<!-- mobian-agent-page publisher="time" canonical="https://time.com/4351601/game-of-thrones-benjen-stark/" -->

---
description: Spoilers: He&#x27;s been away for a while, but fans were quick to celebrate on Twitter.
title: A Long-Lost &#x27;Game of Thrones&#x27; Character Has Returned
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production
---

* [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/)  
## Entertainment  

Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/)  
Close

# A Long-Lost _Game of Thrones_ Character Has Returned


by 

[Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/)


## Nash Jenkins


Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/)

Close

May 30, 2016 3:26 AM CUT

by 

[Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/)


## Nash Jenkins


Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/)

Close

May 30, 2016 3:26 AM CUT

It’s been five seasons since Benjen Stark disappeared on _Game of Thrones_ after voyaging north of The Wall, but on Sunday night’s episode, he returned.

Some critics had predicted this might happen. Late last week, Crystal Bell at MTV sagely [noted](http://www.mtv.com/news/2885955/benjen-stark-game-of-thrones-coldhands/ "undefined") that “on a show like _Game of Thrones_, it’s necessary to abide by a simple principle: dead body, or it didn’t happen.”

And indeed, in Benjen’s case, it didn’t happen. (Some fans are probably still holding out hope that this theory applies to Hodor, whose death in [last week’s](http://time.com/4344388/game-of-thrones-hodor/ "undefined") episode shook things up.) Fans were quick to celebrate, of course.

> [](https://twitter.com/joshgad/status/737116690434101248)

> [](https://twitter.com/realthill/status/737112958992420864)

> [](https://twitter.com/smclaughlin9/status/737112618637348864)

> [](https://twitter.com/VannieCrow/status/737112127119319040)

> [](https://twitter.com/SasBea/status/737111333397618689)

> [](https://twitter.com/coolgirlia/status/737111034843017216)


> [](https://twitter.com/DixonBrother%5F/status/737109563254571008)

```json
[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4351601/game-of-thrones-benjen-stark/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4351601/game-of-thrones-benjen-stark/"},"headline":"A Long-Lost Game of Thrones Character Has Returned","datePublished":"2016-05-30T03:26:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:54:56.688Z","description":"Spoilers for season 6, episode 6 ahead","url":"https://time.com/4351601/game-of-thrones-benjen-stark/","keywords":["Television","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"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/4351601/game-of-thrones-benjen-stark/","name":"A Long-Lost Game of Thrones Character Has Returned"}}]}]
```