Is The Latest ‘Game Of Thrones’ Casting Leak Everything That It Seems? [Spoilers]


This article contains spoilers and theories about Game of Thrones Season 6.

With all the focus on Jon Snow’s supposed demise, even the most die-hard Game of Thrones fan might forget the other rumored plot lines that will feature in the sixth season of the HBO ratings juggernaut. For the record: yes, Kit Harington is still sporting Jon Snow’s trademark long hair and beard.

Actor Kit Harington still has the trademark long hair and beard,
[Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images]
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Game of Thrones Season 6 will revisit the Riverlands with the siege of Riverrun and mark the return of Blackfish and Edmere Tully. Season 6 will also likely see would-be queen Daenerys Targaryen’s return to the Dothraki holy city, Vaes Dothrak, with all the pomp and fire due a former Khaleesi with the blood of the dragon. If all the rumors are true, Season 6 of Game of Thrones will also feature an epic battle for control of the North, led by Jon Snow. Or perhaps, Jon Stark. But, even as fans anticipate the return of Jon Snow and the rise of Jon Stark, little is known about the scene that will set the stage of Jon Snow’s triumphant return, and answer questions that go back to the first episode of Game of Thrones, and the series of novels on which it is based.

[Image via HBO]In the novel Game of Thrones, Ned Stark remembers a battle at the Tower of Joy. At the end of the battle of the Tower of Joy, Ned Stark discovers his sister, Lyanna, in bed and bleeding. Before her death, Lyanna extracted a promise from Ned Stark, but the audience doesn’t learn the details of the promise before the end of Game of Thrones. In fact, as of the most recent novel, A Dance with Dragons, the audience still doesn’t know what Lyanna made Ned promise. Of course, there is one wide-spread theory. Some fans believe that Lyanna made Ned promise to protect the child she had with Rhaegar Targaryen from the wrath of Robert Baratheon. The theory is known as “R+L=J”, and it might be confirmed once and for all in Game of Thrones Season 6, because the production team has already finished filming of a flashback to the Tower of Joy.

This is where things get interesting. According to the fan site, Watchers on the Wall, three actors were cast in connection to the Tower of Joy scene. One of the actors, Luke Roberts, recently updated his résumé with his Game of Thrones role, Rowland Selwyn. There is no character named Rowland Selwyn in the source material, and certainly no Rowland Selwyn was among the guards who died at the Tower of Joy. However, Ned Stark wasn’t the only survivor of the battle of the Tower of Joy. The other was the so-far-unseen, and similarly named, Howland Reed. And, as of Game of Thrones Season 5, and A Dance with Dragons, Howland Reed is alive and well, and the only living person in Westeros who may know that Jon Snow has both Stark and Targaryen blood.

At the moment, R+L=J is still only a theory. And unfortunately, Game of Thrones fans may have to wait a bit longer than usual to find out which of their wild theories prove true. According to the fan site, Winter is Coming, HBO recently announced a new 10-episode series, Vinyl, which will premiere on Sunday, February 14. Winter is Coming estimates that Vinyl will end it’s run around April 17. Which means, best case scenario, Game of Thrones won’t return until April 24. However, HBO often leaves one week between the conclusion of one show and the beginning of another. Which means Game of Thrones could return as late as May 2016.

Take heart, Game of Thrones fans. By all accounts, the next season will be epic, even if it will arrive later than expected.

[Image via HBO]

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