--- title: Game of Thrones Season 5 Ended With One of the Saddest Deaths of All description: One of the show's most beloved character to death meets his end at the end of season five. canonical: https://time.com/3920729/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-jon-snow-death/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-15T02:53:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:11:47.870Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Game of Thrones' Season 5 Ends In Death of Major Character og:description: Well, nobody saw that coming og:url: https://time.com/3920729/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-jon-snow-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fbe1843ffece8c2/6988547955a859154aa8c7f2/jon-snow.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: jon-snow og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Game of Thrones' Season 5 Ends In Death of Major Character twitter:description: Well, nobody saw that coming twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fbe1843ffece8c2/6988547955a859154aa8c7f2/jon-snow.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Game of Thrones_ Ended With One of the Saddest Deaths of All by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 15, 2015 2:53 AM UTC  Helen Sloan—HBO by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 15, 2015 2:53 AM UTC **Warning: Major spoilers from the** **_Game of Thrones_** **season 5 finale ahead.** As all leaders eventually learn, sometimes making the right decision for the greater good can backfire. So it was for Jon Snow, who at the end of the season five _Game of Thrones_ finale gets stabbed to death by the very men sworn to follow his command at Castle Black. Snow’s decision to allow Wildlings inside the Wall to protect them and add troops to the ranks fighting off the White Walkers was very unpopular among the Night’s Watch. Their revenge against him amounts to the demise of one of the show’s most beloved characters—as upsetting to fans as the demise of his father Ned Stark, half-brother Robb Stark and sort-of stepmother Catelyn Stark. Some viewers took to social media to speculate that seeing him bleed out in the snow might not amount to proof of death—after all, Melisandre arrived back at the wall only hours before his stabbing, and her powers could prove helpful. Yet actor Kit Harington [told _Entertainment Weekly_ ](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/14/game-thrones-jon-dies-interview)in no uncertain terms, “I’ve been told I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season.” But then again, maybe there’s a chance he’s clueless—as a wise woman once said, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3920729/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-jon-snow-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3920729/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-jon-snow-death/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones Ended With One of the Saddest Deaths of All","datePublished":"2015-06-15T02:53:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:11:47.870Z","description":"The show bids farewell to a major character","url":"https://time.com/3920729/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-jon-snow-death/","keywords":["Television","HBO","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fbe1843ffece8c2/6988547955a859154aa8c7f2/jon-snow.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fbe1843ffece8c2/6988547955a859154aa8c7f2/jon-snow.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"jon-snow","caption":"","creditText":"Helen Sloan—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/3920729/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-jon-snow-death/","name":"Game of Thrones Ended With One of the Saddest Deaths of All"}}]}] ```