO's Game of Thrones, was spotted in London last night sporting a much shorter haircut than usual.
That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it just might be. Harington has previously said in interviews his contract for the show prevents him from cutting his hair. He even wore a wig while shooting the film Testament of Youth in order to avoid a haircut. So what does Harington's new hairdo mean for Jon Snow in season five of the show? Read on for wild speculation and fan theories.
MASSIVE BOOK AND POSSIBLE SHOW SPOILERS BELOW!
It very well may mean Jon Snow's time in Westeros has come to an end. If Harington has cut his hair, it either means he has gotten out of that specific portion of his contract, his contract has been modified or is no longer a cast member of the show and won't be returning for season six.
Season five is pulling material from George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, which for the most part happen concurrently. At the end of A Dance with Dragons, Jon as Lord Commander has made a pact with the wildlings in order to better prepare the Wall's defenses against the coming threat of the White Walkers. Many of his brothers in black don't take kindly to allying with their former enemies and view Jon's actions as treason. Jon's chapter ends in a brutal cliffhanger where he is stabbed multiple times by his former comrades.
It is still unclear what this means. Martin has yet to say for sure and has even suggested Jon might still be alive. Some fan theories have Jon "warging" into his direwolf Ghost. For a while now in the books Jon has been able to warg into Ghost. If his body is failing, it makes sense for Jon to become one with his wolf companion, and with a name like Ghost (as in, Jon's "ghost" so to speak) it seems likely this might be the direction Martin is heading.
But nobody except Martin, Harington and Game of Thrones showrunners know for sure. Maybe Harington just desperately wanted a haircut and will grow it back before the next season of the show begins filming. After all, if you look at the pictures from Stuff, his hair isn't that short. It could grow back before filming starts, and it is possible he might be absent for season six of the show only to return for season seven. In that case he has plenty of time to grow his hair back. Or maybe Lord Commander Jon Snow is truly dead. We will have to wait for Martin's next book or season six of the show, whichever comes first, to find out for certain.
