People Think That Direwolf Death Points to a Larger Game of Thrones Conspiracy

Warning: This post contains spoilers from the sixth season of Game of Thrones.

Although the third episode of Game of Thrones’ sixth season saw Jon Snow make his official return 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, 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.

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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.

But hey, even if it was Shaggydog, Melisandre isn’t too far away.

Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com.