Did ‘Game Of Thrones’ ‘ Kit Harrington Accidentally Confirm The Grand Northern Conspiracy? [Spoilers]

This article contains spoilers about Game of Thrones Season 6, theories about Game of Thrones Season 6, and theories and spoilers about A Song of Ice and Fire.

Since Olly struck the final blow to Jon Snow in the finale of Game of Thrones Season 5, fans have frantically tried to come up with a plausible explanation for the character’s return. The denials of Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington and show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss haven’t shut down the theories. In fact, Harrington gave the hopes that Jon Snow may somehow live through his Season 5 attack a boost when he appeared at Wimbledon still sporting the Game of Thrones trademark long hair and beard. The prevailing theory revolves around the Grand Northern Conspiracy.

Game of Thrones fan website Winter Is Coming breaks down the Grand Northern Conspiracy in a recent article. It concerns a twist that was hardly featured in the show.

Back in Season 3, when Robb Stark was the still-living King in the North, he floats the idea of naming Jon Snow his heir. Catelyn Stark objects. In Game of Thrones, the story seems to end there, but in A Storm of Swords, Robb gathers his bannermen to afix their seals to the declaration of his heir. The name of the heir, and the location of Robb Stark’s will have yet to be revealed in A Song of Ice and Fire, but at the time, Bran, Rickon, and Arya Stark were all missing or presumed dead.

The prevailing theory is that Robb named Jon Snow his heir against Catelyn’s wishes. If that proves true, then should he somehow survive, Jon Snow may discover that he’s already Jon Stark.

Roose Bolton and Stannis Baratheon would not have known about the will or its contents, which would explain why Stannis offered to legitimize Jon Snow (an offer he turned down), and Roose hasn’t tried again to kill him. There is one character who might know, but that has so far been left out of Game of Thrones: Lord Manderly. At least until now.

Though the alleged Euron Greyjoy casting notice received more attention, the following casting notice and character description seems to fit what is known about Lord Manderly.

“Lord of Noble Northern House: (Casting age anywhere between 25-50) The lord is a savage warrior, and he rules a distinguished house in the very far North, and the role is said to be an impactful one. He’s described as a massive bear of a man with a beard and temper to match, and hatred that run deep, and he can be violent. The show’s looking for someone with a powerful physique who can tower over other cast members, a Northern English Accent, and specifies he has to be at least 180 cm tall. The role will be on 2 episodes.

So, could all of this mean that the Grand Northern Conspiracy is canon, and could the plot be significant enough to save Jon Snow?

Of course, despite the vast conspiracy theories surrounding Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, there may be a simple answer to the riddle of Kit Harrington’s long hair. According to Entertainment Weekly, Harrington recently joined the cast of the film Brimstone. Details about the film are sparse, but it’s possible that Harrington’s recent hair growth is related to Brimstone, not Game of Thrones. Harrington reportedly replaced Robert Pattinson, who also sported a beard in the days before production of Brimstone began.

[Photo by Ian Walton / Getty Images]