--- title: Game of Thrones Finale Recap: Is Jon Snow Really Dead? description: Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the fifth season finale of Game of Thrones canonical: https://time.com/3920941/game-of-thrones-finale-recap-jon-snow/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-15T10:50:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:29.667Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Game of Thrones' Writer, Producer on Whether That Character Is Really Dead og:description: Spoiler alert og:url: https://time.com/3920941/game-of-thrones-finale-recap-jon-snow/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2e91cf108aa95be/6988543aa988cabdde6b2fd6/george-rr-martin.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2298 og:image:height: 1293 og:image:alt: San Francisco Premiere Of HBO's "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Game of Thrones' Writer, Producer on Whether That Character Is Really Dead twitter:description: Spoiler alert twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2e91cf108aa95be/6988543aa988cabdde6b2fd6/george-rr-martin.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Game of Thrones_ Writer, Producer on Whether That Character Is _Really_ Dead > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Is 'Games of Thrones' Treatment Of Women Too Much? [Watch (HLS stream): Is 'Games of Thrones' Treatment Of Women Too Much?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vn6UV5cw.m3u8) (2:05)  _Published 2015-06-12. This season of 'Game of Thrones' has been brutal towards women. But is it too much?_ by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 15, 2015 10:50 AM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 15, 2015 10:50 AM UTC A [bloody season finale to _Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/3920690/game-of-thrones-recap-mothers-mercy-season-5-episode-10/) on Sunday night saw the death of one of the show’s most beloved characters: Jon Snow. But is he really dead? Yes. “Dead is dead,” [showrunner Dan Weiss told Entertainment Weekly. ](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/14/game-thrones-jon-snow-really-dead) “We would hope that after seeing the scene and the way it’s shot that the answer to that will be unambiguous in the minds of the people watching it,” Weiss said. “It should be pretty clear what happens in by the time you’re done seeing that scene. It’s not an, ‘Oh what just happened scene?’” But George R.R. Martin, who wrote the books that inspired the show, isn’t so sure. “If there’s one thing we know in _A Song of Ice and Fire_ is that death is not necessarily permanent,” he said. [Read more at Entertainment Weekly ](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/14/game-thrones-jon-snow-really-dead) ### See The Real-Life People Who Inspired Game of Thrones Characters  From left: Cersei and Margaret of Anjou HBO; Getty Images  From Left: Khaleesi and Queen Elizabeth I. HBO; Getty Images  From Left: Melisandre and Bloody Mary Helen Sloan—HBO; Getty Images  From left: Talisa Stark and Anne Boleyn. Helen Sloan—HBO; Getty Images  From left: Brienne of Tarth and Joan of Arc. HBO; DeAgostini—Getty Images  From left: Henry VIII and Robert Baratheon. HBO; Getty Images  From left: Joffrey and Caligula. HBO; De Agostini—Getty Images _Read next:_ [_See How Arya’s Kill List Is Going on ‘Game of Thrones’_](http://time.com/3920558/arya-stark-game-of-thrones-meryn-trant/?iid=time%5Freadnext) ## Transcript Has Game of Thrones gone too far for viewers? That's been the question hanging over most of the fifth season of Game of Thrones, which has depicted rapes, attempted rapes, brutality against women, and women being literally caged. Spoilers by the way. Now the series obviously does not shy away from brutal scenes In fact fans have come to expect and even anticipate scenes like the infamous red wedding in season three, and the day that the knights watch finally encountered the white walkers. But the backlash over Sansa's rape scene, Shareen's unbearable death, and even Gillie's attempted rape has gotten so strong that Martin was forced to address the influx of email complaints on his blog. He said Please stop emailing me about them, or posting off topic comments here on my Not a Blog. Yes, I know that The Hollywood Reporter named me the third most powerful writer in Hollywood. You would be surprised at how little that means. Over the past seasons, Martin has made a point to acknowledge the fact that the HBO show and his series of books are two completely separate entities. But some of the more brutal female plot lines such as Sharine's extremely hard to watch sacrificial scene seemed to actually stick with the book. Show runner David Benioff confirmed in the Inside the Episode video that this plot line was suggested by Martin. When George first told us about this. It was one of those moments where I remember looking at Dan and It was just like, oh that's so horrible and so good in the story sense because it all comes together. There have been scenes of female empowerment like when Brienne battled the Hound or when Daenerys emerged from a flaming pyre alive and with Baby Dragon. But this season, there doesn't seem to be the same balance between positive and negative plotlines. Besides the rapes and the deaths, we've seen both Margaery and Cersei thrown into prison. Denearys constantly battling the masked Sons of the Harpy, and Arya essentially stuck in the House of Black and White washing dead bodies. So this season begs the question, when are the women going to get a break? 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