--- description: After Jon Snow made his official return, viewers had little turnaround time before discovering another character had met his tragic end. title: Does That Direwolf Death Point to a Larger Game of Thrones Conspiracy? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27accf16b104ff64/698892073c16391fdd45d253/rickon-stark.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # People Think That Direwolf Death Points to a Larger _Game of Thrones_ Conspiracy  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 9, 2016 4:22 PM CUT  Art Parkinson as Rick Stark in Season 1 of Game of Thrones Art Parkinson as Rick Stark in Season 1 of Game of ThronesHBO  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 9, 2016 4:22 PM CUT **Warning:** This post contains spoilers from the sixth season of [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/4314401/hodor-real-name-game-of-thrones/ "undefined")_._ Although the [third episode](http://time.com/4322410/game-of-thrones-review-jon-snow-back/ "undefined") of _Game of Thrones’_ sixth season saw [Jon Snow make his official return](http://time.com/4319756/kit-harington-jon-snow-future-game-of-thrones/ "undefined") from the dead, viewers had little turnaround time before discovering that another beloved character had met his tragic end. After Smalljon Umber presented Ramsay with the gift of [Rickon Stark](http://time.com/4319608/game-of-thrones-rickon/ "undefined"), Ramsay demanded proof that the boy in front of him was actually the youngest heir to Winterfell. In response, Smalljon pulled out the severed head of Rickon’s direwolf, Shaggydog, causing fans to lose their cool. **Read More:** [Here’s What We Learned About the Tower of Joy From That _Game of Thrones_ Flashback](http://time.com/4322414/game-of-thrones-flashback-ned-stark-tower-of-joy/ "undefined") However, while the moment was an upsetting one, some are speculating that the wolf head did not actually belong to Shaggydog and that the Umbers’ show of loyalty was part of a larger conspiracy to overthrow Ramsay as Warden of the North. > [](https://twitter.com/TVisOurRealMom/status/729506783505481728) > [](https://twitter.com/Kelcieisme/status/729534069273407488) > [](https://twitter.com/KatSnoe/status/729699791727255553) > [](https://twitter.com/Dean0%5F36/status/729582601371942913) > [](https://twitter.com/CookieRager1/status/729510621713039360) > [](https://twitter.com/DrShafbonculous/status/729591508307873792) But hey, even if it was Shaggydog, Melisandre isn’t too far away. > [](https://twitter.com/raymondreports/status/729495576878809088) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4322837/game-of-thrones-rickon-stark-direwolf-death-conspiracy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4322837/game-of-thrones-rickon-stark-direwolf-death-conspiracy/"},"headline":"People Think That Direwolf Death Points to a Larger Game of Thrones Conspiracy","datePublished":"2016-05-09T16:22:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:14.990Z","description":"Spoilers ahead!","url":"https://time.com/4322837/game-of-thrones-rickon-stark-direwolf-death-conspiracy/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","game of thrones","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27accf16b104ff64/698892073c16391fdd45d253/rickon-stark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27accf16b104ff64/698892073c16391fdd45d253/rickon-stark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"rickon-stark","caption":"Art Parkinson as Rick Stark in Season 1 of Game of Thrones","creditText":"HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4322837/game-of-thrones-rickon-stark-direwolf-death-conspiracy/","name":"People Think That Direwolf Death Points to a Larger Game of Thrones Conspiracy"}}]}] ```