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The newest season finale of the HBO fantasy drama "Game of Thrones" appeared to show the departure of a major character.

(Spoilers for the 鈥淭hrones鈥� season finale follow 鈥�)聽

The episode's first surprise came when聽wannabe monarch Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), appeared to meet his end, finishing his doomed quest for the Iron Throne, but the death that most profoundly shocked viewers came in the last scene. Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Lord Commander of the the Night鈥檚 Watch and a character viewers had been following since the beginning of the show, was betrayed by his own men and murdered.

The question is, is Jon really dead? Fans who liked the character would of course want to believe that Jon isn鈥檛 gone for good. Harington told Entertainment Weekly, 鈥淚鈥檝e been told I鈥檓 dead. I鈥檓 dead. I鈥檓 not coming back next season.鈥�

But book fans know that the phrasing in 鈥淎 Dance with Dragons,鈥� George R.R. Martin鈥檚 novel in which Jon appears to meet his fate, is a bit more unclear. After 鈥淒ragons鈥� came out, Martin asked EW, 鈥淥h, you think he鈥檚 dead, do you? ... I鈥檓 not going to address whether he鈥檚 dead or not.鈥�

Meanwhile, 鈥淭hrones鈥� co-creator D.B. Weiss said in an interview with EW that it鈥檚 tough to make a TV scene difficult to interpret like one could a book scene. 鈥淚n a show, everybody sees it for what it is,鈥� Weiss said. When asked if Jon was dead, he said, 鈥淲hat are you gonna do? Kit鈥檚 a good looking guy. He鈥檚 very talented. He鈥檚 very sweet, and very easy to work with. It will be a sad day shooting that scene.鈥澛�

In an earlier scene, the character of Melisandre (Carice van Houten), a priestess for a god that appears to have brought back people from the dead previously, arrived at the castle Jon commanded. International Business Times writer Charles Poladian suggested that Melisandre could perhaps revive Jon.

However, if the character is really gone, either in the books and on the show or just on the show, is it fair to fans who still have unanswered questions about the character?聽One of the series' perhaps most important questions is Jon's parentage. Snow was raised as the illegitimate son of the otherwise virtuous Lord Eddard Stark, but his mother's identity has remained a mystery.聽Harington himself told EW, 鈥淭he major loss with Jon鈥檚 through-line is he never finds out who his mother is and that鈥檚 the heartbreaking thing for me.鈥�

However, a popular fan theory holds that Jon's actual parents may be Rhaegar Targaryen, the deceased son of a dead king (making him a possible nephew of aspiring Queen聽Daenerys, played by Emilia Clarke), and Lyanna Stark, Lord Eddard's long-dead sister.聽If Jon remains dead, will viewers feel cheated to have these plotlines unresolved 鈥� or resolved after his death?聽

There鈥檚 no release date set for Martin鈥檚 next book, 鈥淭he Winds of Winter,鈥� so the TV show may be the first to answer the question of whether Jon is really gone. If he is, viewers will have one less virtuous character to root for.