HBO programming president Michael Lombardo has weighed in on the rumors about Game of Thrones, and there’s good news and bad news for fans.
The bad news, depending on your character loyalty, is that Jon Snow really is dead. “Dead is dead is dead is dead. He be dead,” Lombardo said at the Television Critics Association press tour on Thursday, the L.A. Times reports. (Then again, he would say that either way, wouldn’t he?)
And as for those proponents of R+L=J, their theory could be put to the test on screen: Lombardo hinted, “There’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel.”
See The Real-Life People Who Inspired Game of Thrones Characters
![HBO; Getty Images](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/cersei-margaret-of-anjou.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/queen-elizabeth-i-khaleesi1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Portrait of Henry VIII. By Hans Holbein Date c. 1540. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) and claimant to the Kingdom of France.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/melisandre-bloody-mary.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Portrait of Henry VIII. By Hans Holbein Date c. 1540. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) and claimant to the Kingdom of France.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/anne-boleyn-talisa.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/brienne-of-tarth-joan-of-arc.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Portrait of Henry VIII. By Hans Holbein Date c. 1540. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Portrait of Henry VIII. By Hans Holbein Date c. 1540. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) and claimant to the Kingdom of France.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/king-henry-viii-robert-borathean-copy.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/joffrey-caligula.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
Read next: Watch Katniss and Jon Snow Face Off in ‘The Hunger Game of Thrones’
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